Doosan Robotics has set the goal to become the leading company in the global collaborative robot market, excluding China. A collaborative robot refers to a robot that works in the same space as humans. To achieve this, the company plans to expand its product lineup from 13 to 17 models by 2026 and actively target the labor-cost-intensive markets in the United States and Europe, aiming for a significant leap in its market position.
Doosan Robotics unveiled collaborative robot solutions on Dec. 5 at its Suwon plant, designed for institutional food service, laparoscopic surgery assistance, airport baggage handling, laser welding, and bin picking, or the process of retrieving needed components. The company aims to expand its market share by diversifying its applications not only in the food and beverage sector but also in various fields such as healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics. The collaborative robot solution standardizes programming to tailor robots for specific purposes.
The company secured the 9th position in the global collaborative robot market, excluding China, in 2017. By 2020, it climbed to the 5th spot, and in 2021 and last year, it further advanced to the 4th position. While trailing behind the top three -- Universal Robots in Denmark, Fanuc in Japan, and Techman Robot in Taiwan -- it is rapidly gaining market share as a latecomer.
Doosan Robotics plans to introduce nine new automation cells next year, increasing the production capacity of its Suwon plant to 4,000 units per year. Currently, it takes one hour to manually manufacture a single collaborative robot module. With the introduction of automation cells, this process will be reduced to 37 minutes. The automation cells are facilities where humans and collaborative robots work together to manufacture robots.
Ryu Jung-hoon, the CEO of Doosan Robotics, said, “There will be a surge in demand for collaborative robots in regions like North America and Western Europe, where labor costs are high. The robot penetration rate in these markets was 2 percent last year, so there is a significant potential for expansion.” The company established its North American subsidiary in Texas last year and plans to set up a European subsidiary in Germany next year. Following these expansions, it aims to establish subsidiaries in Central and South America as well as Southeast Asia as part of its strategy to focus on international marketing. Currently, it has around 100 overseas sales channels and plans to increase that number to 219 by 2026.