IFR: Understand the current status and trends of global industrial and service robots in one article

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) released the "Global Industrial Robot Report 2020", which provides a relatively comprehensive summary of the current deployment status of robots in the global industrial and service markets. It is a good report for a macro understanding of the robotics industry. The key points of the report are compiled below for your understanding.

The International Federation of Robotics is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 to connect the global robotics industry. It currently has 65 members in 20 countries around the world. Currently, the annual turnover of robot systems, including software and peripherals, is as high as US$50 billion .

Based on different customers, pricing, machines, distribution channels, and supply chains, the robotics industry can be divided into two categories: industrial robots and service robots. The report will also expand on these two parts.

Industrial Robots

• Automatic control, programmable, multi-function, more than three axes, mainly used in industrial automation applications
• Assemble application-specific end effectors based on five different types of motion

Service Robots

• Perform tasks beyond industrial automation
• Usually specially designed for the mission, often with fewer than three axes
• Sometimes it is not fully automated but can be controlled remotely

The boundaries between industrial robots and service robots are becoming increasingly blurred.

Based on the application scenario, the same robot can be a service robot or an industrial robot.

• Usage concepts change, new applications emerge
• Reconstructing business processes to optimize the use of collaborative robots
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning allow robots to sense and respond to their environment
• Robots are increasingly supporting people in their work and private lives

The global economic downturn and trade frictions in 2019 still had an impact on the robotics industry.

Robot inventory

There were 2.7 million robots in the world in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 12%.

• Setting new highs
• The compound growth rate from 2014 to 2019 was 13%

New Robot

Sales in 2019 were 373,000 units, down 12% year-on-year

• The number is the third highest on record.
• The compound growth rate from 2014 to 2019 was 11%

The figure below shows the data on the global industrial robot stock. It can be seen that more and more robots are being deployed in the industrial field. In 2019, this number has reached 2.72 million units.

Asia/Australia is the largest market for industrial robot deployment, with a stock of 1.688 million industrial robots, followed by Europe with 580,000 units and the Americas with 389,000 units.

By industry, the three industries with the largest number of existing deployments are automobiles, electronics and electrical, metals and manufacturing, followed by chemicals and food. The stock of robots deployed for no specific industrial purpose is also high, reaching 410,000 units in 2019.

In terms of usage, the most deployed industrial robots are handling, followed by welding, and third is assembly.

In terms of annual installed capacity, robots have maintained their golden growth for 10 years, with installed capacity reaching 373,000 units in 2019.

Sales volume remains high in major markets.

However, the industry's two major financiers performed poorly in 2019. The new installations of robots in the automotive industry fell from 126,000 units in 2018 to 105,000 units in 2019, while the new installations in the electronics and electrical industries fell from 105,000 units to 88,000 units.

From the perspective of new installation purposes, handling is still the main purpose, followed by welding and assembly.

China is the main end-use market for industrial robots, with an annual new installation of 141,000 units, followed by Japan and the United States, with 50,000 and 33,000 units respectively.

Judging from the density of robot installation, Singapore and South Korea are the markets with the highest robot installation density, with 918 and 855 robots installed per 10,000 people respectively. In the Chinese market with the largest demand, this number is only 187.

Collaborative robots are seeing rapid growth in sales. Among newly installed (sold) industrial robots, the number of collaborative robots is growing. In 2019, sales of collaborative robots were 18,000 units, up from 16,000 in 2018 and much more than the 11,000 units sold in 2017.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a driving force for digitalization. Currently:

• The electrical and electronics industry appears to be a winner from social distancing
• Increased demand for production of medical and personal protective equipment
• Facing great opportunities for product modernization and digitalization

However, the negative impacts include delayed investment, declining demand, travel restrictions affecting the supply chain, etc. The industry has to adapt to the new normal of epidemic prevention. Other negative factors not related to the COVID-19 pandemic include the transformation to automation and political headwinds.

But the recovery in 2021 is foreseeable, and the future is promising because:

• Catch-up effect
• Robots can make manufacturing resilient
• Many governments have invested in modern production technology
• Geographic diversification of supply chains, including reshoring of manufacturing

• Recovery time varies from region to region
• 2021 will see recovery
• It may take until 2022-2023 to reach pre-pandemic levels

Personal/household service robots

Sales: US$5.7 billion in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 20%, expected to be US$6.5 billion in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 15%, and US$12.1 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 23%.

Equipment sales: 23.2 million units in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 34%; 26.7 million units in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 15%; 55.3 million units in 2023, with an annual compound growth rate of 27%.

Vacuuming and sweeping are the most common personal and family use scenarios. It is expected that the number of robots used for housework scenarios will reach 48.6 million in 2023, and the number of entertainment robots will reach 6.7 million.

Sales growth of personal and home robot services is expected in the future, with home robot sales expected to reach $10 billion and entertainment robot sales to reach $1.9 billion in 2023.

Professional service robot

Sales: US$11.2 billion in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 32%; US$13.9 billion in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 24%; US$27.7 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 26%.

Equipment sales: 173,000 units in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 32%; 240,000 units in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 38%; 537,000 units in 2023, with an annual compound growth rate of 31%.

Robotics in logistics continues to be a growth driver.

It is estimated that the sales volume of logistics robots will reach 259,000 units in 2023, the sales volume of robots used in public environments will reach 76,000 units, and the number of robots used for defense purposes will reach 33,000 units.

The number of inspection and maintenance robots will reach 37,000, the number of professional cleaning robots will reach 54,000, the number of farmland robots will reach 22,000, and the number of exoskeleton robots will reach 20,000.

Professional cleaning robots are expected to enter the top three types of robots in 2023.

As patents expire, sales of medical robots are expected to grow significantly, reaching 26,000 units in 2023. Construction and demolition robots will reach 2,200 units.

1/5 of service robot suppliers are startups. There are currently 889 service robot suppliers, of which 183 are startups (established in 2015 and later). 728 professional service robot suppliers, of which 155 are startups. 236 personal and household robot suppliers, of which 39 are startups.

The figure below shows the distribution of global service robot suppliers. Europe has the largest number of companies, followed by America and third is Asia.

Technology and application trends of service robots

Important markets to watch:

• Complete large-scale logistics system (AGV fully automatic handling robot, AMR autonomous mobile robot )
• Merger & Acquisition activity, for example in the field of medical robotics
• Heavy construction machinery becoming roboticized allows a single person to perform multiple operations
• Information interaction (remote telepresence, consultation); more than 30 new disinfection robot models in 2020
• COVID-19 raises awareness of medical robots

Major technology acceleration

• Cloud technology and 5G, such as remote surgery using surgical robots and 5G in China
• Business models like Robotics as a Service lower barriers to entry, especially in new markets
• Standardization and platformization, such as peripherals (similar to app stores), sales platforms, plug-and-play, etc.

The long-term prospects for robotics remain very exciting

• There are still many 4D (boring, dirty, dangerous, delicate) jobs that can be done by robots, improving workers' health, safety and job satisfaction.
• Aging societies have an additional need to free workers from manual labor
• Technological development will further improve the return on investment of robots
• Matrix production layout for automated workpiece transport
• Modern robots bring lower carbon emissions
• Humanized robot collaborative applications will complement traditional robots
• Plug-and-play system integration will make deployment easier (e.g. via OPC unified architecture )
• Easy to program (e.g. via demos) to make redeployment easy