Techman Robot is exhibiting collaborative robots at Robot Development & Application Expo (RoboDEX) taking place in Tokyo during January 16-18 in a bid to tap the Japan market, according to the company.
Techman said it is showcasing application of its collaborative robots to precision mechanical assembling processes through cooperation with several vendors, mainly Switzerland-based Asyril SA with a vibration robotic parts feeder, Sweden-based Atlas Copco Industrial Technique with smart screwdrivers, Germany-based IDS Imaging Development Systems with Ensenso 3D cameras, and Japan-based iPEX with FFC (flexible flat cable) connectors.
According to Interact Analysis, the global market value for collaborative robots increased from below US$400 million in 2017 to nearly US$600 million in 2018 and will grow to US$7.6 billion in 2027. The global market value reached JPY100 billion (US$919 million) in 2018, and will increase to JPY220 billion in 2020 and JPY850 billion in 2024, Japan-based Yano Research Institute indicated.
Denmark-based Universal Robots launched the world's first collaborative robot model in 2008 and has so far sold more than 27,000 such robots. It is currently the largest collaborative robot vendor with a global market share of about 60%, followed by Techman.
Adoption of collaborative robots is a long process, but after adopting them, users are quite unlikely to change suppliers, Techman chairman Ho Shih-chih noted.
Techman-developed collaborative robots with built-in machine vision are smart, easy to use and safe to workers, catering to Industry 4.0 manufacturing for orders with diverse product models each in small volumes, Ho indicated. Techman has deployed sales agents in more than 40 countries. Its shipments doubled in 2018 and it aims at sequential growth of 100-200% in 2019 shipments.
Article translated by Adam Hwang
