Despite the short-term conditions of the world economy, marked by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, economic uncertainty and inflation, to name a few examples, the robotics sector continues to experience strong growth. This is confirmed by data from the International Federation of Robotics, in 2021 more than half a million installations of new industrial robots were exceeded for the first time and it is estimated that by 2025 almost 700,000 new units installed per year could be reached.
On the other hand, the global collaborative robots market size is expected to reach $10.8 billion by 2028, growing 40.1% year-on-year, according to data from the Global Collaborative Robots Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis study. from ReportLinker.
In this panorama, OnRobot has prepared the list of the five key trends in robotics for 2023:
Greater collaboration
The sustained growth of robots and cobots in recent years shows that collaboration between people and cobots is a reality, since they allow humans to dedicate themselves to higher-value tasks and perform the most repetitive, mechanical, or strenuous ones themselves. For Enrico Krog, CEO of OnRobot, one of the challenges facing the sector is “demonstrating how robotic applications work, once we have already seen all that robots can contribute. We must teach the collaboration between applications and humans, the advantages that they bring both in the ease of use and in the security they bring”.
Reindustrialization of Europe
At this juncture, the market is undergoing a movement of relocation of the industry and a reindustrialization in Europe due to the problems in the supply chains, which drive the installation of robots. In fact, the figures reveal that industrial robots in Europe go from 68 to 84 and the prospects for 2022-2025 are very positive. “This is a trend that will consolidate in the coming months and years, with stronger growth rates,” remarks Enrico Krog.
Power tools for greater sustainability
In 2023 we will see how robots and cobots help sustainable development, since they allow considerable energy savings and the use of cleaner energies such as electricity instead of traditional compressed air.
Greater penetration in sectors and markets
In 2023, industrial robots and cobots will be introduced in more sectors of the economy and in more countries. For Krog: “This big boost is due to people trusting robots more and, at the same time, robotics technology. And in the coming years we will see a greater development of applications in sectors such as health, tourism, transport, logistics and agriculture”.
Software and hardware convergence
Another big trend in the market that OnRobot anticipated with the launch of OnRobot Palletizer, its automated palletizing hardware and software solution, is the increasing interpenetration of hardware and software. With this union time is saved and the total costs of the project are reduced, since the users themselves are the ones who configure the application according to the needs of each moment”.
“The sustained and unstoppable growth of robots and cobots shows that they are here to stay, to help make industrialization processes simpler, more sustainable and safer. And, in the coming years, we will see how the conjunction of software and hardware will be a trend that will allow faster, easier implementations and greater ROI for companies”, concludes Enrico Krog.