ABB YuMi collaborative robot named 2016 Best Industrial Robot

ABB’s YuMi collaborative robot solution has been honoured with a Golden Finger award as one of the best industrial robots of 2016 at the China International Robot Show (CIROS) in Shanghai, China. CIROS is organised by the China Machinery Industry Federation and the China Robot Industry Alliance and is one of the three largest robot technology events in the world.

2016 was the first year for the Golden Finger awards, which were jointly set up with CIROS and China’s Machinery & Electronics Business newspaper as part of the beginning of the country’s 13th Five Year Plan and Made in China 2025 Strategy. The strategy aims to transform China into a global manufacturing leader; robots will play a key role in improving productivity and shifting the country’s manufacturing focus from being ‘big’ to being ‘strong’.

One out of every four robots sold today is sold in China, which is the world’s leading robotics growth market. According to the International Federation of Robotics, some 68,000 units were sold in China during 2015, which is a 17% increase over 2014.

In industries such as personal electronics, the need for more customised products and higher-quality expectations is changing the nature of manufacturing. Production is shifting from mass producing the same product for a long time to producing small lots of more diverse products for a shorter business cycle. Robots offer the flexibility and agility to remain productive and improve quality while adapting to meet increasingly diverse consumer needs.

ABB’s YuMi robot solution was specifically designed to help consumer electronics meet these challenges by unlocking collaborative manufacturing solutions where people and robots safely work together on shared tasks.

“There is an exceptional passion for innovation here in China. ABB is working closely with its customers to help transform their manufacturing and find new ways of unlocking the flexible, efficient ‘factory of the future’ today. Collaborative automation will certainly play a large part in this journey,” said Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Motion division. “It’s a great honor for ABB to receive this recognition here in China and among distinguished peers at of the world’s most important robot technology events.”

In April 2016, ABB’s YuMi robot solution was recognised for outstanding achievements in commercialising innovative robot technology with the prestigious Invention and Entrepreneurship Award (IERA) during the Automatica trade fair in Munich, Germany.