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MOTORINDIA
l
May 2012
Manfred Gundel, IFR Board Member and CEO,
KUKA Roboter Germany, commented: “The year 2011
was one of the most successful years in the history of
the KUKA Robot Group. We increased the turnover in
the robotics division again by 40%. With this regard,
China was the most rapidly growing robot market. In
2011, we saw a considerable increased demand among
all manufacturing industries after 2010 when the au-
tomotive industry was the main driver of the growth.
Therefore, we decided to increase our production ca-
pacities. The potential for robot use is enormous. I am
sure that the global mega trends like sustainability,
increasing industrialization and the demographic shift
will boost the robotics industry.”
Olaf C. Gehrels, President, FANUC Luxembourg
Corporation, said: “FANUC’s Robot Division in Eu-
rope has experienced a tremendous growth in 2011,
achieving record booking levels. Despite the sluggish
European econo-
mies,
demand
for yellow robots
continuous to be
high in the auto-
motive industry as well as in general industry, mak-
ing FANUC the preferred supplier in most European
markets. We forecast a further substantial growth for
2012 and beyond. To support our worldwide expan-
sion, FANUC Corp. Japan increased its robot produc-
tion platform in 2011 to a staggering level of 60.000
units per year.”
Manfred Stern, President & COO, Yaskawa Eu-
rope, Germany, observed: “2011 was a record year for
Yaskawa robots in terms of growth for both sales and
bookings. This global trend was also seen in Europe,
where our sales have grown in the range of some 40%.
The demand was mainly driven by the automotive sec-
tor, including Tier 1 customers. The demand for 2012
is still high despite of the softening of the general eco-
nomic environment. A significant growth is expected
from applications like packaging, picking and placing,
assembly, material handling and medical / life sci-
ence, based on our Dual Arm Robots and the recently
launched Delta Robot.”
Said Dr. Hans Schumacher, President & CEO, Dürr
Systems, Germany: “2011 was the best year of the
company history in all business sectors. In the area of
application technology, the company sold for example
1,800 painting and sealing robots; in the last years be-
fore, the number was on average 500-700. In addition,
we could report the sale of the 6,000th painting robot.”
Jeff Burnstein, President, Robotic Industries Asso-
ciation, USA, said: “The growing interest in automa-
tion, combined with the strengthening of North Ameri-
can manufacturing industries, particularly automotive,
contributed to a great year for the robotics industry.”
John Dulchinos, President & CEO, Adept Technol-
ogy, USA, commented: “I think another factor we saw
in 2011 was the decision by many US manufacturing
companies to keep manufacturing at home by automat-
ing, and in some cases, bringing back manufacturing
that had previously been sent overseas.”
Mike Bomya, President, Nachi Robotic Systems
Inc., USA, said: “For the worldwide group compa-
nies of Nachi-
Fujikoshi’s robot
division,
2011
continued
the
strong recovery
that commenced in 2010. Shipped units worldwide in-
creased nearly 80%, and in the North American region
the growth was over 70%. The automotive sector was
the most important driver for the improved turnover,
but emerging manufacturing economies also made sig-
nificant contribution. The general industry segment is
experiencing a good rebound and a growing accept-
ance of robotic solutions as a key to cost competitive
manufacturing. Our expectations for 2012 are quite
optimistic – for the North American market, new in-
vestments in Mexico will figure prominently in the
growth.”
IFR was established in 1987 in connection with the
17th International Symposium on Robotics as a pro-
fessional non-profit organisation by robotics organi-
sations from over 15 countries. Since 1970, an inter-
national symposium on robotics is organised every
year on a different continent, in a different country
and another city. The symposium is systematically
organised in conjunction with an International Robot
Exhibition.
w
events