A number of factors such as the rising need for automation, predictive maintenance, safety control, and need for high productivity across industries are driving this market. Additionally, growing government support in many countries in the form of foreign direct investments (FDIs) is encouraging investments in the industrial sector and is further stimulating the growth of the automated guided vehicle market.
With regards to the market size, the major applications of automated guided vehicle are in the automotive and manufacturing industries. The use of AGVs in the automotive industry is being driven by a continuous need to control and monitor the material handling process, in order to eliminate the wastages on assembly line. The segment comprising tow vehicles is the key AGV type contributing to this market. In addition to this, the distribution application market is expected to grow at the highest rate during 2014–2020.
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The automotive industry contributes the maximum towards the world economy and is attracting investments from across the world, which automatically creates an opportunity for AGVs as the automotive industry is the highest buyer for mobile robotics. Moreover, the automated guided vehicles find various applications such as the transportation of raw material, handling sub-assemblies, and lifting waste materials. Over the next few years, the growth of automotive production is expected to dominate the overall manufacturing sector compared to the other industries due to a high demand.
The big automotive companies are planning to expand their production output. Furthermore, the emerging economies of China and India are also expected to contribute to the demand for automated guided vehicles. The total vehicle production in Asian countries rose tremendously compared to the developed countries and this pace has been accelerating since the last few years. The Asia Pacific region’s contribution to the world’s automotive sales increased from 2.7% in 1993 to 47.6% in 2013 (Source: Organization Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles, OICA, France). This growth rate is a clear indicator of the growing automotive industry in the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, the emerging markets present a lucrative growth opportunity for the aerospace industry, which is driving the demand for automated guided vehicles in the aerospace industry. The deliveries of planes have significantly increased in APAC over the last few years. Therefore, the growing automotive industry is likely to be the key revenue pocket for AGV manufactures. The automated guided vehicle market in emerging applications pertaining to e-commerce and retail is going through a rapid growth phase.
The success of e-commerce businesses largely depends upon their efficiency to take orders and process them simultaneously. The web sales in the U.S. were valued at $300 billion, which is 15.40% more than 2013 (Source: U.S. Commerce Department). The same growth trend is also being observed in the emerging economies such as China and India. These countries account for the maximum of the world’s population, registering the largest number of e-buyers. The e-commerce companies are considering AGVs as one of the key components in their growth and expansion as the latter can decrease their order processing time. Amazon.com, Inc. (U.S.) acquired Kiva System (U.S.) in 2012, to automate their order processing and delivery process. Therefore, the growing e-commerce industry is also one of the areas where AGV manufacturers can expand.
