The Robotics Industry: Leading the Charge to a Productive 21st Century.
It's helpful to understand how the industry has accepted the use of robotics across the decades, since the beginning to the present years.
In the beginning of robotics (1950s - 70s) industry pioneers envisioned a day when robots would perform the dangerous jobs instead of people, but some industries remained unconvinced about the benefits of robotics. But in Japan the use of robots increased the quality of their products. During the boom of robotics (1980 - 1985) companies rushed in to buy robots, not only expected to solve problems in industry, but to cook, clean homes, and take care of people. .
By 1985 - 1987 the boom turned to a burst, with many robotics companies existing in the field as the huge market failed to materialize. The robot manufacturers were dependent from the automotive industry. In the rebirth (1987 - 1992) the electronics, food, pharmaceutical, appliance and aerospace industries started receiving more attention from robotics companies. There were advances in robot control technology, simulation and off-line programming. Costumers were demanding higher quality items at lower cost; manufacturers began focusing on technologies that could help them make products cheaper, faster, and better. It was time for the robotics industry.
Looking at the future, we can see that even through the robotics industry is less dependent than ever before on the automotive industry, the automotive market still is the largest. Greater us of robots for assembly, paint systems, final trim, and parts transfer is forecast. Use of robots in the electronics industry should grow; the key factors of the expected growth are mass customization of electronic goods, miniaturization of electronics goods and their internal components. The food and beverage industry is n the midst of a capital spending boom in order to improve operating efficiencies.