British robot facts 1996

Citation

(1998), "British robot facts 1996", Industrial Robot, Vol. 25 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.1998.04925bab.002

British robot facts 1996

British robot facts 1996

OverallAs seen in Figure 1, the total number of robots installed in the UK in 1996 was 1,116. This is an increase on 1995 of 41 per cent and is a record year for the UK, beating the last record in 1994 by 30 units. In addition, 165 machines were sold for export and therefore the total sales by companies located in the UK was 1,281 units.

The total accumulated sales of robots reached 11,183 units. The BRA started collecting statistics in 1979 and obviously some of the early units are no longer in service.

In an attempt to estimate the true robot population, the UN, in their statistics, use a measure of operational stock. To produce this measure it is assumed that all robots installed over 12 years ago have been retired. The UK operational stock for 1996 would therefore be 8,751 machines which is an increase of 5.3 per cent from 1995.

Figure 1 Robotic facts 1996 - year on year number of machines sold

The robot system sales estimated from the robot costs was £70 million in 1992; £63 million in 1993; £126 million in 1994; £101 million in 1995; and £150 million in 1996.

The gross fixed investment in plant and machinery (source: Office for National Statistics) appears to show a general decline since 1989. The data indicate the decline is close to the low point and therefore, we should expect growth in future years. These data generally indicate that investment in robot systems, which has grown over the same period, is becoming a more important element of the plant and machinery sector. In 1996 robot systems accounted for 1.7 per cent of total investment as compared to 1992 where robot systems accounted for 0.7 per cent.

Industry analysis

The automotive industry continues to be the most significant user of robots with 53 per cent of the installations for 1996. The number of installations for 1996 shows a 50 per cent growth over 1995. 1994, however, remains the record year.

There has been significant growth in rubber and plastics applications since last year. The 262 installations provide 23 per cent of the total growth of 330 per cent. The rubber and plastics and automotive sectors dominate the user sectors with a combined total of 77 per cent of 1996 installations and 63 per cent of the cumulative sales.

The food, drink, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors are demonstrating growth, albeit from a low base. Similarly, mechanical engineering shows consistent growth over the last three years. Electrical and electronic engineering has consolidated its position as the third largest sector. However, there was no growth in 1996 despite overall market growth. In contrast, the metal and metal goods manufacturing sector has declined since 1995.

Application analysis

Spot welding is still the largest application with a 30.7 per cent share. Not surprisingly the trend in spot welding closely follows the automotive sector share. However, arc welding applications have declined over the last three years and are now in third place with 12.6 per cent of the total.

Injection moulding has recovered to 25.8 per cent of the total with the growth closely following the growth in the installations reported for the rubber and plastics sector. There has been a significant change in assembly applications, from 0 in 1995 to 41 in 1996. However, this may be due to the reporting of the data as the handling/palletising total has declined. Overall, the machine loading assembly and handling/palletising applications show reasonable growth.

For further details contact The Association for Robotics & Automation, Aston Science, Park, Love Lane, Birmingham B7 4BJ. Tel: 0121 628 1745; Fax: 0121 628 1746; Internet: http://www.bra-automation.co.uk; Email: bra@globalnet.co.uk