Page 480 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

Sensors in Flexible Manufacturing Systems
minor, with 380 robots supplied in 2008, but it is growing in importance. 433
Turkey is becoming an attractive production site for the international
automotive industry, along with China, India, Malaysia, the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, and Iran. Exports of motor vehicles and automotive
parts are increasing rapidly. More motor vehicles are now assembled in
Turkey than in the United Kingdom or Sweden.
Total accumulated yearly sales, measured since industrial robots
started to be introduced in industry at the end of the 1960s, amounted
to more than 1,980,000 units at the end of 2008. Many of the early
robots, however, have by now been taken out of service.
The stock of industrial robots in actual operation is therefore
lower. The total worldwide stock of operational industrial robots at
the end of 2008 is estimated to be between 1,151,000 units, with a pos-
sible maximum of 1,350,000 units.
The average length of service life is 12 years. A pilot study has
indicated that the average service life might in fact be as long as 15
years, which would result in a worldwide stock of 1,350,000 units.
When the minimum 2008 stock of 1,151,000 units is compared
with the 1,116,400 units at the end of 2007, it represents an increase of
3 percent.
The world market for industrial robots is projected to increase
from 112,200 units in 2006 to 123,100 in 2008. From 2008, it will rise by
a yearly average of 4.2 percent to 139,300 in 2010, as shown Fig. 8.45.
In 2008, the worldwide supply of industrial robots has increase
by 10 percent. Investments by the automotive industry will be more
buoyant than in 2007: In Europe, increasing demand has already
been registered, especially in Central/Eastern Europe, Italy, Sweden,
and Germany. In North America, competition within the automotive
industry will cause robot purchases to rise again. Asian car suppliers

25000
20000

15000
10000
5000
0

Automotive parts Motor vehicles Chemical, rubber and plastics Electrical/Electronics Precision & optical products

Metal products Machinery - industrial and consumer Food Communication Others Unspecified

FIGURE 8.45 Forecasts for 2007–2010.