ABB opens mega robotics factory in Shanghai

ABB Group, the Swiss technology company, opened its mega robotics factory in Shanghai on Friday, a move to further enhance its market presence in both China and the Asia-Pacific region.

The 67,000-sqm factory, including production and research facilities, represents a $150 million investment. The plant will deploy ABB's digital and automation technologies to manufacture next generation robots, the company said in a statement.

"The opening of our new mega factory is another milestone in helping our customers grow sustainably, address labor shortages and create high-value jobs in a new era of automation," said Sami Atiya, president of ABB's robotics and discrete automation division.

ABB predicts that the global robot market will grow from today's $80 billion to $130 billion in 2025. All while China, the world's largest robotics market, accounted for 51 percent of global robot installations in 2021, surpassing the one-million-unit mark of operational robots.

As one of ABB's three robotics factories worldwide, the Shanghai plant will support customers in China and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. The manufacturing base in Vasteras, Sweden supplies customers in Europe and the Auburn Hills factory in Michigan supports clients in North and South America.

The factory is the latest ABB robotics and discrete automation facility to open this year following a new global innovation and training campus for machine automation in Austria in July and an Industry 4.0 standard training center in Berlin in September.