Italy’s robot and automation industry is making its mark as one of the European leaders. With a total of 655 robot and automation companies, the Italian industry is the largest in Europe by number of businesses, ahead of France and Germany. This is established in a new market report from automation marketplace HowToRobot made in collaboration with the Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers’ Association, UCIMA.
“Italy is among the leaders in providing and adopting robotics and automation thanks to its large, diverse, and mature automation industry. With the growing global need for proven and robust automation solutions, Italy has much to offer,” says Søren Peters, CEO of HowToRobot.
One of the industry’s key strengths is within packaging machinery and automation. Italy has the highest share of the global packaging machinery market at 16.5% with a turnover of €8.1 billion in 2021, ahead of Germany with an estimated market share of 14.9% according to UCIMA. Exports account for 78% of the Italian packaging machinery’s turnover.
“Automation finds its maximum expression in Italy in packaging and processing machinery sector. Italian companies have always been pioneers in research and development of solutions that make increasingly efficient and automated industrial lines. Thus, Italian manufacturers are preferred engineering partners of many companies of the most diverse sectors (food, beverage, pharma, chemical, tissue, home, and personal care) around the world,” says Gian Paolo Crasta, Executive Director at UCIMA.
Growth prospects for the automation industry
Italy’s robot and automation industry is serving both local and global markets where the need for automation is increasing. Global robot installations are expected to increase from 517,000 in 2021 to 690,000 in 2025 according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) – a compound annual growth rate of 7%.
In Italy, robots and automation are already widely adopted, and several trends are expected to further increase the need for automation according to the market report from HowToRobot. These factors include growing labor shortages, ecommerce growth, and competitive pressures to increase productivity.
One of the key strengths of the Italian robot and automation industry is its ability to quickly adapt to changing demands according to the market report. The industry is heavily specialized in creating and integrating proven automation solutions to the needs of end-users.
About the Italian robot and automation industry
The report “Market Analysis of Robot and Automation Firms in Italy 2023” published on 31 May by HowToRobot in collaboration with UCIMA highlights new key statistics and research about the Italian robot and automation suppliers:
- Italy is leading in Europe by number of robot and automation suppliers with a total of 655 companies, followed by France (628 companies), and Germany (540 companies).
- 70% of Italy’s robot and automation suppliers are integrators, followed by sub-component suppliers (22%), robot manufacturers (5%), distributors (3%), and advisors (1%).
- Handling & picking automation is the solution type offered by most robot and automation suppliers in Italy (355 companies), followed by packing & palletizing (265 companies), and machining & shearing (196 companies).
To learn more about the Italian robot and automation industry, including market insights, statistics, and key information about each supplier, read the full market report.
