The disruptions in the field of collaborative robots are truly set to elevate industrial automation to a new level. The collaborative robot market analysis by BIS Research projects the market to reach $9,137.9 million by 2024, in terms of value, growing at a CAGR 58.79% during the period 2019-2024.

BIS Research has been tracking the emerging trends in technologies in the robotics domain over a period of time. In the light of the recent strategic developments in the collaborative robotics sphere, we at BIS Research have compiled a set of questions, along with their answers straight from our principal analyst, Rahul Papney in the robotics domain. The answers also include the viewpoint of the principal analyst on the revolutionary outcomes that these developments are expected to have on the market: -

Q1. Ford is using cobots to ensure every Ford Fiesta has a perfect finish. Ford is adamant that the cobots are not replacing employees but allowing them to use their time for more complex tasks and avoid suffering strains associated with performing repetitive tasks.What is your take on that?

Ans:- Yes, it was a myth that cobots would cut down the jobs in the market. Cobots have in turn given rise to new jobs in manufacturing companies. Companies which are adopting cobots have experienced the increase in the production through speeding up the process along with ensuring the security of workers working around it.

Q2. What is your view on the trends in the global collaborative robot market across different regions?

Ans:- Currently, Europe has the largest market share globally. This growth is mainly attributed to the rising demand for collaborative robots from various countries such as the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, and Poland, among others. On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific collaborative robot market has been experiencing rapid growth since the past few years (2014-2018) owing to the rise in demand for automation solutions. The robust growth rate of Asia-Pacific market is mainly due to the increased utilization of industrial automation solutions among SMEs. The growth of the region is expected to be mainly driven by the increasing focus of countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and India on increasing their manufacturing capabilities.

Q3. FANUC and Soft Robotics recent partnership offers an opportunity to accelerate adoption of soft robotic grippers. What is your take on the growth of additional accessories such as grippers related to collaborative robot?

Ans:- As the demand for collaborative robot is increasing on a yearly basis, this has also created a thrust for robotic grippers and accessory manufacturers. The collaborative robot manufacturer is moving toward providing the complete collaborative robot solutions including accessories and grippers. For this, the cobot manufactures are adopting inorganic growth strategies such as partnership and collaboration to enhance product portfolio. This helps the end users in easily integrating the cobots with accessories.

Q4. What are the major challenges inhibiting the growth of collaborative robot market, globally?

Ans:- The major challenges inhibiting the growth of collaborative robots is lack of comprehensive regulatory and compliance standards. In 2016, ISO developed standards for collaborative robots named ISO 15066 after rigorous negotiations between authorities and industry players. Although most of the regulations were accepted by the industry, a large section of industry people were skeptical about the implementation of these regulations. The regulatory framework and compliance issues present an obscure picture of the collaborative robot market in the developing countries where conservationism also plays a significant part in the policies. The price of cobots, which could be considered a challenge, are on the decline, enhancing their adoption in large organizations with large budgets.

Q5. Yaskawa Electric Corp. last week announced its new MOTOMAN-HC20DT collaborative robot arm that has 20kg capacity, against the background of a labor shortage that is worsening due to a decline in the working-age population. What major opportunities do the collaborative robot companies foresee in the next five years?

Ans:- Currently, the availability of skilled labor is one of the biggest challenges being faced by most of manufacturing industries. It is a challenge for companies around the world to find adequate highly skilled employees who have the desired skillset required in the overall manufacturing process. This challenge mainly arises due to decline in the size of the available workforce due to shrinking population levels in the western world mainly because of the rise in aging population. Countries such as Italy and Japan have the largest aging population (65 years of age or more). Japan's population, at present, consists of the largest number of old citizens, worldwide. In 2014, approximately 25.8% of the country's population was aged 65 years or more, which increased to 26.3% in 2015, and is predicted to increase to nearly one-third of the Japan's population by 2030. Since the working population in such countries is on a declining stage therefore there is a rise in the opportunities for the collaborative robot companies in these countries in the coming years.

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