GENEVA (AFP) - World-wide orders for industrial robots surged by 20 percent in 1999 to record levels, owing mainly to plummeting prices and rising labor costs, a U.N. agency said on Monday. "Never before have so many orders for industrial robots been placed by industry, pointing towards an acceleration in the drive to automate," said Jan Karlsson of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE).
According to the UN/ECE, 20 percent more orders had been placed last year than in 1998, with companies in North America leading the way, followed by Europe. Together with the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the UN/ECE surveys the robot market.
The automotive industry led the drive to robotize, boosting orders by 24 percent in 1999 compared to the figure a year earlier, it said. Robot prices in 1999 were 40 percent lower than in 1990, while robot performance had increased in terms of speed, accuracy, computer power and versatility, it added.
Labor costs had also risen, with North America and many European countries now seeing a labor shortage. Such a shortage had contributed to the automation drive in Japan in the 1980s, the UN/ECE said.
The IFR and UN/ECE predict continued high growth in robot investment in coming years. "We have only seen the first phase of the robotization drive, which has mainly focused on the automotive industry," Karlsson said. "The food industry and all other manufacturing industries as well as many non-manufacturing sectors will significantly step up their investment in robot systems," he added
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