By Ron Shinn
Sales of automation equipment are in a slump, with few signs that things are going to pick up much this year.
In North America, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) said the fourth quarter of 2024 ended strong, but for the year, companies ordered 31,311 robots valued at $1.963 billion, a slight increase of just 0.5 percent in units and 0.1 percent in revenue compared with 2023.
The sales record was set in 2022 with 44,196 robots valued at $2.38 billion sold in North America. More than 50 percent went to the automotive industry in 2022.
Alex Shikany, A3 executive vice president, released the 2024 orders at Collaborate 2025 in January and said that automotive orders declined 15 percent in 2024 compared with 2023. He blamed the decline on adoption of electric vehicles moving slower than automakers had expected.
In Germany, the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association (VDMA R+A), which represents 420 German suppliers of components and systems for robots, automation and machine vision equipment, is predicting a 9 percent decline in sales in 2025, which follows a 6 percent decline in 2024 compared with its best year ever in 2023.
For German manufacturers, domestic sales decreased 16 percent in 2024 while sales outside Germany decreased 2 percent.
VDMA R+A has in the past blamed foreign competition, particularly from China, for much of the sales decline. In releasing the 2024 final figures, Dietmar Ley, VDMA R+A chairman, said German companies need to accelerate innovation, respond more quickly to customers and bring costs down to a competitive level.
North America may provide some relief for automation manufacturers in 2025.
The Wittmann Group and Engel, which build their own robots in the U.S., said sales were good in 2024. Both companies have the ability to quickly develop complete automation systems that can save time and money for processors.
Wittmann builds about 500 robots a year in Torrington, Conn. Robots amount to about 40 percent of total North American sales. Engel builds robots in York, Pa., and supplies 350-400 complete automation cells a year.
Ron Shinn | Editor
Editor Ron Shinn is a co-founder of Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing and has been covering the plastics industry for more than 35 years. He leads the editorial team, directs coverage and sets the editorial calendar. He also writes features, including the Talking Points column and On the Factory Floor, and covers recycling and sustainability for PMM and Plastics Recycling.
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