By Nick Gilbert
Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade group, has launched new statistics which states that more industrial robots were sold by North American robotics companies during the Q2 of 2012 than the earlier quarter.
Overall 5,556 robots worth $403.1 M were sold to North American companies. Compared to Q2 of 2011, the company witnessed sales increase of 14% in units and 28% in dollars. During the first half of 2012, a total of 10,652 robots worth $747 M were ordered, representing an increase of 29% in dollars and 20% in units over the same quarter during 2011.
According to the President of RIA, Jeff Burnstein, the company is excited with the present outcome. With this dynamic increase in sales, there will be growing demand for robotics in industries like plastics & rubber, automotive, and metals. The growth will however be hampered with respect to deterioration in the economy.
Automotive solutions employ spot welding robots and these robots represented 68% increase during the first half of 2012. In addition, coating & dispensing showed 42% increase, followed by arc welding and assembly representing an increase of 20% and 19%, respectively. Material removal orders accounted for 364% increase.
Automotive related orders increased by 65% of units and 64% of dollars during the first half of 2012, achieving 44% boost in units and 56% in dollars over the initial half last year.
According to RIA estimation, 220,000 robots are currently being utilized in the U.S.
Source: http://www.robotics.org/