by Robotic Industries Association, the industry’s trade group, even robots can’t escape the tight economic situation as the sale decreased by 36 percent in units and 47 percent in dollars through the first half of 2009.

 

The use of robots has increased rapidly in the past few years with countries, such as India and China investing heavily in robotics. This has encouraged the robotics companies to increase production capacities and have great expectations for the future. But many sectors that rely heavily on robots have been hit by the recession and have reduced their orders recently.

 

According to the report, the second quarter alone witnessed declines of 43 percent in units and 51 percent in dollars over the same period in 2008. The quarter was also down 29 percent in units and 26 percent in dollars from the first quarter of 2009. One of the major reasons for the decline is said to be the decrease in orders received from the automotive industry OEMs and suppliers.

 

“The automotive industry, the largest customer for robots in North America, is in the midst of a major upheaval,” said Jeff Burnstein, RIA’s president, in a statement.” Robotics companies across the globe are experiencing similar declines. That’s one of the reasons we knew 2009 would be a very difficult year for the robotics industry, so there are no surprises in the first half results.”

 

But the report also states that orders have increased by 34 percent the life sciences/ pharmaceutical/biomedical industries and a 7 percent increase in the food andconsumer goods sector. But the company is hopeful about the future of the industry, quoting recent reports, which believe that the worst of the recession may be behind us.

 

Recently, the association ventured out to train the industry on the usage of robots and the safety measures that need to be observed when employing the robots. The association offered a mix of workshops and conference sessions for this purpose at a conference.