MT Magazine January/February 2023

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023

13

Want To Be Globally Competitive? Think Robots and Automation Manufacturing companies the world over are embracing robots in a big way. While U.S. companies have long been deploying the equipment, there are still great opportunities that can be realized, especially as U.S. manufacturers work to gain orders from overseas – and the competition is ramping up their robotics capacity.

BY GARY S. VASILASH CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

There were 517,385 new industrial robots installed globally in 2021, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).* Marina Bill, IFR president, says, “Within six years, annual robot installations more than doubled. According to our latest statistics, installations grew strongly

*While this might seem like old news, as it is now 2023, the numbers for 2021 weren’t released until October 2022, so the relevance remains.