Abstract
Industrial robots are a strategic future technology and an important part of the development of artificial intelligence, and they are a necessary means for the intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry. Based on global industrial robot trade data from 1998 to 2017, this paper applies the dynamic complex network analysis method to reveal the spatial and temporal variation characteristics and trade status evolution of the global industrial robot trade network. The results show that the global industrial robot network density has steadily increased, and the industrial robot trade has been characterized by ‘diversification’. The number of major industrial robot exporters in the world is increasing, and the import market is increasingly diversified. The export market structure is relatively tight, the centrality of the global industrial robot trade network shows a downward trend, and the dissimilarity of the ‘core-edge’ clusters decreases year by year. The trade status of ‘catch-up’ countries represented by China has rapidly increased. However, Japan, Germany, and Italy are still in the central position of the industrial robot trade. Moreover, trade of the ‘catch-up’ countries’ is dominated by imports, and exports of industrial robot products are insufficient. Finally, policy suggestions are provided according to the results.
Highlights
Industrial robots are a strategic future technology that represent, an important part of the development of artificial intelligence and a necessary means for the intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry
According to the latest research from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the average global sales of industrial robots increased by 19% from 2012 to 2017, with 30% growth in 2017, totaling 381,335 units; the global demand for industrial robots has sharply increased [1]
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the structural characteristics and evolution of the global industrial robot trade network by considering the network analysis method that has the following advantages
Summary
Industrial robots are a strategic future technology that represent, an important part of the development of artificial intelligence and a necessary means for the intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry. In 2017, in addition to Germany and Italy, the Netherlands, China, the United States and France were all important import and export countries, which means that the cooperation of the whole industrial chain of the global industrial robot trade is emerging. After 2012, the Netherlands, India, China, South Korea and other countries developed rapidly and became the core importers of the global industrial robot trade These results are consistent with the conclusions that were reached above. In 2005, Japan and China occupied important positions in the industrial robot trade and were followed by the United States, South Korea, Italy, Germany and other countries. In 2012, Germany and China occupied important positions in the global import and export trade of industrial robots They had the greatest influences in the global industrial robot trading network and were followed by the United States, South Korea, Austria, Switzerland and other countries. 1 (Core countries) 2 (Strong semi-peripheral countries) 3 (Weak semi-peripheral countries) 4 (Peripheral countries)
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