ABB: 62% of US companies seeking to put money into robotics

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ABB’s robots being deployed at a portray station in one in every of OLA’s mega-factories for electrical scooters. | Supply: ABB

ABB launched the outcomes of its survey of 1,610 executives within the U.S. and Europe. The survey discovered that 62% of U.S. firms indicated that they’ll put money into robotics and automation within the subsequent three years. 

Robotic gross sales have been rising within the North America steadily since 2019, in accordance with statistics from the Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3). Gross sales hit a report excessive within the first quarter of 2022, with North American firms essentially the most industrial robots ever in a single quarter. 

Robotic gross sales elevated 28% from Q1 of 2021, when North American firms bought 9,098 models, to 11,595 models bought in 2022.

“Enterprise leaders are responding to unprecedented provide chain disruptions by placing into place measures to make operations extra resilient and adaptable,” Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation Enterprise, mentioned at SelectUSA. “Whereas funding in automation performs a key position in flexibility in operations, equally necessary is funding in schooling, vocational coaching, and apprenticeship packages wanted to create safer, higher-paying jobs for American employees.”

43% of companies surveyed mentioned that they had been planning to speculate extra in robotics and automation to deal with provide chain considerations and meet buyer calls for. 73% of U.S. companies mentioned that they thought robotics and automation might be a major participant in addressing provide chain points. 

In complete, 70% of U.S. companies had been planning on making adjustments to their operations, whether or not that be to convey manufacturing nearer to dwelling or to convey extra robots into their operations. 

Curiosity in automation has additionally elevated all over the world. In response to ABB’s survey, 74% of European companies indicated they’d put money into robotics and automation within the subsequent three years. 

The Worldwide Federation of Robotics (IFR) tracks the variety of industrial robots working all over the world, and robotic density, which measures the variety of robots per 10,000 employees in an trade. Robotic density practically doubled worldwide from 2015 to 2020. 

The IFR discovered that robotic density was the very best in 2020 in Korea, Singapore and Japan, with Germany and Sweden being the fourth and fifth most automated nations. America was the seventh most automated nation in 2020.