UK robotic installations statistics for 2005
UK robotic installations statistics for 2005
Keywords: Robotics, Statistics, United Kingdom
Overall
The latest survey by the British Automation and Robotics Association (BARA)reports a total of 1,085 new robot installations in the year 2005. This represents an increase of 38 per cent on the previous year's figure but only serves to regain the levels of 2003 (Figure 1). The 2005 installations fall well below the ten-year average of 1,279 units, a figure that is influenced by the records set in the years 1996-2001 when installations peaked at 1,941.
Figure 1Year on year installations in the UK
The annual figures collected by BARA since 1978 report total new robot installations to 2005 of 22,587. Allowing for the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) 12-year retirement rule, which assumes that robots over 12 years old have been taken out of service, this gives a current robot population in the UK of 14,398 units. It should be noted, however, that this almost certainly under-estimates the true figure; there is strong evidence of a growing market for refurbished robots in the UK, the total reported in this category in 2005 amounting to almost 13 per cent of the total for new installations. Discussions with the supplier responsible for the majority of these have revealed that many of these are robots significantly less than 12 years old, reconfigured for continued use in the original application. As this practise is increasing, it is a matter of conjecture whether the IFR's assumption of 12-year redundancy will remain valid.
The improvement in the year-on-year figures for 2005 is almost entirely attributable to an upswing in the automotive sector which still dominates the UK market for robots. The steady (although small) growth in the non-automotive sectors reported over the past three years is not evident in the 2005 results,with total installations in these industries being much the same as the previous year (Figure 2). There are, however, individual areas of growth in the non-automotive sectors.
Figure 2Installations, automotive vs non-automotive
Industry
The extent to which the UK figures are dominated by installations in the automotive-related industries is indicated by the fact that in 2005 the overall increase is due to the improvement in this sector, much as the decline in 2004 was attributable to the sector having a poor year for robot installations. In 2005, new robots installed in automotive industries rose to 762 (70 per cent of the total), up from 458 in 2004 – a 66 per cent rise on the year for the sector. This figure is still 59 robots fewer than in 2003 and substantially less than the installations achieved in the five years up to 2001. Figure 2 shows that the non-automotive sector has been showing a slow but steady growth over the last few years; unfortunately, in 2005 this would seem to have stalled with almost static results (323 units installed compared with 327 in 2004). Within the non-automotive industries, however, there are still areas of sustained growth (Figure 3). The report for 2004 (Young et al., 2005) noted that the industry categories “plastics and rubber”, “construction”and “pharmaceuticals” all showed substantial increases. In 2005,“plastics and rubber” installations have fallen by 30 per cent to 48 units, although it is worth noting that a further ten refurbished units were installed in this industry, one of the more popular areas for refurbished stock.“Construction” has also fallen, by 67 per cent to just 12 units but this could be attributed to re- categorisation in the 2005 survey; one industry“non-metallic mineral products” has substantially increased and it may be suspected that these represent robots that would previously have been classified under “construction”. If this is justified, then taken together the industries have remained stable, with 41 and 43 units installed in 2004 and 2005, respectively. “Pharmaceuticals” show continued growth– an increase of 53 per cent to 69 units in total. “Aerospace”has also demonstrated strong growth in 2005 with an increase of 69 per cent to 22 units. The final point to note from Figure 3 is the strong growth in the“other” category, perhaps suggesting that as prices fall and functionality increases, automation is being employed in a more diverse range of industry sectors.
Figure 3Non-automotive, industry analysis
Application
For the 2005 BARA survey, changes were made to the classifications for robot applications to bring them into agreement with those of the IFR survey. This makes direct comparison with previous year's BARA results in this category invalid in some instances; however, there are some clear observations that may be justified.
In the automotive industry sector, applications are (as usual) dominated by“arc welding” and “spot welding” (Figure 4). It is notable that whilst “spot welding” growth is almost directly proportional to the overall growth in the industry sector (up 69 per cent at 315 new units installed), “arc welding” applications grew by 427 per cent with 248 installations in 2005. This growth is largely due to increased activity in tier one suppliers and one large order in particular. Of the remaining categories, only “handling operations for stamping, forging and bending” recorded more than 50 units installed. The strong growth reported in the 2004 survey in the applications “dispensing – painting”and “dispensing – sealing/gluing” is not evident in 2005,although some of these installations may have been reported under the modified application categories.
Figure 4Automotive applications ($ 10 installations)
In the non-automotive industry sector, Figure 5, applications are almost entirely in various forms of handling operations; apart from unspecified applications, only arc welding recorded more than ten new units installed. Interestingly, the IFR categories for applications adopted for the 2005 BARA survey do not include “biochemistry and hazardous” – an area of strong growth in the 2004 survey and one that may have been expected to feature again in 2005 with the continued growth in the pharmaceuticals industry sector.
Figure 5Non-automotive applications ($ 10 installations)
Robot type
The robot type as defined by the number of axes shows a very clear domination of the UK market by six- axis machines; 93 per cent of new robots (and,incidentally, all of the refurbished units) installed in 2005 fell in this category. Once again this reflects the influence of the automotive sector where six-axis robots are used extensively. In 2004, there were 153 installations of seven-axis robots, all of which were made in the automotive sector as the seventh axis was used to control servo controlled spot weld guns. This speculated area of growth has not developed, with no seven-axis machines reported in 2005.
There has been a 20 per cent increase in the sales of four-axis robots,almost all of which are used for palletising and packaging applications in three industries; “food, beverages and tobacco”, “construction”(and related industries) and “pharmaceuticals”.
In these cases, the dexterity provided by six axes is not required and the simplicity of a four-axis robot with parallelogram linkages gives a highly reliable, high payload machine.
Mechanical structure
The type of robot can also be defined by its mechanical structure. “Articulated”robots form the majority of total installations with 92 per cent of units installed in 2005. Of the remainder, 6 per cent were SCARA and approximately 1 per cent each of parallel and Cartesian/gantry structures.
Cost
The statistics show that £10-30k is the mean cost classification,particularly if the growing proportion of refurbished robots is included in the results (Figure 6). With previous years results, there is a continued trend for a fall in robot prices.
Figure 6Cost analysis
Country of origin
The only two sources of manufacture of robots recorded were Japan and the European community, each with almost exactly 50 per cent of the new robots installed (544 and 541, respectively).
This represents an almost static year- on-year result for Japanese OEMs but a significant improvement for manufacturers in Europe.
Other country comparison
Early results coming from other countries suggest that last year was a poor one for robots in Europe but very good in the USA and Asia. In the rest of the world handling is by far and away the biggest application for robots and the automotive industry is far less dominant than in the UK. Industries growing rapidly include food, domestic appliances and furniture.
The USA also report increasing installations in small- and medium- sized industries. A trend that they attribute to an increased desire to maintain home production rather than off-shoring production processes (Brumson, 2006). It will be interesting to see if UK industry starts to follow this trend.
Summary
The key statistics for 2005 are as follows:
1 A total of 1085 units installed.
2 Total installations to date (from 1978) are 22,587 units adjusted to 14,398 to allow for IFR 12-year retirement rule.
3 The automotive sector remains dominant and increased by 66 per cent to 762 but this only regains the fall of the previous year.
4 The non-automotive sector overall is static, with 323 installations,however, there is significant growth in two sectors:
aerospace, 69 per cent; and
pharmaceuticals, 53 per cent.
It is also likely that there has been significant growth in the construction industry, if related industrial applications are counted together.
5 Automotive applications are still dominated by welding; spot welding has increased in line with the industry growth (up 69 per cent with 315 installations) but arc welding applications have increased by 427 per cent with 248 installations.
6 Six-axis robots account for 93 per cent of the market.
7 The majority of installations fall between £10k and £30k cost classification highlighting a downward trend over the last few years.
8 Of robots installed 50 per cent originated in Japan, 50 per cent in the European community.
K. Young and I. TuersleyWarwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
