Japan’s industrial robots hit a record high last year

[Global Scientific and Technological Report] According to Taiwan’s “China Times” news report on May 25, the Japan Robot Industry Association announced on the 25th that the domestic production volume of industrial robots in 2016 was 703.387 billion yen (approximately RMB 432.5). The growth rate was 3.3% in 2015. This is the first time that the domestic production volume of industrial robots in Japan exceeded 700 billion yen in nine years.

According to the report, despite the appreciation of the yen, although the production of robots has only grown slightly, due to the recovery of the US economy and the return of manufacturing industries, China’s willingness to invest in automation is high, prompting Japanese robot production to exceed 700 billion yen.

The Japan Robotics Industry Association set a production target of 750 billion yen for 2017, which is also the highest level in 11 years, and predicts that the livelihood of the robotics industry in Japan will continue.

In addition, the number of industrial robots produced in 2016 reached 17,460,000, an increase of 13.5% over the previous year, and it also set a new record. At the same time, shipments in 2016 increased by 4.8% from 2015, reaching 716.022 billion yen.

According to the analysis, sales of domestic industrial robots to the automotive industry remained stable, and display panels and robots for semiconductors also tend to resume delivery. Tax incentives and other policies have also played a role in improving production. In the overseas market, in addition to the smooth exports to the United States, the performance of China and Europe has also improved.

Nowadays, equipment investment in the world is expanding. In addition, emerging countries with many labor-intensive industries have adopted industrial robots to solve the shortage of manpower, which has increased the demand for robots. The Robotics Industry Association believes that this trend will continue in 2017 and the production volume will hit a record high. The highest record in the past was 730.3 billion yen in 2006.

This statistic is based on the statistics from the Japan Robot Industry Association's members and non-member Japan's 294 companies that selected 70 companies with robot production and shipment performance. (Internship Editor: Zhou Simin Review: Tan Liya)