IEEE Future Directions
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Robots are becoming a growing population on the planet. According to the IFR report 2017 (International Federation of Robotics, issued in 2018) there is an increased growth, and demand for, cobots, collaborative robots and there are signs of demand for symbiotic collaboration between robots and humans.
74% of robots are being acquired by just 5 Countries, China (with 30% of the total), South Korea, Japan, US and Germany.
China and South Korea are leading the pack of Countries inserting robots in their industrial manufacturing processes. China is biggest adopter in absolute terms but South Korea is the biggest adopter as percentage of the work force.
They have now 631 robots per 10,000 human workers, US is trailing behind with 189 whilst China has 68.
The strong uptake of China is part of a program launched by the Chinese Government to keep China competitive in manufacturing as salary cost increases and robots are clearly showing to give an edge in manufacturing. In the automotive market the profit per worker in China is 48,000$ whilst in South Korea where the density of robots is much higher the yearly profit per worker is 152,000$. Chinese Government is also looking at the expected decrease of the working force in China, as consequence of the ageing population that is expected to reduce the current 998 million work force in the age 15-65 to 800 million by 2050.
Since 2010 China is the world largest manufacturer, producing 25% of world goods and automation is seen as menacing 77% of China manufacturing workforce. Hence the shift to cobots, robots that can increase profit not by replacing human workers but by working with them.
Still there will be significant job losses and Cai Fang, the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Science, has proposed to tax robots-workers to fund social security programs for workers losing their job.
