ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Robotic Industries Association today announced that sales in the North American robotics market is up 7.2% in the first half of 2019, compared with the first two quarters of 2018. From January to June, North American companies ordered 16,488 robots, with a value of $869 million, the group said.
The largest driver of the year-to-date growth was by automotive OEMS, which showed an 83% increase in units ordered. Other industries that saw increased orders include semiconductor and electronics (12%), life sciences (8%), and food and consumer goods (3%).
Image: Robotic Industries Association
In other industries tracked, orders were down, including metals (-11%), plastics & rubber (-8%), automotive components (-6%), and other industries (-4%).
Jeff Burnstein, Association for Advancing Automation
The second quarter by itself saw 8,572 robots ordered, with a value of $446 million, the RIA said. While the orders represented a 19.2% growth rate in the number of robots ordered, it only represented a 0.6% increase in dollars compared to the same time period in 2018. The second quarter was especially good compared to the first quarter of 2019, in which the RIA reported that orders slightly declined compared to Q1 2018.
“Robot use continues to grow, which is helping make U.S. companies more competitive and leading to new job growth,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, the umbrella group for the RIA. “We are currently experiencing the greatest period of robot expansion in history – over 180,000 robots have been shipped to American companies since 2010, and more than 1.2 million new manufacturing jobs have been created during this time.”
