Robotics Industry Expected to Thrive in 2013

As the American economy, and that of the world, continues its recovery from the Great Recession, the robotics industry is reaping the benefits.industrial robot users, integrators and manufacturers have an optimistic outlook for the robotics industry in 2013.

"2013 will be a good year for the robotics industry but not as good as 2011 and 2012. The industrial robots industry market has been on a serious growth trend since 2009", says Robert Little, Chief Executive Officer of ATI Industrial Automation .“Growth will continue through 2013 but not at the same rate of 20 percent seen in 2012. I hope to see 10 to 15 percent growth in 2013.”

Little’s analysis is typical of his peers in the industrial robots industry. Across applications and regions of the world, the robotics industry can look forward to a robust 2013.

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Most players in the industrial robots industry are sanguine on the prospects of nearly all applications in 2013. "I think 2013 will be awesome. General industry is historically two years behind the rebound of the automotive industry, following an economic downturn. The automotive industry did not buy anything for a few years then came on strong," says Edward Minch, Automotive Group Director of Sales and Engineering at Kawasaki Robotics (USA) Inc. "General industry is taking care of capital investment it ignored during the recession."

John Bubnikovich, Executive Director of Marketing and Business Development at ABB Inc. speaks of the continuing role of the automotive sector within the robotics industry. "The automotive sector still accounts for 65 percent of the North American robotics market. Automotive's revitalization has been very influential in the great bounce-back the robotics industry has seen recently."

Bubnikovich goes on to say, “Robotic laser cutting is emerging as an optimal means to cut and trim hot-stamped steel, a light weight, high strength material increasingly used in the automotive industry to reduce the overall cost and weight of cars while improving passenger safety and fuel economy."

Bin picking is one application several leaders in the robotics industry have high hopes for in 2013. “I see rapid expansion of three-dimensional bin picking, the ability to retrieve randomly arranged products from a bin,” says John Burg, President of Ellison Technologies Automation (Council Bluffs, Iowa).

Terry Zarnowski, Director of Sales and Marketing with Schneider Packaging Equipment Co. Inc. (Brewerton, New York) has a similar outlook for the prospects of bin picking in 2013. "Bin picking is now a viable reality."

Minch sees advancements in vision technology combined with improved force sensing, as one of numerous bright spots for the robotics industry. "These advancements will help the robotics industry penetrate into new markets, such as consumer electronic equipment and automotive component assembly and random bin picking. Robots can 'see' and have a sense of touch. Force sensors use feedback from servomotors to tell how hard the robot is pushing on a part during assembly processes such as driving a screw."

Random bin picking is high on Estes' to-do list in 2013. "Bin picking applications will become more robust due to better sensor technology. End-users want automated bin picking but did not have the tools to get there until now. Bin picking will continue to grow in 2013." Estes adds, "Because of the flexibility robotics offer, improvements to vision systems and bin picking, a batch of one is close to becoming a reality."

The food and beverage side of the robotics industry has a favorable outlook in 2013, particularly those relating to packaging and palletizing, says, Stuart Cooper, Vice President of Sales with Flexicell Inc. (Ashland, Virginia). "2013 will be a good year for the robotics industry. The return on investment in packing and palletizing applications is favorable. I anticipate accelerated growth in 2013 and do not see any markets within the industrial robots industry declining."