Recent Factory Automation News Items
, by Jim Ryan, 2 min reading time
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It looks like factory automation 4.0 (yes, 4.0) will require significantly more wireless technology, as Routeco and CoreTigo Engage in Partnership to Revolutionize UK Factory Automation, "shifting machines to wireless communication, and unbinding their full capabilities." However, hard-wired solutions have significant advantages, such as when a technician goes to switch out a component that was installed a year prior by some other technician using wifi. Possible headaches and downtimes lurk there, whereas cables take only seconds to connect and, it should go without saying, are more robustly connected than wifi connections. But just a moment. Wifi isn't vulnerable to welding slag. No, it isn't, but neither is Weld Dynamix's Activstone coated cables. Want to keep your current cables in place, rather than replace them? Then simply (really: simply!) cover them with Weld Dynamix's Activflex cable protection - in seconds and without disconnecting your cables!
In March, the number of robots working in automotive manufacturing exceeded one million. In the U.S.A., Germany, and Japan the "robot density" is about 1.5 robots per ten human workers, with China at about half that number and South Korea at double it at 3 robots per ten human workers. The article notes that "Ambitious political targets for electric vehicles are forcing the car industry to invest.
On that note, more robotic components will soon be needed across the factory automation industry more broadly, according to a new Interact Analysis report. "Updated research by Interact Analysis shows that revenues for the key components in industrial robots exceeded $10.5 billion in 2021, which has led the company to revise their forecasts upwards for the next 5 years. The key components considered in this research include motors, drives, precision gearboxes, robot controllers, teach pendants, sensors, end effectors and machine vision hardware. As a result of growing demand for industrial robots, the components in industrial robots market is predicted to be worth more than $18 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.7%." Focussing more narrowly on the weld cell market, we see some analysts estimating a doubling of the market size from $1.1B to $2.2B over the period from 2021 to 2031. (That article links to report available only by purchase.) Once again more narrowly, the proximity sensor market is forcast to go to $8.8B at 6.5% CAGR over the next ten years. Speaking even more narrowly, The Insight Partners offers a forcast of the inductive proximity sensors market through 2028 (report, and the forecast, available for purchase only, but think in the area of $2B/year).