Applications: The rapid rise of welding and stacking

According to Interact Analysis’s Industrial Robots research report, welding and material handling are the two largest downstream applications for industrial robots. In 2023, more than half of global industrial robot sales will come from these two main applications, with the majority coming from heavy-duty multi-jointed robots. In contrast, cobots deployed in welding scenarios accounted for only 4.9% of total cobot revenue in 2022, and this proportion increases to 5.6% in 2023.

The huge growth potential of collaborative robots in welding applications is beginning to emerge. The quality consistency of manual welding is poor and the working environment is harsh, which makes welding the main factor affecting the overall quality results of the production line, and it is also the most difficult to recruit workers. In small factories, flexible and easily deployable cobots can be used to weld small workpieces, while on large assembly lines, complex workpieces can also be welded by combining multiple cobots or using a combination of cobots and skilled workers.

QAIO-164-A Collaborative palletizing has also become a hot topic, with a significant increase in simple palletizing applications for collaborative robots, as well as an increase in applications with loads greater than 10kg in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries last year.

Sales channels: The proportion of direct customers is growing

Sales channels for cobots can be divided into direct sales and distribution networks (through distributors or system integrators). As the majority of customers are smes, distribution networks contribute more than 90% of total market sales by 2020. Direct sales mainly target large customers in key industries, but due to the wide coverage and geographical distribution of the robot market, relying on direct sales alone does not best meet user needs. Distributors are typically system integrators with an engineering background who provide automation solutions paired with robots to customers in different industries.

The distribution model can quickly establish a sales network to occupy the market. However, robot manufacturers should not rely too much on the sales and technical support capabilities of distributors, and ensure that they have a deep understanding of the actual needs of downstream customers. In order to establish a deeper connection with customers and understand their practical application needs, the proportion of direct sales has increased rapidly in recent years, and it has become an important trend for robot manufacturers to work with customers to create different scenarios and use cases.

Direct selling enables robot manufacturers to provide the right solution based on a customer’s specific needs, discover the right application for a cobot in a scenario, and think together with the customer about how best to use the cobot. By working closely with customers, robot manufacturers can also improve customer retention and loyalty. For different application scenarios, semi-customized products or secondary development can also be more suitable.

QAIO-164-A Write at the end

By taking a comprehensive look at the global cobot market across multiple dimensions, we can clearly identify market changes and growth trends. We predict that the market will continue to expand and adapt to changing customer needs.

Cobot shipments are expected to grow strongly through 2028, and the price decline will slow as cobots become smarter and move toward larger loads. While the growth of the logistics sector is currently in the spotlight, growth is also expected to accelerate in the non-industrial sector, as well as in areas such as welding.

In order to fully tap the growth potential of various application areas, cobot manufacturers are striving to explore the market in multiple ways, such as listening closely to and responding to customer needs, developing new application scenarios, and working with distributors to build sales networks.