Robot Density In The Manufacturing Industry, 2018
1000
831
774
Average Europe: 114 Average America: 99 Average Asia: 91 Average World: 99
800
600
400
338 327
247 240
221 217 200
188 182 172 174 172 168 165
200
154 146 140 140 135
0
Source: World Robotics, 2019
As shown in the diagram, as the region prospers, economically so does the installations of industrial robots to power the manufacturing activities in Malaysia specifically. As of 2019, Malaysia is not even in list of top 15 countries as the main end user of industrial robots. Two ASEAN countries, Singapore and Thailand are on the list nonetheless, which does not bid well of our aspiration to become key industrial players in the region with USD2.5 trillion GDP. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) 2017, robot density in the Malaysian manufacturing sector was approximately 50% lower than the Asian average and 93% lower than Singapore. Average by region are indicated in the table. While acknowledging the shortcomings prevailing in the Malaysian manufacturing environment, it is still counterproductive to allow this situation to pass when we consider Malaysia was growing faster than both countries in 2018 where Malaysia recorded (4.9%), Singapore (2,4%) and Thailand (3.2%) respectively.
Furthermore, our labour productivity is significantly higher than Thailand.
In Malaysia, target robots’ installations can be directed at, industriesnamelyautomotive,E&Eandahostofother, industries namely metal, rubber and plastics; food and beverages; and pharmaceuticals. From the Annual Economic Statistics 2018 Manufacturing Sector by Department of Statistics Malaysia on gross output value of manufacturing sector by sector, E&E accounted for RM361.8 billion (28.4%); followed by petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products with RM340.4 billion (26.7%); and the vegetables, animal’s, oil & fats, and processed foods at RM214.0 billion (16.8%). Academic research by the IMF and World Bank have repeatedly called for structural reform and endogenous innovation to move the country up the value chain of manufacturing into allowing Malaysia to escape the current middle-income trap.
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Malaysian Technology Strategic Outlook 2019/2020 Intergration of High Technology
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