PMMI’s Trends in Robotics Market Assessment 2014 shows increase in use of robotics

According to a recent business intelligence study by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, robotic technologies will continue to serve new applications and expand capabilities in coming years.

PMMI’s “Trends in Robotics Market Assessment 2014” is based on 100 in-depth conversations with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), integrators, robot suppliers and industry experts.

“Robotics got their start in palletizing,” said report author Donna Ritson, president, DDR Communications. “Now they’re coming up to the front of the line, for processing and depalletizing.”

Survey participants anticipate a wide range of advancements in robotics over the next five years. Where the 2008 survey respondents were considering their robotics potentially expanding upstream from end-of-line upstream, 2014 respondents anticipate developments that will redefine the role robotics play in manufacturing operations. Those developments include sanitation improvements will allow for direct contact with food; spatial awareness that keeps workers adjacent to the robot safe; lower costs that will make robotics more pervasive; vision sensors that allow even greater precision and handling — even giving robots the ability to sort by color; faster speeds and heavier lifting capabilities.

These developments are resulting as much from increased usage as they are from advancements in hardware and software, noted Paula Feldman, director, business intelligence, PMMI. “What we heard in our interviews mirrors much of what we’ve been seeing at PACK EXPO,” she said. “When we studied the robotics marketplace in 2008, only 20% of manufacturers used robots to package their products. Today, 75% of end users use robotics at some point along their manufacturing lines, and the capabilities for food and pharmaceutical processing are game-changers. Expect to see growth in job functions such as integration services, mechatronics engineering, robotic training and operating, and PLC and servo programming.”

PMMI owns and produces PACK EXPO International 2014 (McCormick Place, Chicago; Nov. 2–5) and is working in partnership with the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering to produce the co-located Pharma EXPO. The two events — with 1.1 million net square feet of exhibit space and 2,000 exhibitors — will feature robotics in action and draw about 50,000 packaging and processing professionals.

Learn more about “Trends in Robotics Market Assessment 2014,” watch an interview with author Donna Ritson and download the report (free to PMMI members; $3,500 for nonmembers) at PMMI.org. An executive summary is available free online as well.