Producers are contemplating extra robots corresponding to ABB’s YuMi, in keeping with ABI Analysis. Credit score: ABB
Simply over half of world producers, or 53%, are within the early levels of adopting new industrial robotic {hardware}, in keeping with the most recent “Industrial and Manufacturing Survey” by ABI Analysis. The worldwide expertise intelligence agency additionally discovered that 28% have already deployed robots inside their amenities.
The survey, carried out between This autumn 2024 and Q1 of 2025 throughout the U.S., Germany, and Malaysia, discovered that producers imagine that industrial robots are key to manufacturing methods to enhance high quality ranges. Forty % of respondents listed the adoption of robotics as a precedence for enhancing high quality, up from 34.1% within the earlier research.
Nineteen % of respondents stated they are going to contemplate adopting industrial robots throughout the subsequent 5 years, whereas 33% will contemplate the adoption of collaborative or cellular robots throughout the identical timeframe.
“Adoption sentiment stays excessive throughout the varied robotic type elements, indicating that producers are conscious of the benefits of automation and may establish sides of their worth chains the place ROI [return on investment] will be delivered,” stated 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 carried out at present, we’d 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 wish to compensate for abilities hole
Survey respondents ranged from manufacturing engineers to C-level executives, with most contributors holding positions as IT managers and above by way of seniority. The responses had been cut up equally between the three nations.
When queried, this group of producers claimed {that a} lack of knowledge and inadequate time to implement new automation merchandise are the biggest obstacles to robotics adoption. A scarcity 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, stated ABI Analysis. Additional responses highlighted the significance of on boarding, ongoing assist, synthetic intelligence, and open software programming interfaces (APIs) as key product options for determination makers.
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Generative AI is seen favorably
The survey supplied perception into the notion of generative AI for manufacturing functions. Fifty % of respondents agreed that generative AI can be utilized to optimize software paths, indicating a misalignment with the capabilities of AI-augmented robots and their supposed capabilities.
Optimizing software 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. In contrast, 63% of respondents acknowledged the worth of generative AI for predictive upkeep and 66% for optimizing manufacturing strains.
ABI stated these responses counsel that generative AI is taken into account an info expertise (IT) — used for planning and enhancing processes with information — somewhat than an operational expertise (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 capacity to proceed augmenting the business. Nonetheless, 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,” stated Chowdhury. “Repairing this notion, by educating the market of the capabilities of AI-augmented robots, have to be the No. 1 precedence of authentic gear producers (OEMs) and programs integrators in the event that they want to see larger uptake of {hardware} and for the worth of latest 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 & Business Robotics analysis service, which incorporates analysis, information, and ABI Insights.
