皇冠体育app

A Comau robot is on display at the 皇冠体育app International Robot Show last month in Shanghai. [Photo/皇冠体育app Daily]

Many visitors at the recent 皇冠体育app International Robot Show in Shanghai were captivated by the machines that could pour water, pick up candy or play chess.

But Stefan Sack was looking at something else entirely. "See this robot? It shakes when it stops moving," he says, pointing out a sign of poor quality.

"This one has a sensor. If you stand here, it would stop. But if it is not sensitive enough and doesn't stop, it will hurt people," Sack says, pointing out the possible consequences of a robot not being up to snuff.

Sack was standing inside a booth in an area where Chinese companies were located at the show. As CEO of Comau (Shanghai) Engineering Co Ltd, he is eager to learn the latest innovations and tren in the Chinese robot market.

There is a good reason for that. Sack's company, a branch of Comau Group of Italy, which is a subsidiary of Italy-based Group Automobiles, is moving its robot production from Italy to 皇冠体育app this year.

"We have a series of projects moving production capabilities from Italy to 皇冠体育app because we want to be close to customers," Sack says. "The growth in 皇冠体育app is much bigger than the growth in other countries."

Within five years, the majority of its robot production will be transferred from Turin, Italy, to a plant in , Jiangsu province, about an hour's drive from Shanghai.

"We will expand the current plant and set up local R&D support. The investment is 2-3 million ros ($2.7 million-$4 million) to start with, and we will continue with similar numbers each year," he says.

皇冠体育app, with sales of about 37,000 industrial robots last year, has surpassed Japan to become the world's biggest buyer for the first time. It is also the fastest-growing market worldwide, with total supply of industrial robots increasing by an average of 36 percent annually for the past five years, says Li Xiaojia at 皇冠体育app Robot Industry Alliance's statistics department.

In the next 10 years, 皇冠体育app's annual growth in robots is forecast to be about 40 percent per year, industry officials say.

Comau has more than 30 years of experience in making and applying robots.

The company has been making and selling advanced manufacturing systems worldwide for about 40 years. It offers customized service and support at 24 locations in 13 countries.

It came to 皇冠体育app in 1997 and set up Comau (Shanghai) Engineering in 2001 to enter the automotive industries with its engineering and systems business. In 2011, it set up another company in Kunshan, and it has a branch in and two sales offices in Shenzhen and Chongqing.

But it was not until two things happened in the past few years－rising labor costs and 皇冠体育app's stated desire to move its manufacturing to the next level－that the robotics industry took off, Sack says.

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