Collaborative Robots Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Collaborative Robot Market size is estimated at USD 0.95 billion in 2023, and is expected to reach USD 2.41 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 20.50% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

Combining technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, the Internet of Things, computing power, and robotics enables a new generation of smart factories. Robotics and automation have changed significantly over the past few years. Increasing investment in advanced automation creates ample opportunities for cobots in a continuously growing range of industries such as electronics, automotive, food and metalworking, and material handling.

Key Highlights

• As robots work even more closely with humans, they must respond to the users and adapt their behaviors. Over the next few years, researchers are expected to recognize basic human behaviors and adapt these robots' actions to respond to them. Over the next few years, this would develop into much more advanced programs that could adapt to the needs of complex tasks.
• Edge computing is an interesting new approach to network architecture that helps businesses break beyond the limitations of traditional cloud-based networks. As innovative machines like autonomous robots and medical sensors become more common, edge computing will significantly impact society. Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) enable them to execute tasks accurately in a continuously changing environment. AI-integrated cobots help manufacturers in various applications that make operations run efficiently, smoothly, and productively. Cobots that are controlled by AI can tell which way materials are facing and if they are there. They can also test and inspect materials, pick and place tasks on the fly, read inspection results, and make decisions based on what they find.
• Industrial robots used in the automotive industry are more efficient and utilized cost-effectively owing to their increased speed, accuracy, precision, flexibility, and agility levels. The complexity of manufacturing passenger cars has increased over the past ten years. This has resulted in the use of robots in automation solutions for a significant portion of the manufacturing processes.
• The robots integrated with advanced technologies cost more than traditional robots. The costs of robotic systems are associated with robust hardware and efficient software. Automation equipment involves using advanced automation technologies that require a high capital investment. For instance, an automated system may cost millions of dollars for design, fabrication, and installation.
• The healthcare industry significantly realized the importance of automation and robots during the pandemic as the world witnessed a shortage in healthcare service providers. Moreover, the sudden surge in demand for medicines and vaccines also emphasized automation in pharmaceutical and manufacturing processes. In most hospitals, unpacking and sorting blood samples is a boring and time-consuming task that is done by hand.
• In the post-COVID-19 scenario, collaborative robots gained significant demand across all industries due to their capabilities and reduced cost. For instance, some fast-food chains and hospitals use these robots to conduct temperature tests and distribute sanitizers; groceries, food services, and restaurants have shifted to robots for food preparation and takeaway deliveries. Further, the warehousing and logistics industry is also shifting to collaborative robots to improve sorting, packaging, and shipping efficacy. Companies across all of these industries are increasingly looking into introducing automation at the workplace to comply with pandemic measures, reduce the risk of infection, and safeguard staff health.

Collaborative Robots Market Trends

Increasing Demand for Automation in Various Industrial Processes Drives the Market

• Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, organizations shifted towards automation and digitalization, which was expected to drive the demand for collaborative robots across various industries. Automation solutions can drive down the cost of deliveries dramatically. Supported by this are the robot innovations that are taking place, allowing enterprises in multiple industries to operate autonomously with augmented human capability and capacity.
• Longer training and onboarding, increasing benefits and compensation rates, and labor shortages are significant factors driving the deployment. More and more warehousing, distribution, and fulfillment facilities are investing in automated solutions. As technology improves and the applications become broader and more flexible, robotics is being adopted by many manufacturing operations across regions.
• For instance, in January 2022, ABB and a China-based automotive parts supplier, HASCO, partnered to build a joint venture to accelerate smart manufacturing in China's automotive industry. Through this partnership, the companies want to make AI and smart technologies more common in the automotive industry.
• Similarly, in January 2022, Fanuc, a collaborative robot supplier, expanded the operational space by almost double at the Michigan Campus to accommodate the demand for automation. Robots play a crucial role in industrial automation, with many core operations in industries being managed by them. Robots can take on complicated, repetitive tasks with accuracy, even in hazardous environments. For this very reason, they have been employed in manufacturing units across most industries. According to a study by UiPath, over 88% of organizations believe that automation will accelerate human achievement and be effective when it complements humans.
• Industrial robots used in the automotive industry are more efficient and utilized cost-effectively owing to their new levels of speed, accuracy, precision, flexibility, and agility. The complexity of manufacturing passenger cars has increased over the past ten years. As a result, robots are now used in automation solutions for a significant portion of manufacturing processes.

Asia Pacific is Expected to be the Fastest Growing Market

• The market for collaborative robots in Asia Pacific is expanding significantly due to the growing number of industries in the region and their integration with automation to increase ROI. With the number of cobots being made, sold, and traded in China going up, it is expected that China will be the biggest player in the Asia-Pacific collaborative robot market.
• As long as China keeps putting a high priority on industrial automation, its market for collaborative robots is bigger than those in EMEA and the Americas.For instance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in Beijing released the "14th Five-Year Plan" for Robot Industry Development, focusing on promoting innovations to make China a global leader in robot technology and industrial advancement by including it in 8 critical industries for the next five years. As a result, on April 23, 2022, the vital, one-of-a-kind program "Intelligent Robots" was launched under the National Key R&D Plan with a funding of USD 43.5 million.
• India's collaborative robot market is growing steadily because many processes in the Indian market are not clearly standardized and a large number of businesses continue to work in an unstructured way with lower levels of digitization than in other developed markets.Even though India is slow to adopt robots and collaborative robot technology, the IFR has said that it is one of the most promising markets for these technologies.
• With the expanding manufacturing sector, growing organized retail, expanding food and beverage production, and increasing trends in flexible and aseptic packaging, the packaging sector in Japan is well poised. For instance, Japan is expanding its plastic production in accordance with the New Plastics Economy Initiative. As a result, the growing packing industry is expected to create great growth opportunities for the collaborative robot market. This is because collaborative robots can do all the work of packaging and palletizing without any human help.
• The rest of the Asia-Pacific region includes nations such as South Korea, Australia, and all the Southeast Asian countries that are evolving as significant manufacturing hubs for multiple industries. For instance, considering South Korea is a "Top 5" manufacturing powerhouse in all primary manufacturing sectors, including automotive, electronics, semiconductors, machinery, and chemicals, as per IFR, demand from this solid manufacturing foundation has led the country to become a leading player in robotics as well, consistently ranking among the top 2 in robot density and making it very attractive to global robotics companies.

Collaborative Robots Industry Overview

The collaborative robot market is highly fragmented, despite the presence of major players like Universal Robots AS, Fanuc Corp., TechMan Robotics Inc., Rethink Robotics GmbH, and AUBO Robotics USA. Players in the market use partnerships, mergers, innovations, investments, and acquisitions to improve their products and gain a competitive edge that will last.

In February 2023, Rapid Robotics announced a new collaboration with Universal Robots (UR), in which UR would supply collaborative robot arms for Rapid Robotics' deployment of cobot work cells across North America. Through this agreement, the company would be able to remove more barriers to automation by filling positions that manufacturers can't fill with robots.

In November 2022, TechMan Robot Inc. introduced its TM AI Cobot series of collaborative robots, which combines a powerful and precise robot arm with a native AI inferencing engine and smart vision system. It is a series of intelligent robotic arms that come with a full set of AI software, such as TM AI+ Training Server, TM AI+ AOI Edge, TM Image Manager, and TM 3DVisionTM, which helps companies train and customize their systems to work perfectly with their applications.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support