The new Competitive Assessment by global technology intelligence firm ABI Research has evaluated and ranked the software offerings of the 13 major software vendors within the robotics offline programming space to accurately judge software's capabilities for supporting industrial robot deployments.

Offline Programming (OLP) software is the key to unlocking the value of automation across all industrial market verticals. The new Competitive Assessment by global technology intelligence firm ABI Research has evaluated and ranked the software offerings of the 13 major software vendors within the robotics offline programming space to accurately judge software's capabilities for supporting industrial robot deployments.

"The robotics industry relies on offline programming software to democratize automation while enabling dynamic workflows to allow decision makers to rapidly re-task robots for managing the production of heterogeneous products. Analytics and optimization features of software offerings both maximize productivity and create transparency, enabling broad stakeholder tie-ins. Further, intuitive interfaces allow workers to program robots without prior coding knowledge," explains George Chowdhury, Robotics Industry Analyst at ABI Research.

The companies featured in this ranking range from century-old manufacturing giants to innovative upstarts:

Market Leaders: Dassault Systèmes, Siemens, ABB
Mainstream: Cenit, EKS InTec, MathWorks
Followers: Artiminds, Hexagon, RoboDK, KUKA, Robotmaster, FANUC

"Perhaps counterintuitively, software is the most important facet of robotics," Chowdhury says. "Offline programming is the technology that will drive robotics uptake across many new industries. Software is also a vital aspect of industrial manufacturing. Robotics OLP software can be seen as the vehicle for innovation in manufacturing verticals—well-established manufacturing industries are generally wary of letting nascent technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) loose on their industrial robots. Simulation in the form of programming software assuages stakeholder concern by demonstrating and quantifying the value of innovation prior to deployment."

Quantified metrics include an investigation into product features, including Flexibility and Ease of Use; Compatible Data Formats for import and export; Interfacing Capabilities and software and hardware interoperability; Post-Sale Support and PLM; ease of deployment; time to value; and the inclusion of advanced features such as AI and Virtual Reality (VR). Some of the most advanced innovators in the space were ABB and Dassault Systèmes.

ABB's offering, RobotStudio, demonstrates AI augmentation and cloud collaboration capabilities for industrial robots. Dassault Systèmes—controlling a comprehensive software portfolio—provides unmatched dynamic and flexible PLM for creating versatile automated workflows ideal for the manufacture of high-mix goods.

Siemens' powerful implementation capabilities earned it the top implementer spot in the competitive ranking. Siemens leverages deep systems integration knowledge for solutions, focusing on virtual commissioning and the streamlined deployment and monitoring of robots for industrial applications.

Understanding of the simulation market that supports robot deployments is critical to achieving further uptake and greater market penetration for robotics stakeholders. "Supporting digital infrastructure that streamlines automation deployments and optimization while furthering accessibility to emerging technology will play an increasingly important role in the decades ahead. All automation stakeholders would do well to understand vendor offerings and the advantages they confer thoroughly," Chowdhury concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research's Offline Programming for Robotics Software in Industrial Manufacturing competitive ranking report. This report is part of the company's Industrial, Collaborative & Commercial Robotics research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Competitive Ranking reports offer a comprehensive analysis of implementation and innovation strategies to provide unparalleled insight into a company's performance and standing compared to its competitors.

About ABI Research

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