Blogs

Strategic emerging industries have always occupied the core position of the Industrial layout of various countries because of their strategic leadership, economic dominance, and technological conductivity. In the long run, it is my country’s long-term goal to make strategic emerging industries bigger and stronger. The robot industry is worth continuing look good.

From the perspective of macro data, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently announced the operating income of China’s Robot Industry in 2021. The data shows that the overall revenue exceeds 130 billion yuan. Among them, the output of industrial Robots reached 366,000 units, an increase of 10 times compared with 2015. China still ranks first in the world. A large Industrial Robot market, the scale of the robot industry is growing rapidly.

The preliminary statistical data released by IFR on September 20, 2022 also indicated that China’s industrial robot market in 2021 has achieved growth, and the overall installed capacity has increased by 44% year-on-year to 243,300 units, a record high, which is also recognized in this data report It shows the resilience of the Chinese economy and the strong possibility of the robot market. “After the Covid-19 pandemic, China led the global recovery and accounted for half of the global robot installations in 2021. China still has high growth potential.” International Federation of Robotics President Marina Bill said.

According to data from IFR and the Institute of Electronics, it is expected that the Chinese industrial robot market will continue to grow in 2022, reaching a market size of US$8.7 billion. It is expected that the market size will reach US$11.5 billion in 2024, with a two-year compound growth rate of 15%.

　　▍Continuous optimization of downstream industrial structure

Behind the rapid development of China’s robot market, it benefits from the continuous improvement of the demand for smart manufacturing upgrades in downstream advantageous industries.

From the perspective of downstream industries, the current top three downstream application markets for industrial robots in the world are the electrical and electronics industry, the automotive industry, and the metal machinery and machinery industry. According to the data released by IFR, these three major industries have steadily occupied more than 60% of the global industrial robot downstream market in the three years from 2019 to 2021. Under the trend of globalization and consumption upgrading, these industries are constantly increasing the demand for automation equipment such as robots to further improve their own competitiveness. At the same time, the demand for chemical, petroleum and other application markets is increasing, which also drives the continuous growth of the industrial robot market.

The data shows that at present, my country’s consumer electronics production and sales scale ranks first in the world, and it is an important global manufacturing base for consumer electronics products. Most of the world’s major electronics production and foundry companies have set up manufacturing bases and R&D centers in China. About 80% of the world’s personal computers, more than 65% of smartphones and color TVs are produced domestically, creating about 4 million direct jobs, and more than 10 million employees in related supporting industries.

Wang Weiming, Director of the First Division of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced at a recent meeting that in 2021, industries related to strategic emerging industries in China’s equipment industry will achieve operating income of 20 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.58%. Among them, the number of cars increased from 120 million in 2012 to 310 million. From January to July this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country completed 3.279 million and 3.194 million respectively. The production and sales of new energy vehicles ranked first in the world for 7 consecutive years. First, China’s new energy vehicles are going global.

Qiao Yueshan, director of the electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced that from 2012 to 2021, the average annual growth rate of the added value of my country’s electronic information manufacturing industry will reach 11.6%, and the operating income will increase from 7 trillion yuan to 14.1 trillion yuan. The proportion of operating income has remained the first for 9 consecutive years; the total profit reached 828.3 billion yuan. Among them, the supply capacity of smart terminal products such as mobile phones, color TVs, computers, and wearable devices has grown steadily, and the trend of upgrading internal and external demand is obvious.

The IFR report also recognized China’s achievements in smart manufacturing upgrades. “Growth was strong across all industries, especially in the electrical and electronic products industry, where the installed capacity of industrial robots reached 81,600 units, an increase of 30% year-on-year. The automotive industry also benefited from a strong recovery in China’s electric vehicle manufacturing. It is in In 2021, an increase of 89%, the installed capacity will reach 50,700 units.” Marina Bill said.

Guo Shougang, deputy director of the first equipment industry department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, revealed that driven by demand, the scale of my country’s robot industry is still growing rapidly. Among them, the application of industrial robots has covered 60 major industries and 168 industries in the national economy. According to statistics from relevant agencies, the density of robots in my country’s manufacturing industry will reach more than 300 per 10,000 people in 2021, an increase of about 13 times compared to 2012.

In terms of robot density, this means that China still has a lot of potential for further growth. Ten years ago, China’s industrial robot density was only 15 units per 10,000 people. In 2020, the density will reach 246 units per 10,000 people, ranking ninth in the world. There is still a certain gap from some developed countries.

Judging from the data on the operation of the national economy in the last quarter released by the National Bureau of Statistics, strategic emerging industries and products represented by high-tech manufacturing, new energy vehicles, solar cells, and industrial robots are growing rapidly. , strategic emerging industries such as robotics have begun to play a leading role, and have become a strong support for ensuring the smooth operation of the industrial economy and stabilizing the macroeconomic market under the “triple pressure” of the macro economy.

　　▍Blooming in more fields of application

For a long time, robots have been hailed as “the jewel at the top of the crown of the manufacturing industry”. Its R&D, manufacturing, and application are important symbols to measure a country’s technological innovation and high-end manufacturing level. Guo Shougang introduced that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country’s robot industry has developed vigorously, which is greatly changing people’s production and lifestyle, and injecting strong momentum into economic and social development.

For example, in terms of market applications, service robots and special robots have shown their talents in education, medical care, logistics and other fields, and have continuously bred new industries, new models and new formats. internet technology companies such as Ali and Meituan have also begun to Display automatic delivery vehicles and delivery drones, realizing automated delivery through intelligent scheduling, and further improving the efficiency of traditional logistics and other processes. According to data from Tianyancha, as of now, there are more than 439,000 service robot-related companies in my country, of which more than 79,000 newly registered companies will be registered from January to August 2022. Software products and solutions for typical application scenarios in fields such as education, finance, energy, medical care, and transportation continue to emerge.

The “China Robot Industry Development Report (2022)” issued by the Chinese Institute of Electronics pointed out that the scale of the robot market continues to grow rapidly, and the trend of robot + application expansion has formed. In the future, domestic robot technology will continue to integrate with thousands of industries. The breadth and depth of applications Expansion is accelerated, and the scale of the industry will continue to grow rapidly.

For example, in terms of technical level, significant progress has been made in the research and development of core components such as precision reducers, intelligent controllers, and real-time operating systems. Space robots, deep-sea robots, surgical robots and other high-complexity products have achieved important breakthroughs, collaborative robots and orthopedic surgical robots have reached the international advanced level, and 101 specialized, special and new “little giant” companies in the industry have accelerated their development and growth. “Robots are ‘showing their talents’ in more and more fields, constantly giving birth to new industries, new models and new formats.” Guo Shougang said.

In terms of supporting soft power, China’s innovation capability continues to improve.

Technological innovations in areas such as integrated circuits, new displays, and 5G communications are emerging intensively, and the pace of development in fields such as ultra-high-definition video, virtual reality, and advanced computing is further accelerated, product innovation iterations such as basic software, industrial software, and emerging platform software are accelerating, and supply capacity continues to grow. enhanced. Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said: “In recent years, the basic capabilities of China’s robotics industry have improved significantly, core components have achieved phased breakthroughs, and key technologies in core software represented by robot operating systems have made progress and have been practically applied.”

In terms of going global, Chinese robots have also shown great strength.

According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs, judging from the export volume of China’s robot industry from 2019 to 2021, it has shown a significant growth trend in the past two years. The export volume will reach 151,545 units in 2020 and 294,466 units in 2021, an increase of more than 90% compared with 2020. %. From January to April 2022, although the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Guangdong regions encountered different degrees of epidemic counterattacks in the first half of 2022, the export volume has been affected to a certain extent, but the total number of Chinese robot exports is 19,401 units, and exports are expected to increase in the second half of the year. scale.

From the perspective of exporting countries, among the exporting countries in 2021, South Korea, Germany and Thailand rank in the top three in terms of export value, accounting for 11%, 10% and 9% respectively. The report of “Korean Economics” on September 17 also proved this point. A new batch of “Made in China” characterized by high-tech content is occupying the commercial market of neighboring countries such as South Korea with its high cost performance. According to reports, the robots currently used in South Korean restaurants, production bases and logistics centers are “Made in China”. Robots such as Purdue Technology, Qinglang Intelligent, China Ecovacs, and Orion Star are widely known for their meal delivery, welcome, and guidance. Logistics robot companies such as Geek+ and Shanghai Kuaicang occupy more than 30% of the Korean warehouse market. share.

IFR believes that this is due to the fact that China is experiencing a process of population aging leading to labor shortages, thereby promoting the development of robot automation. At the same time, China’s continuous promotion of manufacturing automation policies has made China’s robot industry develop particularly rapidly.

“The five-year plan for the robotics industry released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in Beijing focuses on promoting innovation in the robotics industry and making China a global leader in robotics technology and industrial progress,” said Marina Bill, president of the International Federation of Robotics.

　　▍Industrial Chain Co-construction

In recent years, the development of my country’s robotics and other strategic emerging industries has begun to bear fruit, but we cannot ignore the long-term, arduous and complex nature of the process of replacing old and new kinetic energy. As pointed out in an article published by the “Seeking Truth” magazine, “A comprehensive analysis of the domestic and foreign situation shows that my country’s development is still in a period of important strategic opportunities at present and in the future, but there are new developments and changes in both opportunities and challenges”: In the past, we went with the trend, but now we have to go against the wind. In the past, the general environment was relatively stable, but now the world situation is turbulent and complex. Geopolitical challenges are high and stormy, and there are many hidden reefs and undercurrents, which put forward higher requirements for resilience.

It can be seen from the history of the three industrial revolutions that although new technologies have brought systematic and subversive changes to human society, the cultivation of new kinetic energy is not a one-off, sudden change process, but a cutting-edge technology that continues to burst and gradually affects society. The process of production.

Periodic fluctuations are unavoidable in this process of transformation from old to new. For example, in the first half of 2022, the ROA of listed companies in the industrial robot industry decreased by 1.2% to 0.6% compared with the same period in 2021; ROE decreased by 1.9% to 1.3%, and the inventory turnover rate also compared The same period in 2021 decreased by 0.24 to 1.18; the accounts receivable turnover ratio was 2.72, a decrease of 0.82 compared to the same period in 2021. The gross sales margin of the industry is 25.6%, a decrease of 2.4% compared with the same period in 2021; the net sales margin is 3.1%, a decrease of 4.8% compared with the same period of 2021, and the overall industry once experienced a volatility decline.

However, according to the ranking of the 100 occupations in the second quarter of 2022 released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the national recruitment is greater than that of job hunting and the “most lacking jobs” shows that the shortage of jobs in the manufacturing industry continues, such as “computer network engineering and technical personnel”, “industrial robot system operators” and so on. The shortage of workers increased. Among them, the gap of industrial robot system operators is more prominent. Data shows that the talent gap in China’s artificial intelligence robot industry alone is as high as 5 million (people), and compound talents and high-level talents are scarce.

As the management department of the robot industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Guo Shougang said that the next step of the work of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will be to fully implement the “14th Five-Year Plan” Robot Industry Development Plan to accelerate the high-quality development of the robot industry. Strengthen the convergence of policies, give full play to the role of coordination mechanisms, and jointly promote high-quality industrial development. In detail, there are four main points:

The first is to focus on consolidating the industrial foundation, carry out actions to improve the key foundation of robots, improve the standards, testing, and certification systems, support the joint research of industry, academia, and research, and accelerate the completion of industrial shortcomings such as special materials, core components, and processing technology, and create more high-end products. intelligent products.

The second is to actively expand industry applications. Implement the “robot +” application action, organize precise docking of production and demand, accelerate the popularization and promotion of mature scenarios, increase product innovation in emerging fields, strengthen featured applications in subdivided fields, and help digital and intelligent transformation and upgrading of various industries.

The third is to cultivate and expand high-quality enterprises. Support enterprises to deeply cultivate subdivided industries and accelerate their growth into specialized, special and new “little giant” enterprises. Encourage industry backbone enterprises to play a leading role in building an integrated development ecology for large and small enterprises in the fields of complete machines, parts and system integration.

The fourth is to create a favorable environment for development. Accelerate the training of professional and technical talents and compound high-end talents, increase the protection of intellectual property rights, cultivate a number of characteristic clusters with strong innovation capabilities and good industrial environments, and continue to create a market-oriented, legalized, and internationalized business environment.

These measures will also be implemented with the coordination of the industrial chain. For example, in the construction of the downstream industrial chain, the relevant person in charge also pointed out that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will optimize the layout of the new energy automobile industry chain, accelerate the development of domestic resources, improve the recycling system, improve the supply capacity of key parts and resource guarantee capabilities, and improve the construction of relevant systems. At the same time, accelerate the popularization and promotion of robots in mature scenarios.

At the same time, Guo Shougang also said that in the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will accelerate the popularization and promotion of robots in mature scenarios, and strengthen the application of special features in subdivided fields; support enterprises to deepen the cultivation of subdivided industries, and build large, medium and small The integrated development ecology of enterprises.

In addition, for relatively long-term industries such as medical robots, for example, there are more diversified and integrated measures to promote the development of the Robotic medical equipment industry. Wang Zhen, deputy director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that my country’s medical equipment industry has achieved rapid development. The market size will exceed one trillion yuan in 2021, and the average annual compound growth rate in the past five years will exceed 12%. “The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will encourage the exploration of multi-dimensional medical and industrial collaborative innovation models such as ‘medicine + industry’, ‘hospital + factory’, ‘doctor + engineer’; increase the development of digital and intelligent medical equipment, promote the pilot of ‘5G + medical health’, and support telemedicine , mobile medical care, smart medical care and other developments.” Wang Zhen said.

　Robot Market Demand

In 2021, the number of newly installed industrial robots in the world will increase by 31% year-on-year, reaching a record high of 517,385 units. As a result, growth was once again significantly stronger than initially estimated. The federation initially estimated that global robot sales would not exceed 500,000 units until 2024.

This means that global robot sales have more than doubled in the past six years. Sales in the robotics industry rose about 16 percent last year to $15 billion, according to industry estimates.

The robotics market, which had been stagnant in previous years, has now recovered, and there is additional demand for cheaper low-cost robots in new application areas outside the automotive industry. For example, these domains have lower requirements for accuracy. So these areas can sometimes use robots with a base price in the $10,000 range.

The International Federation of Robotics predicts that the number of newly installed robots worldwide may increase by 10% in 2022, reaching nearly 570,000 units. The post-pandemic boom will level off somewhat, but growth rates are also expected to be in the high single-digit percentage range for the next few years.

The industry is currently benefiting from several trends. With supply chains often disrupted, many companies are moving production closer to home. “There is hardly a company that is not paying attention to this issue,” said Sami Attia, head of technology at Swiss-based abb robotics. Due to high labor costs and a shortage of skilled workers, this reshoring of production is usually only possible through a higher degree of automation to achieve.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many industrial workers, especially in the United States, are looking for new jobs, but there are few qualified workers, Beeler said. That’s one reason the number of new robot installations in the U.S. rose 14 percent to 34,987 last year.

The market has high demand for robots, but manufacturers lack materials such as chips. “We’re seeing lead times of up to a year,” Beeler said. “That’s actually a bit bitter.” However, it also means that manufacturers are currently well-ordered and less dependent on economic fluctuations.

New robot models are often more flexible and easier to program. The robots can therefore also be used outside of the automotive industry, which has long been the most important buyer of heavy industrial robots.