DAC February 2022

February 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com 10 n NEWS THENUMBER OF industrial robots being bought worldwide for electrical and electronics applications overtook those for the automotive sector for the first time during 2020, according to the latest statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). While the number of robots being bought for electronic applications soared from 89,000 in 2019 to 109,000 in 2020, those for automotive applications plummeted from 102,000 to 80,000. The IFR figures also show that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, global sales of industrial robots rose slightly – by 0.5% – in 2020, with 384,000 machines being shipped. The number of robots operating worldwide climbed by 10% to exceed three million for the first time, and 2020 proved to be the third most successful year in the history of the robotics industry. Although final figures for 2021 are not yet available, the IFR believes the market rebounded strongly with global shipments growing by 13% to reach a record total of 435,000. The biggest growth came from Asia where new robot installations exceeded the 300,000 mark, adding 15% to the previous year’s result. Installations in Europe expanded by 8% to almost 73,000 machines. 2020’s small expansion in the global market was driven largely by China, where sales grew by 20% with 168,400 robots being shipped. This is the highest value ever recorded for a single country. China’s operational stock of robots reached 943,223 – a rise of 21% – and is thought to have exceeded the one million mark during 2021. “The economies in North America, Asia and Europe did not experience their Covid-19 low point at the same time,”says IFR president, Milton Guerry.“Order intake and production in the Chinese manufacturing industry began surging in the second quarter of 2020. The North American economy started to recover in the second half of 2020, and Europe followed suit a little later.” The IFR figures show that collaborative robots (cobots) still represent a tiny fraction of the industrial robot market. In 2020, just 22,000 cobots were sold worldwide compared to 362,000 traditional industrial robots. Cobot sales were up 6% on their 2019 figure. Industrial robot installations in Europe fell by 8% during 2020 to 67,700 – the second year of decline for the region. Although demand from general industry was up by 14%, demand from the automotive sector plummeted by 20%. One third of Europe’s new installations were in Germany, followed by Italy on 13% and France on 8%. In the UK, industrial robot installations climbed by 8% during 2020 to 2,205 machines. The automotive sector again dominated, accounting for 40% of UK installations, and adding 875 more robots – a 16% increase. The food and beverage industry almost doubled its number of installed robots from 155 in 2019 to 304 in 2020. By far the biggest application for industrial robots is handling, accounting for 166,000 of global installations during 2020 (down from 174,000 in 2019). The next biggest applications are welding (66,000 machines) and assembly (47,000). The IFR expects average annual growth rates for the global robot market to fall in the mid single- digit range from 2021 to 2024, with the milestone of 500,000 robots installed in a single year likely to be reached in 2024. https://ifr.org Robots installed globally by various sectors (in 1,000s) over the past three years. Source: IFR National Manufacturing Summit 8–9 February, 2022 Manufacturing Technology Centre, Coventry The second Summit (following the 2021 launch event which attracted 1,500 delegates in a virtual format) will be a hybrid event combining live presentations and an interactive virtual audience. It will focus on sustainable manufacturing in the UK as it moves towards a net-zero economy. https://nmsummit.co.uk Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 8–10 February, 2022 Farnborough International Exhibition Centre Farnborough will again be the venue for this showcase of new technology for machinery, production equipment, electronic production and assembly, tooling and components, as well as subcontract services. The organisers are expecting 800 exhibitors and 9,000 visitors. https://www.industrysouth.co.uk Mach 2022 4–8 April 2022 NEC, Birmingham The exhibition, organised by the Manufacturing Technologies Association, will be part of part of the UK’s largest showcase for advanced engineering and manufacturing, which includes the Drives & Controls Show. New for 2022 are extended IT for Manufacturing Zone and 3D Printing Zones. www.machexhibition.com Drives & Controls 2022 05 - 07 April, 2022 NEC, Birmingham, UK The Drives & Controls exhibition and co- located events return to the NEC covering areas including automation, robotics, drives, machine safety, energy efficiency and motion control. A live robotic demonstration area will reflect this dynamic sector. Running alongside the Drives exhibition will be the Air-Tech, Fluid Power & Systems, Smart Industry Expo and Plant & Asset Management exhibitions, as well as the Mach show. www.drives-expo.com Hannover Messe 25–29 April, 2022 Hannover, Germany As the industrial mega-show returns as a face-to-face physical event in 2022, the key topics will be digitalisation and sustainability. Under the overarching theme of industrial transformation, leading global companies will show how to shift successfully to digitalised, resource-efficient and climate-neutral production. The partner country for 2022 is Portugal. https://www.hannovermesse.de/en Automatica 2022 4–8 April 2022 Munich, Germany The robotics and automation event will focus on innovations and products related to digital transformation, artificial intelligence and man/machine. A new theme will be sustainable production. https://automatica-munich.com/en Electronics overtakes the automotive sector as the biggest user of robots