Friday, November 1, 2013

China widens use of manufacturing robots

Increasing labor costs have led to big growth in manufacturing automation, turning China into the world's largest robot buyer.

China is using robots beyond heavy manufacturing like automobiles and airplanes, according to Shunrin Mizutani, the CEO of Japanese robotics company Yaskawa in Shanghai. He says some are now utilized to make iPhones and other smart phones.

"Assembly that used to be done by hundreds of thousands of people is now done by robots," he said.

Mizutani says that when his company started in China in 1996, they were only selling dozens of robots a year, and now they sell thousands.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, 23,000 units were sold in China in 2012, making it the fastest growing market in the world.

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