On the way to the next record

"The robotics and automation industry is on course for growth," says Frank Konrad, Chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation. "In 2023, the previous record result from 2018 of 15.1 billion euros is likely to be significantly exceeded again with an expected turnover of 16.2 billion euros. The market situation is currently characterized by full order books. Suppliers have built up large order backlogs during the pandemic, which are now gradually being processed as bottlenecks in the supply chains ease. This means that our industry is finally leaving the pandemic behind."

Sales growth in the sub-sectors

The sub-sectors of robotics and automation also developed positively in 2022: the machine vision sector grew by 11%, with industry sales reaching 3.4 billion euros. Integrated Assembly Solutions recorded an increase in turnover of five percent to 7.4 billion euros. Turnover in robotics rose by one percent to 3.5 billion euros. Machine vision is forecasting an increase of seven percent for 2023, which corresponds to sales of EUR 3.6 billion. In integrated assembly solutions, the industry expects turnover to increase by 17% to EUR 8.7 billion. In robotics, growth of twelve percent to 3.9 billion euros is expected.

Robotics and automation on the rise worldwide

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), around half a million industrial robots were installed worldwide in 2022 - around twice as many as seven years earlier. The international automation race is reflected in the robot density of national economies: with 322 units per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry, China has already overtaken the United States (274 units) in 2021. According to a current forecast by VDMA Robotics + Automation, China will overtake Germany in terms of robot density as early as 2023 and thus have a higher degree of automation.

Transformation drives demand

Automation will play a key role in both the manufacturing industry and the service sector in Germany in the future. Today, 70 percent of the overall economic value added is generated by the service sector. Service robotics is urgently needed here in order to remain productive despite staff shortages, for example with laboratory automation.

The demand for robotics and automation in manufacturing is also being driven by strong transformation trends: For example, the automotive industry is currently developing new production technologies for electric cars. The expansion of renewable energies for climate protection requires the cost-effective and highly automated mass production of green tech products such as fuel cells. Across all sectors, the aim is to operate more sustainably, produce competitively in Europe and compensate for the shortage of skilled workers.