The World Robotics Report 2016 released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) forecasts that compact, user-friendly collaborative robots will become a key driver in the automation market. 
The report predicts the worldwide annual sales of industrial robots to increase by at least 13 percent on average per year from 2017 to 2019.
Human-robot collaboration will have a ‘breakthrough’ in this period, enabling robots and humans to work safely side-by-side without any fences, while increasing production efficiency and quality.
“Universal Robots welcomes the report which confirms the validity of our mission: lowering barriers and enabling automation in areas previously considered too complex or costly,” says Universal Robots (UR) chief commercial officer Daniel Friis.
He adds that the company’s installed base of more than 10,000 cobots worldwide illustrates the dramatic growth potential of this game-changing automation technology. “We enable small and medium-sized enterprises to optimise their competitiveness on the global stage with an industry leading payback period.”
Industries predicted by IFR to adopt cobots at an increasing rate include automotive, the plastics industry, electronics assembly and the machine tool industry.
“UR robots are now increasingly deployed on the auto assembly line, working hand-in-hand with employees, by relieving them of ergonomically unfavourable tasks,” Mr Friis says. “We have recent case studies documenting how cobots quadrupled injection moulding production.”
Strong, continued robot growth is forecasted by IFR in Australia and the Asia region in particular, with the recent report suggesting a rise of 18 percent in robot supplies this year, while installations are expected to rise by 15 percent.
However, China is predicted to remain the main driver of robot growth, expanding its dominance with almost 40 percent of the global robot supply being installed in China by 2019.
According to Mr Friis, the demand for consumer goods across global markets is pushing manufacturers to produce innovative, high-quality products more quickly, consistently, and sustainably around the world.
