President’s Report by Milton Guerry
My term of presidency ends
Jun 14, 2022 — I am excited to start this letter with excellent news: during the Automate Show in Detroit last week, the IFR published preliminary figures on the global robotics market in 2021. The main finding in this report: Robot installations not only exceeded pre-crisis levels, but hit a new record high. In 2021, 487,000 units were installed. This is up 27% compared to 2020 and 15% compared to the previous record year 2018.
Dear Reader,
I am excited to start this letter with excellent news: during the Automate Show in Detroit last week, the IFR published preliminary figures on the global robotics market in 2021. The main finding in this report: Robot installations not only exceeded pre-crisis levels, but hit a new record high. In 2021, 487,000 units were installed. This is up 27% compared to 2020 and 15% compared to the previous record year 2018.
The North American market grew by 18%. While Canada and Mexico saw a strong rebound driven by the automotive industry, installations in the United States are substantially growing in the general industries.
The outlook for 2022 looks bright. First quarter 2022 figures from A3 show strong growth in orders and turnover. In the United States, the Great Resignation and staffing shortages are driving automation. Another very positive sign: the diversification of customers continues, driving robotics beyond automotive. Nevertheless, global headwinds make any prediction hard. China‘s COVID policy interferes with global supply chains, and the Russian invasion in Ukraine burdens economies not only in Europe, but also in North America.
Preliminary data for Asia and Europe will be published during the IFR Executive Roundtable in Munich on June 21. The final data for 2021 will be published in World Robotics on October 13, 2022.
In two Executive Roundtables, we will take a closer look at the two most important questions for the robotics industry at the moment:
How are robotics and automation transforming the North American market and what are the drivers behind market development? During the Automate IFR Executive Roundtable in Detroit, Michael Cicco of FANUC America Corporation, Greg Smith of Teradyne, Greg Brown of UPS, Melonee Wise of Fetch Robotics/Zebra, and Deepu Talla of NVIDIA discussed this question and examined the impact of the pandemic, reshoring, supply chain issues and the labor shortage on market development. A summary video of the roundtable will be published shortly.
How will robots enable a green, sustainable future? During our second IFR Executive Roundtable in Munich on June 21, Marc Segura of ABB, Dr. Stephen Travers of Mercedes-Benz, Christophe Coulongeat of Stäubli, Dr. Joachim Döhner of VDMA Battery Production & KUKA Systems and Gwenole Cozigou from the European Commission will discuss. Please let us know if you would like to participate.
On June 20-21, the 54th International Symposium on Robotics – ISR Europe 2022 - will gather participants from both industry and research in Munich and offer an insight into state-of-the-art robot technologies. The new Business Track will offer invited speakers from the industry the opportunity to present their latest developments. Last but not least, a jury from IFR and IEEE RAS will select the winner of this year's IERA Award for innovation and entrepreneurship in robotics and automation.
As this President's Report will also be my last one, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for contributing to the IFR work during my Presidency and for your active support and participation in numerous virtual meetings. Despite the difficult times, IFR substantially increased its membership base, we were able to futher develop the IFR strategy over the two years, and we drafted a vision and mission for the federation. This should smooth the way for my successor, who I am happy to introduce in Munich next week.
Take care and see you soon!
Milton Guerry
