North America Collaborative Robots Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The North America Collaborative Robots Market is expected to reach a CAGR of 19.22% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown restriction imposed in North America have affected capital investments and industrial activities across the region. Following the global economic recession led by COVID-19, the collaborative robot market in North America also has witnessed a mixed impact in Q1 2020. Most enterprises operating in the end-user industries (majorly manufacturing, automotive) had shuttered down their production sites due to lockdown restrictions.

• As the region is continuously fighting the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, robotics and automation play a crucial role in safeguarding the people and processing the supplies that people need as they are shifting toward remote working and home learning. Automation is considered to be on the front lines in the battle against the pandemic. The robots are helping in disinfecting the hospitals. Autonomous deliveries from the robots are bringing supplies to people as they are adopting social distancing. Moreover, automated workstations are speeding up the work of pharmaceutical companies.
• Moreover, Canada is witnessing the significant deployment of collaborative robots in its industrial sector, especially in the automotive sector. For instance, collaborative robots are being employed by global companies, such as Magna International Inc. and Linamar Corp., where they perform tasks, such as visual inspection of parts or picking out components on an assembly line, tasks that might be boring to humans but until now were far too complex for machines.
• Furthermore, Universal Robots conducted America’s largest virtual collaborative robot expo and conference in July 2020. The company said that it is witnessing an uptick in the interest for collaborative robots by multiple clients, owing to the social distancing requirements, reshoring to avoid long supply chains and the need for rapid production line change-overs, thus showcasing how these collaborative robots can play a crucial role in helping manufacturers successfully navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Moreover, in January 2020, FANUC America, one of the prominent suppliers of robotics, CNCs, Robomachines, and Industrial IoT solutions, demonstrated the new DR-3iB food-grade delta robot and the M-410iC/110 palletizing robot at the International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE) held in January 2020. The company’s new DR-3iB/8L food-grade delta robot primarily uses 2D iRVision and iRPickTool line tracking software to pick randomly oriented packages of chicken from a continuous infeed conveyor. The robot is also equipped with a multi-pick gripper that can pick up three packages and place them into a box on a fixed outfeed station to simulate case packing.

Key Market Trends

Material Handling is Expected to Witness Significant Growth

• Material handling is forecast to occupy a majority share of the global collaborative robot market since it is implemented in many end-use industries. For instance, demand for high speed and precision work fulfilled by collaborative robots benefits the electronics and semiconductors industry on a large scale.
• With e-commerce generates the greatest Y-o-Y growth of all retail industries in the United States. More warehousing space is being built in the region than projected warehousing jobs are required to fill that space.
• The trend of online returns has also been accelerated in recent years and is increasing each holiday season, impacting the National Returns Day, which is known as the busiest day for holiday returns in the United States, United Parcel Services estimated handling a record 1.9 million packages on January 2, 2020, a 26% increase over the 2018 post-holiday season. Such trends are highlighting the demand for material handling cobots.
• Technological advancements enhance the capabilities of material handling cobots. Not only are human workers able to work side-by-side with material handling cobots in collaboration, new exoskeleton technologies allow them to be worn by human workers.
• Full-body exoskeletons, designed to lift heavy payloads of up to 200 pounds, are worn by humans to provide additional strength and endurance for repetitive tasks involving heavy tools or components. The exoskeleton is controlled using advanced actuators, sensors, and materials coupled with highly-sophisticated software control algorithms.
• Initially, cobots were typically associated with small payloads and lightweight applications, but they are getting stronger every day, and some are already capable of handling the heavy-duty payloads and applications that were traditionally thought of as being beyond cobot capabilities.
• In March 2020, the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America Inc. released the new 20-kg payload Model HC20XP collaborative robot with 1700-mm reach. It is the industry’s first IP67-rated collaborative robot, which makes it ideal for a broad range of material-handling, machine-tending or assembly tasks. It can provide continuous use in damp or splash-prone environments. NSF H1 food-grade grease is included as standard, enabling use in settings where there is a possibility of incidental food contact.

United States is Expected to Account for Major Market Share

• The North American region is among the leading innovators and pioneers in terms of the adoption of robotics, as well as one of the largest markets. The primary reason for the growth of the market is the increasing adoption of these collaborative robots across numerous industries.
• Moreover, there has been significant adoption of robotic surgery in the United States. The annual procedure volume for robotic surgery is greater than 5,00,000 in the United States. In order to build brand image and competitive advantage, robotic surgery has become the most rapidly adopted medical device over the past two decades. This is likely to fuel the need for robots in the medical and healthcare sector in the region.
• According to the International Federation of Robotics, in the American region, the growth rate of robots witnessed an increase of 20% compared to the previous year, which marked a new record level for the sixth consecutive year.
• According to HMC Investment Securities, the sales of collaborative robots in the United States will witness significant growth during the forecast period, which is expected to reach 134.40 thousand units in 2025 from 11.55 thousand units in 2018, owing to the widespread of adoption of collaborative robots in various fields, especially in the industrial segment where the Industry 4.0 is gaining transformation in the country for industrial operation and smart factory. The collaborative robots help in increasing productivity and improving utilization by integrating robotics and automation to assist humans.
• The primary driver for the growth of robots in the region is the manufacturing industries in the United States that are currently under the ongoing trend to automate their production processes, in order to strengthen the US industries in both domestic and international markets.
• The government in the region is also encouraging the adoption of robotics by taking initiatives to support the development of modern technologies in the robotics market. For instance, the US Federal Government has commenced a program called the National Robotics Initiative (NRI) to bolster the capabilities of building domestic robots in the country and encourage the research activities in the field.

Competitive Landscape

The collaborative robotics market is fragmented and comprises several companies vying for attention in a fairly contested market space. Further, companies' strategic decisions, such as new product launches, investments, and collaborations, are expected to change the competitive landscape. For instance, in April 2020, Omron Automation Americas released the new TM Series Collaborative Robot. The probability of new players entering the market is moderately high during the forecast period, further intensifying the market competition. Due to all the factors mentioned above, the intensity of competitive rivalry is rated high, and it is expected to remain the same during the forecast period

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