New EU members on the market of industrial robots : analysis of post-accession developments

One of the most noticeable changes related to the Industry 4.0 is growing investment in industrial robots, and in manufacturing automation in general. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the recent trends in the international market of industrial robots over two last decades, and then to assess the achievements of selected new European Union member states in respect of industrial robots’ implementation and its consequences to domestic labor market. Research based mostly on International Federation of Robotics and International Labour Organization data showed that automation processes in new EU member states were recently much faster than in top 10 countries with largest operational stocks of industrial robots. On the other hand still lower labor costs and relatively high labor productivity can result in slower implementation of industrial robots in their manufacturing industries.