• 17/02/2012
  • |     BB

Robot sales exceeded all expectations in 2011

"The success of the global robotics industry continued in 2011,” claims Dr. Shinsuke Sakakibara, IFR President. “Investments in robot automation again surged in all regions."

Trefwoorden: #abb, #fanuc, #ifr, #KUKA, #robot

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( Foto: Kuka Robotics )

ENGINEERINGNET.EU -- Based on the results of the IFR Quarterly Statistics the IFR estimates that in 2011, sales of industrial robots will reach the new peak level of about 150,000 units.

This would be an increase of about 30% compared to 2010. Already in 2010, sales greatly recovered from the dramatic downturn in 2009. In 2010, particularly, the automotive industry was the main driver of the strong growth.

But for 2011, robot suppliers reported a considerable increase of demand also from the general industry, i.e. all other industries without automotive.

Dr. Sakakibara commented: “Thanks to the demand of emerging countries including China, the sales of factory automation apparatus are increasing. However, the growth of sales of machine tools seems to be slowing down under the influence of Europe's currency crisis and/or a Chinese tight-money policy. But, this does not apply to robots.”

Comments of some robot builders:
Per Vegard Nerseth, Head of ABB Robotics, Switzerland: “We fully expect this growth to continue through 2012 with the increased demand throughout the Asia region continuing to be an important factor.”

Manfred Gundel, CEO KUKA Roboter, Germany: “The year 2011 was one of the most successful years in the history of the KUKA Robot Group. We increased the turnover in the robotics division again by 40%. With this regard, China was the most rapidly growing robot market.”

Olaf Gehrels, President FANUC Luxembourg: "Despite the sluggish European economies, demand for yellow robots continuous to be high in the automotive industry as well as in general industry, making FANUC the preferred supplier in most European markets. Japan even increased its robot production platform in 2011 to a staggering level of 60.000 units per year."