Another record year for robot orders is recorded by North American businesses.

By Timothy Aeppel; Edited by News Gate Team

Reuters, 10 February – More robots than ever before were hired by North American businesses last year, many of which were targeted for new electric vehicle and battery facilities that were under construction and were struggling to fill positions in the tightest labor market in decades.

However, it seems that the demand for robots has slowed down near the close of the year, raising concerns about how robust 2023 will be in the face of changing household consumption patterns and the rising interest rates that central bankers have devised to bring runaway inflation under control.

According to data provided by the Association for Advancing Automation, businesses, the majority of which were based in the United States but also some in Canada and Mexico, ordered just over 44,100 robots in 2022, an 11% rise from the previous year and a new record.

According to data gathered by the Association for Advancing Automation, a business association also known as A3, businesses, the majority of which were based in the United States but also some in Canada and Mexico, ordered just over 44,100 robots in 2022, an 11% increase over the previous year and a new record. According to the data, the overall worth of those devices was $2.38 billion, an increase of 18% from the previous year.

According to Jeff Burnstein, president of A3, the “labor scarcity doesn’t seem to be letting up.” Automation is viewed by many businesses as a quick remedy in their search for labor amid the lowest U.S. unemployment rate since 1969.

Burnstein claimed that orders showed a noticeable decrease at the close of the year, raising concerns about how 2023 will develop. The auto industry’s performance, he noted, “truly supported the fourth quarter.” We saw a decline in non-automotive orders.

The orders drop-off in some segments was probably caused by a change in customer behavior from the epidemic era, he continued. You may have noticed that businesses like Amazon halted the construction of new warehouses, which indicates that they postponed or canceled the procurement of new automation.

The results from last year may have been skewed by issues with the supply chain. In order to assure they would receive at least some of what they required during the COVID-19 health crisis, according to Burnstein, several clients placed extra orders with robot manufacturers.

DRIVES DEMAND: AUTO SECTOR
Automakers and their suppliers, a group that has historically led the way in factory automation in the United States, accounted for more than half of all orders placed in the previous year.

According to Atlas Public Policy, a U.S.-based research organization that collaborates with automakers and environmental organizations, new plants for electric vehicles, batteries, and battery recycling have been announced since the start of 2021 at a cost of $160 billion.

The majority of the robots that were ordered last year will be utilized for material handling, a broad category that encompasses all kinds of product movement and handling inside factories and warehouses.

For instance, the expansive plant of Closure Systems International Inc. in Crawfordsville, Indiana, has automated the task of packing and sealing boxes at the end of the manufacturing line. The business manufactures closures for items like soda bottles and food packaging.

Jobs for “auditors” are up next. In order to constantly ensure that criteria are met, employees known as auditors currently sit in small booths along the line of the Crawfordsville plant’s machines, which spit out new caps faster than a machine pistol.

The company’s senior vice president of global operations, Brad Bennett, announced that the inspection work will soon be performed by miniature robots deployed in the booths. We won’t need to cut back on personnel, he said. These employees will switch to other jobs.

According to him, the new devices will assist prevent what occurred during the pandemic. We really had 30% of the plant offline during COVID because we couldn’t find a worker making $15 per hour to show up.

By Timothy Aeppel; Edited by News Gate Team

North American companies notch another record year for robot orders https://t.co/56fx27Fb4l pic.twitter.com/XZ98cxo4gt

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 10, 2023