The industrial robot industry will enter a new stage. In March of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publicly solicited opinions from the public on the “Normative Conditions for the Industrial Robot Industry (2024 Edition)” (draft for soliciting opinions) and the “Implementation Measures for the Standardized Management of the Industrial Robot Industry (2024 Edition)” (draft for soliciting opinions).
A reporter from China Business Daily recently interviewed some industrial robot companies in Chengdu and learned that the increase in the localization rate of industrial robots not only effectively improves production efficiency and reduces costs for the domestic manufacturing industry, but also provides great help in solving the problem of difficult employment. On the other hand, companies are also looking forward to more usage scenarios for industrial robots.
More stable, faster, stronger
At the beginning of this month, Ubisoft announced that its industrial version of the humanoid robot Walker S will enter the Dongfeng Liuqi factory to carry out safety belt inspection, door lock inspection, headlight cover plate inspection, and body quality inspection work during the automotive manufacturing process. Industry speculation suggests that the first large-scale application of humanoid robots in the future will be in the industrial sector.
In fact, before humanoid robots, industrial robots that resembled a powerful large “iron arm” had already unleashed tremendous energy in the manufacturing industry. Deng Shihai, Deputy General Manager of Carnot, told reporters that industrial robots have three major advantages: speed, accuracy, and load-bearing capacity. For example, the CRP-RH26-210 produced by the company is capable of grabbing items weighing up to 210 kilograms for operation, with a repeated positioning accuracy of 0.06 millimeters, which cannot be achieved by human hands.
More importantly, some dirty, tiring, and even dangerous jobs are currently facing the problem of difficult recruitment. For example, polishing metal parts can produce dust, which is harmful to human health; The arc light during welding also causes great damage to human eyes and skin, and heavy protective equipment needs to be worn during the operation. Many young people nowadays are unwilling to do these jobs, leading to difficulties in recruiting. Industrial robots can replace humans to do these tasks, avoiding harm to human bodies and solving the problem of companies not being able to recruit people.
The reporter saw a white machine operating and showcasing in the product exhibition hall of Canop. It can smoothly complete the actions of grabbing, moving, and placing at designated positions, moving quickly and grabbing and placing gently, just like a meticulous worker. But unlike humans, it can work continuously for hundreds of hours without stopping.
Sichuan Chengwu Baoma Welding Equipment Engineering Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Chengwu Baoma”), which integrates industrial robot systems, has expanded its business to Europe and Africa, and has established overseas localization teams. Yang Congjun, the general manager of the company’s business unit, also stated that the operation of industrial robots is more reliable in terms of accuracy. “For example, when applying glue, workers may apply glue unevenly, but after setting the parameters, the result of each application of the industrial robot is the same, and the product quality is relatively consistent.”.
Industrial robots are widely used in consumer electronics, automobiles, metal products and other fields, and with the rise of the new energy industry, they are gradually expanding into industries such as lithium batteries and photovoltaics. The reporter learned that welding robots are one of the main application categories of industrial robots, and the stock of welding robots accounts for about 50% of the global in-service industrial robots.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from 2015 to 2022, the annual production of industrial robots in China increased from 33000 units to 443000 units, an increase of over 12 times in 8 years. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the production of industrial robots increased by 25.9% year-on-year in April 2024.
The research report of Great Wall Guorui Securities also pointed out that the rapid development of the new energy industry in recent years has brought about an increasing demand for industrial robots, which is of great significance for improving the localization rate of industrial robots in China. For example, in 2022, the growth rate of robot shipments in the automotive electronics and lithium battery industries exceeded 30%, while the growth rate of robot shipments in the photovoltaic industry exceeded 20%.

Continuously promoting independent research and development
“The development of industrial robots is a result of the domestic industrialization level reaching a certain level,” Deng Shihai admitted. In fact, foreign industrial robots have matured for a long time, and the development of domestic industrial robots to the current scale indicates that the level of industrialization in China has been relatively high.
However, more than a decade ago, domestic industrial robots were highly dependent on imports, and many components could not be produced domestically. In 2012, at the beginning of Deng Shihai’s entrepreneurship, he found that the cost of purchasing parts to assemble industrial robots was already similar to the cost of purchasing a complete industrial robot. Therefore, he resolutely turned to independent research and development of core technologies such as robot controllers, servo systems, and sensors. Later, he gradually gained the ability to independently develop and produce complete machines.
In 2013, China surpassed Japan for the first time to become the world’s largest industrial robot market, with sales reaching 36600 units that year, accounting for 20.52% of the global market. As of now, this pattern has been ongoing for 11 years. According to IFR data, the export volume of industrial robots in China reached a new high in 2023, reaching 118300 units.
According to Song Xiaogang, Secretary General of the China Machinery Industry Federation and Executive Director and Secretary General of the Robotics Branch of the China Machinery Industry Federation, in recent years, the scale of the Chinese industrial robot market has grown rapidly, with a market share exceeding half of the world for two consecutive years.
Yang Congjun told reporters that in the past, the adhesive equipment and cables used by industrial robots needed to be imported, but now they have gradually been localized, which can significantly reduce the operating costs of enterprises.
Localization not only brings advantages in scale, but also greatly improves the equipment upgrade speed of manufacturing enterprises. Deng Shihai pointed to an industrial robot used for polishing in the exhibition hall and told reporters that a manufacturer of car wheels needs to order polishing robots. In the era of artificial labor, it is up to people to observe whether the polishing is in place. The first generation of industrial robots could only adjust the polishing degree through the force control of the robotic arm, and it was always difficult to meet the accuracy requirements.
After receiving feedback from the customer, Canop urgently developed an improvement plan and creatively set up a camera above the machine for monitoring. Through image analysis, the polishing degree was judged, and the operation of the robotic arm was adjusted at any time. The customer was very satisfied in the end. In the past, large industrial robot companies abroad did not develop customized solutions in such a detailed area, but domestic manufacturers were able to make customized models more flexible, and equipment maintenance in the later stage was also more convenient.
“Manufacturing enterprises attach great importance to the reliability of equipment.” Deng Shihai introduced that most enterprises prefer to use foreign equipment that has been cooperating for many years, so it is difficult for domestic equipment to take the first step of winning their trust. Once domestic equipment is put on the production line, the flexibility of localization is reflected: “If there is equipment that needs to be debugged and upgraded, we can quickly provide a plan and start adjusting, and each process should be much more convenient.” However, this also puts high requirements on the self-developed level of domestic manufacturers. “The debugging of some devices requires modifying the underlying code, and only through independent research and development can we achieve complete control.” Deng Shihai introduced that nearly half of Carnot’s nearly 400 employees are research and development technicians.
Fortunately, there are now more and more industrial robot companies like this. The Chengdu Longtan Industrial Robot Industry Functional Zone, where Carnot is located, focuses on the development of a new economic industry cluster dominated by intelligent robots and digital communication. This area has gathered 12 leading enterprises in the robot industry chain and 61 upstream and downstream related enterprises. Liu Jun, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Industrial Functional Zone, stated in an interview with reporters that the functional zone is still attracting more related enterprises to settle in. In the future, the functional zone will achieve an industrial chain effect of “up and down buildings, that is, upstream and downstream”.
With the rapid development of industrial robots in China, they also require more scene support. Deng Shihai told reporters that he hopes there will be more scenarios in which industrial robots can be used in the future, such as introducing industrial robots to more manufacturing industries beyond automobiles and photovoltaics, in order to improve the range of machine use. In his view, this is also the only way to upgrade the industrial sector.