As the accompanying chart, based on data from the International Robotics Federation shows, the operational stock of industrial robots has tripled over the past decade, with more than three million robots in use across various industries by the end of 2020.

Asia leads the way in the shift to automated processes, with China in particular installing industrial robots at breakneck speed, according to the IFR. In 2020, China installed 168,400 industrial robots, amounting to 44 percent of global installations.