IndustryBrief
Facing China, Hanwha Ocean plans to automate 70% of its production by 2030
South Korean and Japanese shipbuilders are putting more welding robots into their yards to counter China, the Robot Newspaper (로봇신문) reports on 5 October, citing a Financial Times investigation.
Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea's three big shipbuilders, says a single operator can supervise up to 10 robots on standardised welding jobs. According to the Robot Newspaper, the company plans to automate 70% of its production processes by 2030.
In HD Hyundai's yards, robots use ship design data to locate weld points and move between hull blocks. A worker handles at most 30 welding cells a day, against up to 50 with the robots, according to the article.
HD Hyundai acknowledges limits: its robots can handle more than 90% of simple welds, but struggle with welding curved blocks, painting and piping.
In Japan, FANUC, described by the article as the world's largest maker of industrial robots, has developed welding and painting robots designed for shipbuilders.
The context is one of fierce competition: the Financial Times, citing the British firm Clarksons Research, says China won 63% of global ship orders last year.
Source
- 로봇신문 Robot Newspaper · irobotnews.com
