Record-breaking sales for industrial robots in the first quarter of 2022 are important for more than the makers of automation equipment.
Plastics News Economics Editor Bill Wood said those numbers are a good indication that American manufacturers are ramping up for growth at home.
"This is how we reshore," he says. "This is how we repair and rebuild our supply chains. This is how we spur growth in the overall economy."
The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) said in a May 31 news release that North American companies purchased 11,595 robots, sold at a value of $646 million, in the first three months of 2022, Catherine Kavanaugh writes.
Plastics and rubber industries boosted purchasing by 29 percent vs. the same period in 2021.
Those investments also represent good news on a global scale, Bill said, looking at the sales through an economics perspective.
"This is how we lower our collective carbon footprints and mitigate climate change," he said. "To be sure, there is [disruption], but the net result is hugely positive. I believe it is also a strategic imperative given the current geopolitical landscape."
You can get more from Bill Wood through his monthly Numbers That Matter column or Numbers That Matter Live, an editorial livestream that is free for subscribers.