A new chapter in intelligent manufacturing: Industrial robots bring new knowledge to Tianyan

In early 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Implementation Plan for the "Robot" Application Action", which clearly stated that in the manufacturing field, "promote the construction of intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories and create typical application scenarios for industrial robots. Develop intelligent manufacturing systems based on industrial robots, Assisting the digital transformation and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry."

1. Industry overview:Key infrastructure from “manufacturing” to “intelligent manufacturing”

In the context of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, major economies around the world are actively competing fiercely around intelligent manufacturing, which is dominated by industrial robots. As a key infrastructure for building from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing", industrial robots play an increasingly important role

Industrial robots are multi-joint manipulators or multi-degree-of-freedom machine devices that are widely used in the industrial field. They have a certain degree of automation and can realize various industrial processing and manufacturing functions through their own power and control capabilities. Industrial robots are widely used in many industrial fields such as electronics, logistics, and chemical industry. Generally speaking, industrial robots consist of three main parts and six subsystems. The main parts include mechanical part, sensing part and control part. The six subsystems are mechanical structure system, drive system, perception system, robot and environment interaction system, human-computer interaction system and control system

With the continuous development of robotics technology, the intelligent manufacturing model with digitization, networking, and intelligence as its core features is becoming an important direction for industrial development and change. Compared with traditional industrial equipment, industrial robots have many advantages. For example, robots are easy to use, have high levels of intelligence, high production efficiency and safety, are easy to manage, and have significant economic benefits, allowing them to operate in high-risk environments. Do your homework. The development of industrial robots can not only improve the quality and quantity of products, but also has great significance in ensuring personal safety, improving the working environment, reducing labor intensity, improving labor productivity, saving material consumption and reducing production costs.

Tianyancha data shows that there are more than 231,000 industrial robot-related companies in existence, including more than 22,000 newly registered related companies from January to October 2023;

According to geographical distribution, Jiangsu leads the way with more than 42,000 related companies in each province, followed by Guangdong and Shandong, with more than 38,000 and more than 23,000 related companies respectively

Based on the time of establishment, 52.8% of industrial robot-related companies were established within 1-5 years, while the proportion of companies established within 1 year accounted for approximately 27.2%

2. Industrial robotsIndustrial chain links:High proportion of core components Higher technical barriers

The industrial robot industry chain mainly consists of raw materials, parts (upstream), robot body (midstream), system integration (downstream) and industry applications. In the production cost structure of industrial robots, upstream core components account for a relatively high proportion. The cost of servo systems, controllers and reducers account for more than 70%, of which reducers account for half, while body manufacturing only accounts for 15%. The reason is that the driving and control functions of industrial robots come from core components. Compared with body manufacturing, core components have higher technical barriers and therefore account for a high proportion of production costs.

The upstream industry refers to the core parts manufacturing industry at a higher level in the industrial chain. These core components account for a high proportion in the entire production process, so their production costs are also relatively high

The upstream parts and components mainly include: controller, servo motor, reducer and execution system, etc. Among them, controllers, servo motors and reducers are key components for the production of industrial robots, and they are also the core competitiveness of industrial robots at home and abroad. In terms of the ease of development, the controller is a supporting equipment for the development of industrial robots, and the development difficulty is medium; the servo motor is the core driving mechanism of the industrial robot, and the development difficulty is medium to high; the reducer is a gear enclosed in the rigid shell of the industrial robot The independent components composed of transmission, worm transmission, and gear-worm transmission are the most difficult to develop.

Midstream: Robot body

Industrial robot body manufacturers are mainly responsible for assembling and integrating industrial robot bodies. At present, the proportion of domestic brand robot sales is increasing. According to data from Jijing.com, the proportion of domestic investment in China's robot body market increased from 18.6% to 28.6% from 2015 to 2020. In 2021, the proportion of domestic investment will further increase to 33.7%. At present, domestic industrial robot body manufacturers are mainly concentrated in the mid-to-low-end market, and the high-end application market is still occupied by four foreign-funded companies, Fanuc, KUKA, ABB, and Yaskawa. The high-end market is monopolized by the "four major families", and the domestic brand Eston is moving closer to the leader. According to China's industrial robot shipment data compiled by MIR Databank, the "four major families" will account for a total of 41.5% of the market share in 2021, namely FANUC (13%), ABB (12.3%), and Yaskawa (8.8%). , Kuka (7.4%). The domestic leader Eston ranks 11th with a market share of 2.4%, and domestic brands such as Inovance and New Star also rank high.

Downstream: Robot Integrated System

Industrial robot system integrators are at the downstream application end of the industrial chain. According to different scenarios and uses, they are responsible for targeted system integration and software secondary development of the industrial robot body, so that it has specific working capabilities.

3.Industrial robotApplication fields:Automated production, automobile manufacturing, logistics Widely used in other fields

The application of the robot market is accelerating. In 2022, the installed capacity of industrial robots will account for more than 50% of the world's total, ranking firmly as the world's largest market. The density of manufacturing robots will reach 392 units per 10,000 workers. Industrial robots are widely used in automated production, automobile manufacturing, logistics, medical care, 3C electronics and other fields.

Automated production is a very important field. In this field, industrial robots are a vital piece of equipment. Industrial robots are capable of performing repetitive, tedious, dangerous or high-precision tasks, freeing up traditional labor to engage in more innovative work. On the production line, industrial robots can autonomously perform tasks such as parts assembly, inspection, and packaging, thereby improving the company's production efficiency. In addition, industrial robots have programmability and high-precision control technology, which can quickly adapt to changing production needs and achieve rapid conversion of batch or small batch production

Car manufacturer. In the automobile manufacturing industry, industrial robots are widely used in the automobile manufacturing industry. In the automobile manufacturing process, industrial robots can undertake various tasks such as welding, painting, assembly and dispensing, thereby improving the efficiency of the production line and improving product quality. Moreover, in the manufacturing of automobile parts, industrial robots can also be used in various processes such as mold casting, milling and clamping, improving production efficiency and yield rate.

logistics. In the logistics industry, industrial robots are increasingly used. It can be used in multiple aspects such as cargo handling and sorting, warehousing management, and transportation, improving the efficiency and safety of logistics. Industrial robots can also help companies reduce personnel costs and reduce operational risks

Industrial robots are widely used in the 3C electronics industry, especially in the manufacturing and packaging of electronic products such as mobile phones. They can move and operate in a highly flexible manner to accurately complete complex assembly tasks, providing key support for efficient automation of production lines. The application of industrial robots can significantly improve production efficiency. They can automate repetitive tasks, not only speeding up manufacturing but also reducing the occurrence of manual errors. In addition, the robot system has high-precision execution capabilities, which can ensure that the accuracy and quality of the products produced meet the requirements, effectively avoiding the negative impact of manual operation errors on product quality

Rewritten content: Medical. In the medical industry, industrial robots also play an important role in the medical field. They can perform a variety of tasks such as surgery, treatment, and rehabilitation, improving the accuracy and safety of work. In addition, industrial robots can also help hospitals solve the problem of insufficient medical staff and provide patients with more diverse rehabilitation treatment options

4. Investment and FinancingAnalysis: Jiangsu, Shanghai and Guangdong are among the top three places in terms of number of financing events

Since 2013, China has been the world’s largest consumer market for industrial robots, thanks to China’s huge manufacturing industry. Industrial robots are regarded as valuable assets in the field of intelligent manufacturing and have been closely watched by venture capital institutions

Judging from the industry distribution of financing events, the number of financing events related to robots is at the forefront, with 60 cases; in addition, intelligent equipment, logistics equipment, warehousing services and other downstream application fields closely related to industrial robots are also Investment and financing hot spots.

Looking at the geographical distribution of financing events, at the provincial/municipal level, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Guangdong rank at the top in terms of the number of financing events, with 16 cases (Jiangsu and Shanghai are tied) and 15 cases respectively; from the city level From a grade perspective, Shenzhen, Nanjing and Hefei have the highest number of financing events, with 11, 10 and 4 cases respectively. From the geographical distribution of financing events, it can be clearly seen that the relationship between industrial robots and strong manufacturing provinces is also very close, which strongly supports the upgrading of the manufacturing industry.

According to the round distribution of financing events, strategic financing, Series A and Series B are at the forefront, with 14, 12 and 11 cases respectively

According to the situation of investment and financing institutions, institutions such as Lanchi Venture Capital, Dowson Capital and Lenovo Venture Capital are among the best. In addition to institutions, well-known companies such as BYD, Haier, and Ecovacs are also on the investor list of companies such as Huandong Technology and Tianchuang Robot

5. PatentsAnalysis:So far in January 2023, there have been more than 1,400 patent applications

As a technology-intensive industry, industrial robots have a number of applications for patented technologies that reveal the technological content and level of industrial development.

Judging from the total number of patent applications for industrial robots, more than 10,000 patents have been applied for. Among them, utility model patents have the largest number, reaching more than 6,200, followed by invention patents, with more than 5,100, and appearance design patents. It ranks third with more than 880 patents

According to the annual distribution of patent applications, the number of patent applications in the past three years (2020-2022) has increased year by year, from more than 1,500 to more than 2,100, a significant improvement. In addition, as of January 2023, there have been more than 1,400 patent applications

6. Development Prospects:Performance improvement and price reductionBroad prospects for domestic substitution

The performance of domestic robots has improved, prices have dropped, and the economic effects have been significant. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the average import price of industrial robot products has gradually dropped from 162,300/unit in 2019 to 85,200/unit in 2022. Generally, the price of domestic robots is lower than that of imported robots. As performance improves and prices fall, the economic effects of industrial robot applications become more significant, which will help the industrial robot industry expand application scenarios and expand downstream demand.

Industrial upgrading and domestic substitution depict broad prospects. On the one hand, this is because of industrial upgrading. Our country's economy is in a critical period of transforming its development model, optimizing its economic structure, and transforming its growth drivers. It urgently requires the transformation and upgrading of labor-intensive industries. Industrial upgrading will drive a large amount of market demand for industrial robots. On the other hand, the country has proposed the goal of localizing industrial robots. "Made in China 2025" sets goals for the development of domestic industrial robots and puts forward clear requirements for the localization rate of domestic robots and key components; the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of the robot industry clearly states that "by 2025, A batch of robot core technologies and high-end products have made breakthroughs. The comprehensive indicators of the entire machine have reached the international advanced level, and the performance and reliability of key components have reached the level of similar international products." Domestic industrial robots rely on rapid breakthroughs in product performance, more advantageous cost performance and Service level and gradually increase market share

Robots going overseas will become an important direction for future development. The performance shortcomings of domestic industrial robots are gradually being supplemented. With the "going out" of domestic manufacturing and the transfer of global manufacturing to Southeast Asia and Latin America, the overseas expansion of robots will become an important direction for future development.

According to the Tianyancha Research Institute, driven by the digital economy and with the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy, actively developing the industrial robot industry will promote the structural transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry and enhance its presence in the international market. The competitiveness has significant role and significance

Note: The investment and financing events in the field of industrial robots analyzed this time are based on January to November 12, 2023.

Source: Financial Industry Information

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