Singapore. A report by the World Robotics 2020 Industry Report shows a record of 2.7 million industrial robots operating in factories worldwide, with 373,000 units shipped out in 2019.
Among industrial robots, cooperative robots (cobots) remain the fastest growing sector of the industrial automation movement, and are expected to grow at a Combined Annual Growth Rate (Cob) CAGR) of 41.8% globally from 2020 to 2026, in a report by Markets & Markets.
Asia Pacific’s cobot market is expected to be the largest cobot market in the world, growing at a CAGR of 45.46 percent, with a cumulative floating market value of $ 13.17 billion over the next 7 years in terms of cobot hardware.
The growth of cooperative robots is largely driven by the benefits it offers, such as efficient deployment of workers, higher productivity, and flexibility in relocation. One of the most important differences between industrial robots and cobots is the ability of cobots to interact safely with humans in a shared workplace.
Manufacturing and gathering plants, especially in developed countries, are expected to rapidly absorb cobots.
“With the world fighting Covid-19, 2020 delivered some innovative cobot activation. From the manufacture of personal protective equipment to swab testing, collaborative robots are improving the efficiency, safety and quality of countless processes. Cobots are largely found in electronics and automotive manufacturing and industrial environments, but cobots have the flexibility to be used in a wide range of sectors from agriculture and medicine to pharma, “said James McKew, Regional Director Asia-Pacific in cobalt manufacturer Universal Robots, Friday.
Singapore currently has the highest density of industrial robots with 918 industrial robots in use per 10,000 workers. In the city state, major centers of industrial robots are found in the electrical and electronics industry, followed by rubber and plastics, metal and appliance, food, and others without a specific order of installation numbers.
The growing trend toward automation in electronic device manufacturing will continue to push robot centers in Singapore and other Asian economies, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
“The 2020 experience and the uncertainty that lies ahead in 2021 prompts companies to review their business strategies and transform the workplace. The pandemic is accelerating interest in cobots as it enables a safe distance in manufacturing and collection centers to reduce the spread of disease, while at the same time engaging workers productively and efficiently. -effective, ”he said.
Founded in 2005, Universal Robots seeks to make robot technology accessible to all by developing flexible, easy-to-use, affordable, safe to work with.
Since the first cobot was launched in 2008, the company has grown significantly with the easy-to-use cobob now sold worldwide. The company, which is part of Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark.
McKew said he is confident in the ability of companies to adopt automated technologies, especially since the employees are entering a COVID-normal state.
“They can work side by side with people and of course they can be the distance between people. They will allow manufacturers to return to full production efficiently, ”he told Jakarta Globe.
He saw cobots as a key to employee efficiency – not as a substitute for human workers, but a helper to help employees in their work. He gave the example of worker welding. Using cobot in their work, the assistive technology can keep the welding machine at the right distance from the material being worked on, but the operator has control over the machine itself.
“They tend to reduce the cost of poor quality. That’s really important when the product they’re making is expensive. You know, everyone makes mistakes but when you fall on a laptop or when you fall on a PC screen, that is very expensive for the manufacturer. ”
While unemployment rates have risen sharply around the world since the outbreak began, James made sure workers should not be afraid that cobots could replace them. Looking at Elon Musks’ quest for fully automated Tesla factories, he learned that people have a role to play in manufacturing that even the most advanced technology cannot reproduce. James said that there will always be a place for people at the end of the manufacturing line.
“It is the duty of every robotics manufacturer to be clear about where cobots have a place, and where they really have no place,” he said.