Producers are contemplating extra robots corresponding to ABB’s YuMi, in response to ABI Analysis. Credit score: ABB
Simply over half of worldwide producers, or 53%, are within the early levels of adopting new industrial robotic {hardware}, in response to the newest “Industrial and Manufacturing Survey” by ABI Analysis. The worldwide know-how intelligence agency additionally discovered that 28% have already deployed robots inside their amenities.
The survey, performed between This autumn 2024 and Q1 of 2025 throughout the U.S., Germany, and Malaysia, discovered that producers consider that industrial robots are key to manufacturing methods to enhance high quality ranges. Forty p.c of respondents listed the adoption of robotics as a precedence for enhancing high quality, up from 34.1% within the earlier research.
Nineteen p.c of respondents mentioned they are going to take into account adopting industrial robots throughout the subsequent 5 years, whereas 33% will take into account the adoption of collaborative or cell robots throughout the similar timeframe.
“Adoption sentiment stays excessive throughout the assorted robotic type components, indicating that producers are conscious of some great benefits of automation and may establish aspects of their worth chains the place ROI [return on investment] could be delivered,” mentioned George Chowdhury, robotics business analyst at ABI Analysis.
“It’s essential to notice that these outcomes had been collected earlier than the current financial uncertainty,” he noticed. “Feasibly, if this survey had been performed as we speak, we might see an uptick within the variety of responders evaluating proofs of idea or contemplating adoption within the subsequent 12 months, according to reshoring expectations.”
Producers need to compensate for expertise hole
Survey respondents ranged from manufacturing engineers to C-level executives, with most members holding positions as IT managers and above when it comes to seniority. The responses had been break up equally between the three nations.
When queried, this group of producers claimed {that a} lack of information and inadequate time to implement new automation merchandise are the most important limitations to robotics adoption. An absence of the talents wanted use new applied sciences additionally ranked excessive as a priority.
Worry of substitute by automated programs was ranked low as a problem, mentioned ABI Analysis. Additional responses highlighted the significance of on boarding, ongoing help, synthetic intelligence, and open utility programming interfaces (APIs) as key product options for choice makers.
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Generative AI is seen favorably
The survey supplied perception into the notion of generative AI for manufacturing purposes. Fifty p.c of respondents agreed that generative AI can be utilized to optimize instrument paths, indicating a misalignment with the capabilities of AI-augmented robots and their supposed capabilities.
Optimizing instrument paths is a key functionality of ABB‘s Robotic Studio, NVIDIA‘s Isaac portfolio, and the choices of offline programming software program distributors corresponding to Visible Elements, Siemens, Dassault Systèmes, and Cenit. Against this, 63% of respondents acknowledged the worth of generative AI for predictive upkeep and 66% for optimizing manufacturing traces.
ABI mentioned these responses counsel that generative AI is taken into account an info know-how (IT) — used for planning and enhancing processes with knowledge — moderately than an operational know-how (OT) for optimizing machine conduct in actual time. Importantly, 62% of respondents agreed that generative AI can be utilized to plan, analyze, and optimize human-robot Interactions.
The survey discovered constructive attitudes amongst producers towards robotics and its skill to proceed augmenting the business. Nevertheless, the respondents had been much less conscious of the worth proposition of superior AI plus robotics, asserted ABI Analysis.
“There’s a massive disconnect right here between the perceived capabilities of AI-augmented robots and the brand new merchandise that innovators are bringing to market,” mentioned Chowdhury. “Repairing this notion, by educating the market of the capabilities of AI-augmented robots, have to be the No. 1 precedence of unique tools producers (OEMs) and programs integrators in the event that they want to see higher uptake of {hardware} and for the worth of recent robotics merchandise to be realized by the manufacturing market.”
These findings are from ABI Analysis’s Manufacturing Survey H2 2024 market report. This report is a part of the firm‘s Industrial, Collaborative & Industrial Robotics analysis service, which incorporates analysis, knowledge, and ABI Insights.