Survey: 10% Growth Expected in Robotics in 2021

March 22, 2021

Robotics companies are expecting a 40% increase in employment during 2021, and revenue growth of nearly 50%, according to a new survey published by Interact Analysis and the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), which is holding its Automate Forward virtual trade show this week.

In a survey of 200 automation-related companies from around the world with combined revenues of $50 billion, respondents were very positive about their industry moving out of the Covid-19 pandemic that dominated the headlines in 2020.

Responses from the survey included the following highlights:

• Companies expect their customers’ investment in products to grow by more than 40% once the pandemic is under control.
• The average headcount growth expected by automation companies is about 20%.
• Motion control and motor product vendors reported the lowest expected revenue and investment growth in 2021, but they still expect a 15% growth rate.
• 63% of respondents expect their investment in capacity or infrastructure to increase in 2021, as opposed to 5% who do not.

When asked to rank the largest end-user growth drivers for their companies, automotive came out on top, followed by food and beverage. The automotive industry took up 40% of respondents’ first choice for manufacturers of machine vision products.

Source: Interact Analysis

When asked about challenges for the year ahead, respondents ranked travel restrictions and being able to see customers as their top challenge. Other challenges included being able to meet customer demand, and weak customer demand. However, 93% of respondents said that by August 2020, Covid-19 would have minimal or zero impact on their industry.

More details on the survey can be downloaded here.