Although this may not sound like much, in comparison it really is a lot: while sales on the island rose by 31% in the previous year, sales in the EU increased by 12%, as preliminary results of the report show. According to the IFR , its 106 industrial robots per 10,000 employees mean that Europe has the highest level in the manufacturing industry worldwide. The rate is 91 in America and 75 in Asia. In a comparison of individual countries, South Korea (710) and Singapore (658) are far ahead of the pack. Germany (322) comes in third, followed by Japan (308) and Sweden (240).

Employees in particular would have to be involved more in order to further increase the rate in Germany. That, at least, is what a survey conducted by the consulting firm Staufen indicates. The vast majority of employees across all sectors still see robots as “better freight cranes or fearless laser welders”. In contrast, they tend to completely underestimate or be completely unfamiliar with cooperative applications.