With the application of a series of cutting-edge technologies, the repetitive mechanical work in the manufacturing industry tends to be more and more intelligent development. Among them, industrial robots assume a crucial role in intelligent manufacturing, which improves manufacturing efficiency, reduces labor costs and improves labor conditions. Recently, AiRui Consulting released the "2023 China Industrial Robot Industry Research Report", which analyzes the development environment, industry chain status and future trends of industrial robots.
01
Development Environment
According to the definition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an industrial robot is a multifunctional mechanical structure that is applied in the field of industrial production lines, automated and controlled by inputting programs, and can be reprogrammed.
In the short term, after the epidemic, China's manufacturing industry is recovering rapidly, and the digital upgrading of the industry can not be separated from the help of industrial robots; in the long term, the disappearance of the demographic dividend, the policy vigorously support, the combination of emerging technologies and robots will become the main driving force for the high-speed growth of China's industrial robots.
Specifically, in terms of demand, the manufacturing industry, the potential age of the labor force continues to decrease leading to labor costs, "machine for man" has become a general trend. At the same time, the development of cutting-edge technology also promotes industrial robots towards high-end, intelligent upgrade, can complete the production work in high-risk environments, in improving efficiency has obvious advantages. In addition, with the enhancement of the scale of robot production, the manufacturing cost will also be significantly reduced.
In terms of policy, in January 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other seventeen departments issued the "Robot +" Application Action Implementation Program, which proposed that by 2025, the density of manufacturing robots doubled compared to 2020, and the depth and breadth of application of service robots and special robots in the industry were significantly increased, and the ability of robots to promote The ability of robots to promote high-quality economic and social development has been significantly enhanced.
In terms of technology, machine vision, sensors and other technologies are being deeply combined with industrial robots to promote their usability and ease of use. In addition, AI, cloud computing and other technologies are pushing industrial robots to further expand the boundaries of their capabilities, with easy control, intelligence and interconnection becoming the new direction.
02
Industry chain status
At present, domestic industrial robot products are mainly dependent on imports, and their density still has room for improvement compared with that of developed countries.
From the point of view of the domestic industrial chain, the upstream core components are highly concentrated and the industry is closed. Among them, the high-end market is absolutely monopolized by foreign brands, and the bargaining power of foreign manufacturers is strong, resulting in high costs for domestic robot manufacturers.
For example, the controller directly determines the robot body trajectory, position, attitude, speed, acceleration, operation sequence and time of action, etc., the gap between domestic and foreign controllers lies in the underlying algorithms of the software, the degree of hardware adaptation; servo system is mainly composed of drives, motors, encoders, with a fast response time, high precision, stability and other characteristics, the core technology in the hands of foreign companies; reducer used to Reduce speed, increase torque, is to ensure the smooth and accurate operation of the robot is the key. China's speed reducer in the basic materials, product design, production process and other aspects of the problem.
The midstream robot body market pattern is concentrated, with foreign brands accounting for more than 70%. In the industrial field, the product development logic needs to take into account the performance stability and application scene adaptability, the current industrial robot market as a whole presents a very high product consistency. Therefore, local enterprises after the price war, advantageous industry channel competition and other fierce competition, attempts to expand new business through research and development of new products, increase the breadth of product coverage, such as the layout of medical, educational robots and other consumer-grade areas.
The market pattern of downstream system integrators is relatively decentralized. System integrators are responsible for the secondary development of various application scenarios for the robot body and the integration of peripheral automation equipment, which helps the robot to be applied in specific production scenarios. In recent years, the more popular system integrators include machine vision, 3D sensors and so on.
In front of the challenge, some domestic enterprises with technological advantages have launched a number of mature application programs through independent innovation and research and development in response to market demand.
03
Development trend
Compared with developed countries, the domestic industrial robot application density is lower, but the momentum of increase in recent years. It is reported that between 2016 and 2021, the domestic robot density CAGR reached 37.9%, ranking first in the world.
Influenced by the "Robot +" Application Action Implementation Plan and global economic de-globalization, China's industrial robot market may grow steadily at a relatively stable growth rate. According to Avery Consulting forecast, China's industrial robot ownership will exceed 1.5 million units in 2023, and is expected to maintain steady growth in the next three years.
Under the continuous empowerment of AI, cloud computing, big data and other cutting-edge technologies, the future of industrial robots will develop in the direction of intelligence, flexibility and platformization. Among them, intelligence is reflected in decision-making, algorithms, self-monitoring, etc.; flexibility is manifested in the ability to use the same production line to produce different categories, styles and sizes of products; platform helps to reduce the threshold for the use of industrial robots to achieve the purpose of rapid deployment, flexible application and cost reduction.
In summary, the domestic industrial robots in recent years has increased momentum, although the application density is low, but the upper middle and lower a line, the future traction of the industry back more and more. Not only is limited to industrial robots itself, its derivatives of more lines of industry will also bring more opportunities. For example, the current industrial robotics industry, the lack of high-end engineers, guide car robotics technology to seize the opportunity to respond to the national call to train professional industrial robotics engineers. The "wave" is not only the domestic industrial robots, but also set off a wave of intelligent manufacturing.