Speciale EMO 2019

Speciale 30 segment, followed by machinery loading and unloading, with 24%, and palletisa- tion, with 17% (a significant increase on the 11.9% recorded in 2017). 87% of robots designed for manipulation are of the artic- ulated type. Last year 5,786 articulated ro- bots were consumed in Italy, 600 of them Cartesian and 462 Scara. The second largest application field is welding, which was up 8.1% on the pre- vious year, and accounts for 10% of total applications. Robots for welding are both produced domestically and imported, and a 37.6% growth was recorded in 2018, thanks to the increase both in spot-welding and arc-welding robots. They are articulat- ed robots. Installed assembly robots occupy third place on the applications podium are, which also grew (by 4%), up from 782 units in 2017 to 813 units last year. Those for mechanical/ connector assembly were down (from 270 to 237), while there was a growth in those for infeed and mounting (from 489 to 526 units). These were almost exclusively im- ported robots (articulated and Scara). saldatura sono sia prodotti sia importati, e nel 2018 si è registrato un aumento del 37,6%, grazie all’incremento sia dei robot per saldatura a punti sia ad arco. Si tratta di robot articolati. Sul gradino più basso del podio delle ap- plicazioni si collocano i robot per assie- maggio installati, anch’essi in crescita del 4%, passando dalle 782 unità del 2017 alle 813 unità dello scorso anno. In diminuzio- ne quelli dedicati all’assiemaggio mecca- nico/accoppiamento (da 270 a 237) mentre registrano una crescita quelli dedicati al solo inserimento, montaggio (da 489 a 526 unità). Si tratta quasi esclusivamente di ro- bot importati (articolati e scara). Dieci anni in crescendo Partendo da un’analisi di lungo periodo è possibile osservare l’andamento differen- te che hanno avuto i costruttori italiani di robot e gli importatori. I robot importati sono passati dalle 2.709 unità nel 2008 alle 7.819 nel 2018, facendo segnare un incre- mento annuo del 11,2%. Dopo la crisi del 2009, il trend è sempre stato positivo per gli importatori con l’eccezione di un lieve calo nel 2012. Al contrario i produttori na- zionali hanno seguito un trend altalenante nel periodo preso in considerazione, pas- sando dalle 2.864 unità nel 2008 alle 3.460 unità nel 2018 con quindi un incremento del 1,9%. Dopo il picco riscontrato nel 2015 The world market Statistics provided by the World Robotics Report published by the IFR (International Federation of Robotics) reveal that last year set a new record, with 384,000 units installed: a growth of 1% on the previous year. This means that as things currently stand, annual sales volumes for industrial robots have now grown for six consecutive years (2013-2018). However, the growth pattern recorded last year by Italy was not repeated everywhere in the world. Average levels were brought down in particular by China which saw a decline of nearly 5,000 units. Korea also recorded a slowdown, while in Taiwan volumes were only slightly up on 2017. Last year’s best performances were recorded in Europe, where there was a 7% growth, and in America, with a 6% growth. Although the gap in absolute values between these two western areas and Asia is a considerable one, it is also true that around one third of the 384,000 new robots registered in 2018 around the world are installed in China. Considering the number of robots per 10,000 staff (the so-called “labour intensity” statistic), Italy ranks well above the world average with a figure of 190, in line with the situation in the USA or Taiwan, and better than the situation in France, Spain and China. Ten years of growth A long-term analysis reveals the differ- ence in performance between Italian robot manufacturers and importers. Im- ported robots grew from 2,709 units in 2008 to 7,819 in 2018, an annual growth rate of 11.2%. After the downturn of 2009, the trend was always positive for import- ers with the exception of a slight fall-off in 2012. Meanwhile, performance among Italian manufacturers fluctuated in the period under consideration, growing from 2,864 units in 2008 to 3,460 units in 2018, a growth of 1.9%. After the peak re-