Patriotic American readers might assume that the USA is the most automated nation…but we’re not #1 when it comes to automation, and not at the top of the list for Industry 4.0, either.
South Korea has the world’s highest robot density, followed by Singapore, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Hong Kong, and then the United States.
What’s robot density?
One measure of automation is robot density: the number of robots per 10,000 workers. South Korea has 932 robots for every 10,000 human workers. Singapore has 650. These two nations are far ahead of all the other nations in this metric. Japan has a mere 390 robots for every 10,000 human workers, less than half the robot density of South Korea.
These three nations together make Asia the most robotically dense continent, far outstripping any other region.
Innovation
Germany is a world leader in automation. With 371 robots per 10,000 workers, it’s close to Japan. However, Germany is the home of plenty of automation innovation, including Indramat’s current company, Bosch Rexroth.
Japan ships the most robots, supplying the rest of the automated world. Their Society 5.0 plan depends heavily on service robots, which are more widely accepted in Japan than in much of the world, including the United States. Japan also has been estimated to have the highest proportion of jobs that can be automated, with 58% of work likely to be automated in the near future.
The United States is lagging behind in automation, from the point of view of developed countries. We have just 255 robots per 10,000 workers. On the other hand, the U.S. is at the top of the heap for educating professionals in robotics.
We specialize in Indramat motion control systems, which predate the robot revolution, AI, and Industry 4.0. They’re still going strong in factories and other industrial facilities around the world. If you need service or support for your Indramat drive and control systems, we can help. Call for immediate assistance.