SEATTLE -- Robots for the automation of industrial tasks are on the rise in North America, according to a recently-released industry report from the Association for Advancing Automation. More than $800 million in orders were placed in the first half of 2016, setting a new purchasing high for the industry of 14,583 robots. This represents a 2% increase over the same period in 2015, which was itself a record-setter, according to the report. Automotive OEMs and component suppliers were primary drivers for the market. The Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the report's author, is an industry group with the mission to advocate and promote automation technologies. It has three daughter organizations -- Robotic Industries Association (RIA), Motion Control and Motor Association (MCMA), and AIA, a global association for vision information – that support specific technologies used in automation. It is an indication of automation's increasing importance that A3 grew by 119 members this year, for a total of nearly 1000 members in the parent and daughter organizations combined. "Demand for automation technologies is growing," A3 president Jeff Burnstein told EE Times in an interview. "It's not just a US story but a global one. Lots of companies are trying to become stronger global competitors by improving productivity. And the dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs are the first to be automated." Burnstein pointed out as examples that the recent rise in robot purchases involved tasks such as materials handling, assembly, welding, and painting. Burnstein also pointed out that robots are becoming easier to incorporate into the workflow, making them increasingly attractive to small and medium-sized companies. "Newer robots are easier to set up," he noted, "taking only hours of training versus months of programming. They're even being used in final assembly requiring close work with humans, with the development of collaborative robots." Asked how the rise in robots affects human employment, Burnstein pointed out both robot sales and non-farm employment had been steadily rising before and again since the recession. "We've looked over a 20-year period and when robot sales are rising, unemployment is falling," he said, "both here and in most of the world." He also noted that even though there are cycles in industrial spending and employment, as indicated in the graph below, both robot sales and employment are steadily rising. "We can't conclude that robots are killing employment," Burnstein said. In fact, the opposite may be true, Burnstein added. "Robots are key factors for companies to stay competitive that otherwise might fail." And as companies thrive, he noted, they can expand and create new jobs. He gave as an example a supplier to the auto industry that found itself continually having to hire and train people for certain jobs, only to lose them later. When the company turned those jobs over to robots, Burnstein said, their business went up and they were able to hire new people to handle the expansion. A3 director of communications Bob Doyle acknowledged that with robots handling the repetitive jobs, the worker skills that industry needs have changed. "This is not your grandfather's factory anymore," Doyle said. "We did a survey and the big issue for companies is finding enough people to fill the jobs they have. These are not just engineering jobs but also tech support. There are 2.3 million jobs available but not the people being educated to fill those jobs." —Rich Quinnell covers industrial control for EE Times. Contact him at richard.quinnell@aspencore.com,
Robot workers in the manufacturing sector are not replacing human workers, rather they are helping companies expand and employ more staff, according to a report by the Association for Advancing Automation. In 2015, a new record of 14,583 robots were purchased by US firms, a 2% rise on H1 2016, with Automotive OEMs and component suppliers the driving forces behind the figures. The report also revealed that robots have become more attractive to small and medium-sized firms as they are easier to insert into workflow, while across the globe, "robot sales and employment are steadily rising."