In a fascinating display of robotic inception, KUKA robots are now building their own kind in China. The German robotics company’s Shunde factory is pushing the boundaries of automation, churning out one industrial robot every 30 minutes. But hold onto your circuit boards, folks, because they’re aiming to crank that up to one robot per minute! It’s like a high-tech assembly line on steroids, or should I say, on silicon?
The factory’s annual output of 30,000 robots is impressive, but what’s really turning heads is KUKA’s localization strategy. By sourcing 80-90% of components from southern China, they’ve slashed production costs by a third and cut delivery times from months to weeks. It’s like they’ve discovered the secret sauce of robotic efficiency, and it tastes like cost-effective circuitry with a side of speedy delivery.
This robotic revolution isn’t just about robots making more robots, though. It’s fueling growth in various industries, from automotive to medical applications. Chinese EV manufacturers expanding overseas and electronics companies upgrading their production lines are driving the demand. With China now representing a quarter of KUKA’s $4.1 billion annual revenue, it seems the robot-building robots have found their groove in the Middle Kingdom. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see robots designing the next generation of robots – now that would be a real circuit breaker!
