Robot End-Effector Market

Market Overview

The global robot end-effector market size was estimated to be worth USD 3,264 million in 2021. It is projected to reach USD 26,342 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period (2022–2030). 

The robot end-effector is also known as the end-of-arm tooling (EOAT). The robot end-effector market is self-sustaining via its cross-industrial usefulness, particularly after the oncoming wave of technology and automation that has led to the deployment of robots all over the globe. The robot end-effector is an accessory that extends the capabilities of robots so that they may more efficiently assist in various manufacturing processes. The forthcoming fourth industrial revolution (4.0), which will effectively contribute via the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other technologies with robots, might drive the robot end-effector market ahead.

Among the assortment of robot end-effector peripherals are sensors, grippers, and processing tools. An example of an end-of-arm tooling process would be a robot with built-in visual processing that uses its extra gripper to remove garbage from a bin and deposit it on a platform in preparation for the process that is to come, which takes place in a factory setting most of the time. Even in the setting up of e-commerce, where the moving, positioning, and packaging of parcels of varying values requires greater precision and attention, there is further room for growth.

The rise in collaborative robot usage is the key factor propelling the global Robot End Effector Market. These robots interact with their surroundings to react to them. In reaction to modifications in the working environment, they alter their course or direction of operation. The manufacturing sector's adoption of automation to quickly finish operations has also increased demand for robot end effectors. Office robots are being created worldwide to do tasks that call for end effectors. Furthermore, single- and multi-end effectors are in significant demand.

Market Dynamics

Global Robot End-Effector Market Driver

• Automation of Industrial Processes

The rapid expansion and widespread implementation of technology are acting as a driving force behind the brisk growth of the global market for robot end-effectors. Robots are primarily employed in industrial jobs that are, by their very nature, either complex or repetitive. This is because robots provide more flexibility, efficiency, quality, and safety. The global market supplies extra components, including peripherals, which increase its use in complex settings while enhancing decision-making and human-like behavior technologies. The automobile manufacturing sector may see a rise in the employment of robots in the near future to automate and streamline processes essential to creating vehicles that have ever-improving functions and levels of protection.

• Collaborative robots (cobots) are becoming more and more popular

Collaborative end effectors are becoming increasingly in demand due to how quickly industries are evolving. This situation is seen in the consumer products sector, notably regarding packaging, as changes are constantly made to the packaging's shape, size, surface, or weight. Compared to standard industrial robots that operate autonomously, collaborative robots, also known as cobots, are systems created to collaborate with humans in a shared workspace. It is a relatively new idea that was developed and launched in 1994 and has recently been used in practice. With its presence across industries, the collaborative robot market is anticipated to experience a high CAGR during the forecast period.

Global Robot End-Effector Market Restraint

• Challenge of Integrating with Existing Processes and Operations

Even though it seems to have a bright future, the global market for robot end-effectors is not without its share of difficulties. The expenditures involved in developing and producing the robot end-effector peripherals and robots and integrating them with suitable technologies and capabilities pose a major challenge. Further, the adaptation of robots to the quality of human accuracy is another challenge for the global market for robot end-effectors. Robot grippers have trouble replicating the sensitivity of a human hand's grasping abilities.

The fact that such a broad selection of peripherals is available on the market adds another layer of difficulty to finding and purchasing the right components for the robot. Integration of necessary and high-quality peripherals is made more difficult by the ongoing development of new types of robots and advances in related technologies, which compound the problem.

Global Robot End-Effector Market Opportunity

• An increase in the popularity of electric grippers

In industrial settings, collaborative robots with robotic grippers are becoming common in tasks like packing, product handling, inspection, and shorting. Due to their small size and low cost, these robots are in high demand, which increases the overall efficacy of industrial facilities. The need for electric grippers has unquestionably grown through time, and as a result, they have gotten more effective, powerful, and quick. Compared to pneumatic grippers of the same size, the initial generation of electric grippers that debuted more than a decade ago was feeble and extremely slow. The latest generation of electric grippers can match or surpass its air-driven predecessors in terms of grip force and speed. The newest generation of electric grippers can provide far more data feedback than was feasible with pneumatics. They can match or even outperform their air-driven predecessors in terms of grip force and speed.

Robotic grippers are also becoming more intelligent thanks to technology like artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data to increase connection, productivity, and efficiency, further opening up opportunities for market expansion.

Regional Analysis

Region-wise, the global robot end-effector market share is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of The World.

The Dominance of Asia-Pacific Over Other Regions

Asia-Pacific holds the highest market share and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.83% during the forecast period. The Asia-Pacific region within the global robot end-effector market maintains its stronghold through consistent requirement, innovation, and employment of robotic and other technology on a regular basis. Following the period of the Coronavirus, the region began and is continuing to experience a state of hyperdrive in the use of technology.

This consistency in the development and production of end-effector robotic peripherals and robots is visible through the production of grippers such as the A series for the A series Cobots, the VGP20 gripper, and the i4 Scara Robot by the OMRON corporation. With further exploration resulting in a higher probability of future developments, the region is working towards reducing supply-chain disruptions through robots and the robot end-effector peripherals.

Europe is expected to hold the second-largest share of USD 2,221 million in 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.64%. The European region within the global robot end-effector market effectively sustains itself through the widely implemented use of piece-picking robots. These robots and their end-effector peripherals are constantly innovated and developed to improve the versatility and effectiveness of their interactions and usage. This usage of robots is frequently observed in the E-commerce and retail industry.

North America is seeing substantial product development and innovation in the market researched by numerous vendors and colleges. By combining robotics and automation to aid people, collaborative robots can enhance production and utilization. As a result, the growing market for collaborative robots is likely to fuel the region's market development. Furthermore, collaborative robots are widely used in Canada's industrial sector, particularly in the automotive industry. Collaborative robots, for example, are being used by multinational corporations such as Magna International Inc. and Linamar Corp. to undertake activities such as visual inspection of parts or selecting components on an assembly line, which may be monotonous to people but were previously much too difficult for machines.

The Rest of the World sees excellent development in Latin America, which leads to higher acceptance and expansion of robotics, automation, and robot end-effector peripherals in Argentina. Aside from that, Brazil, Chile, Peru, the Middle East, and Africa are seeing an increase in robotics and automation. Within the next 15 years, the Brazilian government hopes to automate 15% of all industrial activities. As a result, although other regions seem to be the most resilient, the rest of the world is paving the way for a bright future for the global robot end-effector market.

Segmental Analysis

The global robot end-effector market share has been segmented across device type, end-user, and region.

Based on device type, the global robot end-effector market is segmented into Grippers, Processing Tools, Suction Cups, and Custom End-Effectors.

• On the Basis of Device Type

Grippers account for the highest market share and are expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.34% during the forecast period. Grippers are generally used to assist robots in engaging and interacting with their environments, including tasks such as holding, tightening, putting, lifting, and changing things, as well as other comparable needs, particularly in dangerous workplaces. The newly created grippers have a wide variety of qualities, types, and functions. They are mechanical and flexible, have extra pressure sensors, have fingers that can be customized, and offer other kinds and forms. The future of the gripper is foreseeable and will likely dominate within the global market due to its continued usage across several industries and its development and improvement via industrial partnerships.

Suction Cups, which are highly effective and easy grasping solutions appropriate for a wide variety of applications, are a type of end-effector. They are also known as vacuum grippers. In collaborative robot applications, these grippers offer strong, safe grips. Suction cup end-effectors come in various sizes and shapes, but most cobots employ a tiny electromechanical pump or a compressed air-driven pump. The suction cups are great for picking up uneven and even workpieces made of various materials, including cardboard, glass, sheet metal (dry), and plastic, and are often used in pick and place, assembly, and machine tending applications. Additionally, suction cup end-effectors are widely utilized in the packaging sector to guarantee efficiency in packing.

A Process Tool can modify the workpiece and increase its functionality. As part of our scope, processing equipment includes robotic welding tools, robotic paint guns, robotic milling bits, robotic cutters, and other specialized goods.

Custom End-Effectors are developed and fabricated to offer more speed and precision. These are well-engineered structures with high-quality components that provide robustness and minimize wear and tear. With the increasing complexity of production operations, robots must be capable of performing such complicated manufacturing processes. As a result, custom end-effectors are seeing substantial expansion in the investigated market to meet the needs of the end-user sector. In bakeries, for example, robots with customized end-effectors are used to do increasingly complicated jobs. Since picking up diverse forms, fragile parts, and sensitive surfaces is difficult—bakers benefit from specialized end-effectors that can handle multiple goods. Custom end-effector peripherals are widely used because they can be 3D printed and modified.

Based on end-users, the global robot end-effector market is segmented into Automotives, Food and Beverage, E-Commerce, Pharmaceuticals, and Others.

• On the Basis of End-Users

The Automotive industry is expected to have the largest market share, growing at a CAGR of 11.63% by 2030. Automation and robots are becoming increasingly frequent in the automotive industry because of technological breakthroughs. Robot end-effector peripherals are widely utilized to use robots alongside collaborative bots and integrate them with non-technological jobs—and the number of instances of their use will expand significantly because of the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution. As a result, the rate of innovation and use of robotics, together with technical improvements, pave the way for the automotive sector to retain the largest market share in the global  market.

The Food and Beverage industry is expanding quickly as the world's population grows. According to the United Nations, the population will reach 10.9 billion by the end of the twenty-first century. Food makers must adopt automation to stay up with demand, which is increasing. Furthermore, according to the WHO, an estimated 600 million, or about one-tenth of the world's population, die each year due to contaminated food, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years. Such prevalent characteristics drive the usage of robots and end-effectors in the food and beverage sector, with vendors going ahead and producing new industry-safe solutions.

Furthermore, worker safety, strict food safety standards, the growth in popularity of processed foods, and the desire to boost output while lowering production costs all play a role in automation adoption. End-effectors such as grippers are used in the Food and Beverage sector in accordance with certifications. For non-fatty food goods, FDA 21 CFR certification is used in the United States, while EC 1935/2004 certification is used in Europe. Having such certifications for grippers is a need for industry acceptance.

The E-Commerce industry has prompted organizations to enhance their warehouse and package processing capacity. Amazon is one such significant operator, announcing in January 2020 that it intends to build additional warehouses in India with a total space of 32 million cubic feet, a 20% increase. In India, the corporation has around 60 warehouses. According to Kiva Systems, an Amazon-owned robotics business, the pick-and-pack robot option can be three times more efficient than pick-to-conveyor systems and six times more efficient than human pick-to-cart techniques.

Furthermore, e-commerce businesses are searching for a complete solution that handles selecting, scanning, and shipping issues while saving time and effort. The increasing number of Stock Keeping Units (SKU) and the high expense of reverse logistics are driving the need for such robotic systems. Market vendors are designing items to profit from such e-commerce demands. Soft Robotics Inc., for example, released a robotic system mainly built for processing product returns in March 2020.

Recent Developments

• In December 2022, Dover Acquired a Precision Gear Pumps Manufacturer.
• In November 2022, The 2D Grasping Kit was created by SCHUNK to handle distinct objects randomly grouped on a single plane.
• In November 2022, SCHUNK designed a flexible gripper for small components to handle delicate and fragile workpieces.
• In June 2022, The gripper prototype created for SOFTMANBOT is now undergoing final preparations by ZimmerGroup to incorporate the force sensors.
• In October 2022, SmartPickTM from Bastian Solutions debuted at PACK EXPO.