The North American robotics industry showed its largest growth ever during the first half of this year, according to statistics released recently by the Robotic Industries Association.
A record 14,135 robots, worth $788 million, were ordered from North American robotics firms from January until June. That’s an increase of 30% in units and 16% in revenues compared to the same period the previous year.
Since 2010, the North American robotics market has shown an average annual growth rate of 26%. This has happened at the same time that the US unemployment rate has been dropping.
Jeff Burnstein, the group’s president, said the two simultaneous occurrences are not coincidental.
“In 2010, after one of the worst recessions in our nation’s history, unemployment in the US was nearing 10%,” Burnstein said in a news release. “Since then, amidst record years for robot sales, unemployment has steadily fallen toward pre-recessionary levels. The unemployment rate reached 6.1% in June of this year, the lowest it has been since September of 2008.”
Burnstein said manufacturing jobs are returning to the US precisely because of the investment industries are making in automation like robots.
“While we often hear that robots are job killers, just the opposite is true,” he said. “Robots save and create jobs.”
The automotive industry had the biggest impact on robot sales. During Q2 2014, orders for robots in this sector were up 97% compared to the same period in 2013. Non-automotive industries such as semiconductors, life sciences and food & consumer goods also showed 22% growth in robotics while automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and component industries grew by 36% in the first half of this year.