August, 2016
www.us-tech.com
Page 21 Automation and the EMS Landscape By Philip Stoten (@philipstoten)
2014 was well below the world average, and a frac- tion of the numbers deployed in manufacturing in South Korea, Japan or Germany, who occupied the top three positions. While the U.S. deploys around half as many as
R
Germany and only one third of the number in South Korea, it is still ahead of China by a factor of four. Sales in 2015 told a different story with China showing the greatest growth in robotic sales at 16 percent. China has stated several milestones for 2020
reflecting its ambitions for manufac- turing robotics. It plans a 10 percent annual increase in the number of units produced domestically, with more than half being flexible six-axis articulated robots. It is targeting a ro- bot density (number of multipurpose industrial robots per 10,000 manufac- turing staff) of more than 150, which is around that of the U.S. and com- pares to the 2014 figure of 36. These are just a few of the num-
bers behind what everyone in the in- dustry has recognized as a trend. China is gearing up to compete re- gardless of rising labor costs and it sees robotics and automation gener- ally as a route to do that. In my view, it seems that while
China is seeking something akin to Industry 4.0 it actually has some way to go in making its processes more ef- ficient using techniques like lean and six-sigma. But China's lofty ambi- tions have been driving the desire of all manufacturers and all regions to move toward a more efficient and smarter factory environment.
Challenges Ahead for EMS Industry
Outsourcing geographies have
been driven largely by price and the large influx of business to Asia; this was due to lower labor rates and ma- terial costs, supported by good infra- structure and a very solid and rapid- ly developing supply chain. Over re- cent years some products have moved geographies again, some because they didn't really suit Asia, some be- cause labor rates in Eastern Europe and Central America are closer than ever to China while being local to the
ecent figures from the International Federa- tion of Robotics show that the number of multipurpose robots deployed in China in
brand or the consumer, and some because the de- sire to bring products to market faster than ever has dictated proximity to the design team. Moving forward, automation, robotics and the
smart factory should allow those who embrace it to be more agile, bringing products to market faster and more economically, and in some cases with a great deal of mass customization. This will doubt- less include China, but in a market where labor costs become less important it will have to leverage the advantages of its supply chain and logistics. There is also the ongoing competition to provide service with geographies that are more accus- tomed to the value-added elements of taking inno-
vation to delivered product. For the EMS industry, the need to automate
While behind in the deployment of automation, in 2015 China showed the greatest growth in robotic sales, beating the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and Germany.
is not a choice, it's an imperative. Getting it right first will offer a competitive advantage, while be- ing left behind will put businesses at risk. r
Philip Stoten is an internation- ally recognized EMS industry expert. Known for his skills as an inter viewer, reporter and
panel moderator, Philip is a fea- tured multi-media contributor to U.S. Tech on a regular basis.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88