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In recent years, the labor cost of manufacturing has been rising, and the individualized demand has put forward new requirements for the production line. Modern manufacturing not only needs to find ways to reduce operating costs, but also how to quickly respond to changes in market demand. With the advancement of technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and robotics, the global manufacturing industry has begun to transform into intelligent manufacturing, upgrading to the production model of Industry 4.0, and achieving flexible manufacturing with zero inventory, low cost, and high efficiency.
More and more factories are adopting industrial robots to reduce labor costs and increase production efficiency through machine substitution. On the other hand, industrial robot technology has gradually matured, and the cost of products has begun to decline, making the industrial robot market open quickly. According to the International Robotics Alliance, global industrial robots sold 381,000 units in 2017, an increase of 30% over the previous year, and is expected to reach 421,000 units by 2018.
Industrial machine substitutions are being promoted globally, and most of the national robot market is growing. As a world-class manufacturing power, China has been the No. 1 in the global industrial robot market for five consecutive years. The sales volume of industrial robots increased by nearly 60% in the previous year. However, for the former industrial empire of the United Kingdom, the market for its industrial robots did not perform as well.
According to data released by the British Society of Automation and Robotics, new industrial robots sold in the UK last year were down 15% from 2017. If it does not include the automotive industry, the UK sold 856 industrial robots last year, a 13% decrease from the 988 aircraft in 2017. The average British employs 42 industrial robots per 10,000 workers, far behind other European countries. The industrial robots use 191 in Germany, 180 in Sweden, 89 in France and 87 in Spain.
Although industrial robots and automation have the potential to change the competitiveness and benefits of the UK manufacturing industry, the lack of knowledge of robot use makes it impossible to use robots for proper production. On the other hand, the UK has not yet formed a strong integrator service, and the major integrators are too busy to provide service guarantees for users. Britain used to be the industrial empire of the world, but it was later overtaken by Germany and the United States, and gradually declined. Now, to develop the robot industry, it may take a long time to accumulate.
The development of the British robot industry has been lagging behind, which may also be related to local culture. There is still a certain low-cost workforce in the UK, and local companies like to use manpower. Secondly, companies are pursuing short-term returns and have little interest in investing in a large number of robots. Also considering the risks of robot automation, this company is very hesitant.
Machine substitution is a global trend, and robots not only improve business efficiency and growth in manufacturing. With the advancement of sensors, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technology, people have begun to introduce more service robots and special robots. For example, mobile robots are changing the logistics industry. Service robots are beginning to enter business, family and other scenes to give people life. And efficiency brings a profound change.
In the future, the robot will also combine various technologies such as voice interaction and face recognition, and it will have various new functions. Even in some aspects, it can exceed the human level. The new generation of robots will continue to improve and can bring great benefits in different industries. The benefits ultimately benefit the human society.
