ABB and the Five Million Factory Robot Milestone

The IFR now counts five million factory robots, led by China and the US. How we got here from the 1961 Unimate, and where ABB builds its own robots.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/25/20261 min read

In 1961 the first Unimate robot went to work at a General Motors plant in New Jersey, lifting hot die-cast parts. In this 1967 photo, a Unimate pours coffee at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Robots were still a curiosity then, and almost all factory work was done by hand.

Black and white photo of a woman at a table while a robot arm pours coffee into a cup
Black and white photo of a woman at a table while a robot arm pours coffee into a cup

A Unimate robot pours coffee at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, 1967. Photo: Frank Q. Brown / Los Angeles Times, UCLA Library via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

In 1974 ASEA, one of the companies that later formed ABB, launched the IRB 6, the first all-electric, microprocessor-controlled industrial robot. Car makers became the first big buyers, and welding lines full of robots, like this one at Ford in Cologne, became the usual picture of automation.

Orange robot arms working on car bodies on a production line
Orange robot arms working on car bodies on a production line

Robots on a car body line at Ford's plant in Cologne, Germany. Photo: GillyBerlin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

On September 24, the International Federation of Robotics said five million industrial robots now work in factories worldwide, more than double the number seven years ago. China installed 354,000 robots in 2025, 59% of the world total. The United States passed Japan to become the second-largest market, with almost 38,500 installations.

Worker in a blue clean room suit checking a tablet next to a white industrial robot
Worker in a blue clean room suit checking a tablet next to a white industrial robot

An industrial robot in a clean room at BBS Automation in Blaichach, Germany. Photo: Clemenspool / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Europe is moving more slowly. Germany is still the fifth-largest market, but its installations fell 8% to under 25,000. ABB builds its robots close to its customers: in Västerås, Sweden, for Europe, in Auburn Hills, Michigan, for the Americas, and in a $150 million factory in Shanghai for Asia.

Aerial view of a large white factory building with an ABB sign
Aerial view of a large white factory building with an ABB sign

ABB's robotics factory in Kangqiao, Shanghai, which opened in 2022. Photo: ABB

The Shanghai plant opened in December 2022 and has no fixed assembly line. ABB robots build other robots there, working in modular cells that autonomous mobile robots keep supplied, and they handle jobs such as screwdriving, assembly and material handling.

White ABB robot arms working in automated production cells
White ABB robot arms working in automated production cells

ABB robots at work in production cells inside the Shanghai factory. Photo: ABB

The IFR expects 655,000 new robots to be installed in 2026 and 806,000 in 2029, partly because companies are moving production closer to their customers. Humanoids, the kind of robot many people picture helping at home, are still rare: Reuters reported that about 7,000 were sold worldwide last year. I think nearly all robots will keep working in factories for a while yet.

Orange ABB robot arm next to a large orange welding positioner holding a steel part
Orange ABB robot arm next to a large orange welding positioner holding a steel part

An ABB welding robot and positioner in a workshop. Photo: Ana 2016 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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