UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Release

[Index]      

EUROPE: BOOM IN ROBOT ORDERS

 Geneva, 13 February 2001

"Never before have so many orders for industrial robots been placed by the European industry, pointing towards an acceleration in the drive to automate", says Jan Karlsson of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), which together with the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), regularly survey the robot market. In 2000, orders for industrial robots in Europe were 25% higher than in 1999 (see figure 1). Judging by the fourth quarter of 2000, which showed an increase of 24%, there is no slow-down in sight in the European investment activities, at least not as concerns robotics systems.

The figure for Europe is in particular impressive in the light of a 31% surge in 1998 followed by a 12% growth in 1999 (see figure 1 below).

World-wide orders were up 15%...

World-wide orders for industrial robots were up 15% in 2000 compared with 1999, slightly down from a growth rate of 20% in 1999 over 1998. The world-wide increase was concentrated to Europe, up 25%, and Asia, up 32% (see figure 1).

After an impressive increase in orders of 60% in 1999 over 1998, it was expected that orders would drop in North America. A fall as high as 27%, however, is a clear indication of the slow-down in the American economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) and International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

 

Non-automotive industries are stepping up their robot investments...

Normally, it is the automotive industry that leads the drive to robotize. This was the case in 1999. In 2000, however, there was a significant turn around. World-wide non-automotive industries increased their orders with close to 40% while final automotive assembly only increased by 3% and automotive components with 9%.

In Asia and Europe, non-automotive industries increased their orders with as much as 56% and 41%, respectively. In North America a modest growth of 5% was recorded in orders from the non-automotive industries, in contrast to the automotive industry which recorded sharply falling robot orders.

 

Robotization spurred by plummeting robot prices, …

The surge in robot investments has several explanations. A central reason is that prices of robots are falling rapidly relative to labour costs. Robot prices in year 2000 were on average 44% lower than in 1990 (see figure 2). At the same time today’s robots have much higher performance than those produced in 1990 with respect to versatility, speed, accuracy, and above all computer power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sources: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) and International Federation of Robotics (IFR)

A quality adjusted price index, that is an index in which consideration is taken to the continuous performance improvements, would therefore show an even higher price reduction. It is estimated that a robot in year 2000 costs less than one third of a robot in 1990 with the same performance.

… increasing labour costs, …

While prices of robots have plummeted and quality has increased, labour costs have risen steadily. In the United States, for instance, labour compensation in the business sector rose by 43% in the period 1990-2000 (see figure 3). In the same time robot prices in the US dropped by over 60% without taking any consideration to improved robot qualities and performance. By taking the later into account prices would have dropped more than 80% showing that robots have had a price/performance development similar to that of personal computers. For every year, robots are becoming more and more cost-effective vis-à-vis manual methods of production.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sources: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) and International Federation of Robotics (IFR)

"Rapidly falling relative prices of robots paired with shrinking labour supply, in particular to the manufacturing sector, in the years ahead will spur continued high growth in robot investment", says Mike Wilson, chairman of IFR. "We have only seen the first phase of the robotization drive, which has mainly focused on the automotive industry. The food industry and all other manufacturing industries as well as many non-manufacturing sectors, are as the year 2000 data clearly show, significantly stepping up their investment in robot systems" says Jan Karlsson, UN/ECE.

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For more information about the ECE/IFR Survey please contact:

 

Mr. Jan Karlsson
Statistical Division
International Federation
of Robotics (IFR)
Mr. Mike Wilson

Chairman of IFR

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
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