Automation plays a vital role in the manufacturing sector, particularly in automobiles, by ensuring timely and accurate delivery of quality products of any kind. As time is most precious, companies all over the world are investing more in automation to meet the mass production targets without any human error.
The developed economies like the US, the European Union and the world’s second largest economy China bet heavily on automation. Any one visiting a Chinese vehicle plant can see more robots than human heads handling operations. Though considered a toddler, the Chinese robot industry is growing and has proved the world’s largest robot market where many foreign enterprises are scrambling for a piece of the pie.
According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), China accounts for a quarter of global sales of industrial robots, and the total supply of industrial robots within the country during 2010-2014 increased by about 40 per cent on an average. This rapid Chinese development is unique in the history of robotics, and no other country has achieved this rate of growth in so short a period.
The robot industry is central to the ‘Made in China’ 2025 strategy designed to promote hi-end manufacturing. Even then, in 2014 there were only 36 robots in China for every 10,000 employees as compared to 478 in South Korea, 292 in Germany, and 164 in the US. Hence their is plenty of scope for robots sales in China.
In this changing scenario, the Indian manufacturing sector, more particularly the automotive industry, should necessarily strive to go in for more automation in order not only to enhance the quality and accuracy of products turned out but also raise the overall standard to the world level. Today the customer demands more quality products than low-cost products.