????自動(dòng)化正在席卷中國(guó)。最初，中國(guó)承接了全世界的大量制造任務(wù)，如今正在把這些任務(wù)外包給機(jī)器人。

????自2013年起，中國(guó)一直是全球最大的機(jī)器人設(shè)備市場(chǎng)?，F(xiàn)在，這種興趣也絲毫未見(jiàn)消退?！度A爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》援引國(guó)際機(jī)器人協(xié)會(huì)的數(shù)據(jù)稱，去年中國(guó)的機(jī)械銷量同比猛增54%。明年，中國(guó)安裝的機(jī)器人設(shè)備數(shù)量預(yù)計(jì)將超過(guò)任何其他國(guó)家。

????是什么推動(dòng)了這一轉(zhuǎn)型？盡管亞洲的勞動(dòng)力成本仍然相對(duì)較低，但它最近一直處于上升趨勢(shì)?！渡虡I(yè)日?qǐng)?bào)》報(bào)道稱，經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家預(yù)計(jì)亞洲勞動(dòng)力的平均工資今年將提高10%。為了降低成本，雇主開(kāi)始用更便宜的機(jī)器人來(lái)代替人力。

????國(guó)際機(jī)器人協(xié)會(huì)預(yù)計(jì)，到2017年，投入使用的機(jī)器人數(shù)量將翻一番，從現(xiàn)在的20萬(wàn)增加到40萬(wàn)。另一方面，北美的機(jī)器人數(shù)量也將增加至30萬(wàn)左右。

????汽車和電子工業(yè)是率先進(jìn)行勞動(dòng)力自動(dòng)化的行業(yè)。例如，為蘋果生產(chǎn)iPhone的臺(tái)灣制造業(yè)巨頭富士康預(yù)計(jì)，在接下來(lái)的3年內(nèi)，70%的裝配線工作將由機(jī)器人接替。國(guó)際機(jī)器人協(xié)會(huì)的一份文件這樣總結(jié)全球?qū)C(jī)器人激增的需求：

????“這種動(dòng)力主要來(lái)自亞洲，尤其是中國(guó)，以及北美地區(qū)。汽車業(yè)將繼續(xù)成為新技術(shù)的創(chuàng)新源頭。全球?qū)﹄娮赢a(chǎn)品、新產(chǎn)品和新生產(chǎn)技術(shù)的需求越來(lái)越大，會(huì)促使人們投資改善現(xiàn)有的生產(chǎn)過(guò)程，提高電器/電子工業(yè)的生產(chǎn)能力，尤其是在亞洲。”

????目前，中國(guó)每1萬(wàn)名制造工人配備有30個(gè)工業(yè)用機(jī)器人，這一數(shù)值是2013年的兩倍。

????專家把這項(xiàng)指標(biāo)稱作“機(jī)器人密度”。相較之下，韓國(guó)有著全球最高的機(jī)器人密度，每1萬(wàn)名制造工人配備437個(gè)工業(yè)用機(jī)器人，是中國(guó)的15倍，日本是中國(guó)的11倍，德國(guó)是10倍，美國(guó)大約是3倍。

????今年1月接受國(guó)際機(jī)器人協(xié)會(huì)采訪時(shí)，ABB Robotics公司執(zhí)行董事倪思德表示：“中國(guó)生產(chǎn)設(shè)備的自動(dòng)化只是剛剛起步。從第一家外國(guó)機(jī)器人制造商落戶這里開(kāi)始，我們觀察了這個(gè)市場(chǎng)及其發(fā)展好幾年時(shí)間。過(guò)去兩三年中，中國(guó)機(jī)器人使用數(shù)量幾乎爆炸式的迅速增長(zhǎng)，甚至超出了我們的預(yù)計(jì)?！?/p>

????業(yè)內(nèi)的觀察家認(rèn)為亞洲的機(jī)器人市場(chǎng)，如中國(guó)、韓國(guó)和其他東南亞國(guó)家等，能夠保持高速發(fā)展的態(tài)勢(shì)。國(guó)際機(jī)器人協(xié)會(huì)預(yù)測(cè)稱，“這一市場(chǎng)仍有巨大的潛力?！?span>（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

????審校：任文科

????Automation is taking China by storm. First, the country hoovered up many of the world’s manufacturing jobs, and now it is, in turn, outsourcing that work to robots.

????Since 2013, China has topped the list as the world’s biggest market for robotic machinery. That appetite is not subsiding. The country’s sales for the machines surged 54% last year compared to the year prior, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites statistics from the International Federation of Robotics. Next year, China is poised to have installed more robotic machines than any other country, the paper reports.

????What’s driving the transition? Even though the cost of labor in Asia remains relatively low, it has been on the rise recently. Economists anticipate average wages to grow 10% this year, according to the Journal of Commerce. In order to keep costs own, employers are trading humans for cheaper robots.

????By 2017, the IFR expects the number of robots in operation to double to 400,000 from today’s 200,000. North America, on the other hand, will grow to have about 300,000.

????The automotive and electronics industries are leading the charge in workforce automation. The Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn, which supplies iPhones for Apple AAPL -0.22% , for instance, predicts that 70% of its assembly line work will be taken over by robots three years from now. As an IFR document summarizes about the explosive demand for robots worldwide:

????“Impetus will mainly come from Asia, particularly from China, and from North America. The automotive industry will continue to be the innovator for new technology. The growing global demand for electronic products, new products, and new production technologies are boosting investments in retooling of existing production processes and expanding production capacities of the electrical/electronics industry particularly in Asia.”

????At the moment, China has 30 industrial robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers—about double what it had in 2013.

????Experts refer to this figure “robot density.” In comparison, South Korea has the world’s highest robot density at 437 robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers, which is about 15 times greater than China’s. Japan’s is about 11 times greater than China’s; Germany’s is 10 times higher; and the United States’ is about three times higher.

????“The automation of China’s production plants has just started”, ABB Robotics managing director Per Vegard Nerseth told IFR in January. “As the first foreign robot manufacturer to arrive here, we have observed the market and developments for years now. We have witnessed swift, almost explosive growth over the last two or three years, surpassing even our expectations.”

????Industry watchers are expecting major growth to continue in Asian markets such as China, Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries. As the IFR forecasts, “The potential for robot installations in this market is still tremendous.”