North American robot orders climbed to their highest level since the 2022 boom and continued that trend into 2026, according to Association for Advancing Automation data reported by DC Velocity. Strong demand from semiconductor and electronics, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries offset declining automotive orders in the first half of 2026, with shipments up 21% and 24% year over year. Rocrich AGV, a joint venture of Logisnext Americas and Jungheinrich, supplies automated guided vehicles for warehouse automation. Shifting trade policies and a warehouse labor shortage intensified by tightened immigration policies are pushing more companies toward automation, while falling costs are making the technology accessible to small and medium-sized players.
North American robot orders reached their highest level since the 2022 boom last year and have carried that momentum into 2026, according to data from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) reported by www.dcvelocity.com, as demand spreads across an increasingly diverse range of end-users.
Non-automotive sectors offset automotive decline
Strong orders in the semiconductor and electronics, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries offset declining orders among longtime robot buyers in the automotive industry in the first half of 2026, according to A3 data cited in the report.
The shift marks a broadening of the buyer base for warehouse and industrial automation. Demand that was once concentrated in automotive manufacturing is now being driven by sectors that had historically invested far less in robotics, the source states.
The figures represent a 21% and 24% increase in year-over-year shipments, respectively, according to the report. The source does not specify which two categories each percentage corresponds to.
Material handling JV points to wider adoption
Rocrich AGV is a joint venture between material handling equipment companies Logisnext Americas and Jungheinrich, specializing in a wide range of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for warehouse automation.
“More [companies] are starting to look at [robotics] as an option, and a lot more people are closing in on that and investing in these technologies,” — Menke
Menke’s observation aligns with A3 and International Federation of Robotics (IFR) data showing that demand is spreading across an increasingly diverse range of end-users, according to the report.
IFR says the robots are used for transportation as well as to automate material flows and delivery processes, and that the growth is evidence of robots becoming a more prevalent part of everyday life and work.
Trade policy and labor shortages drive investment
AI-enabled robotics and other automated technologies are helping companies better manage their supply chains during what has been widely described as a year of uncertainty, due to shifting trade policies that have created uneven demand cycles, the source states.
An ongoing shortage of warehouse workers, intensified by tightened immigration policies, has also driven many companies to look to automation for answers, according to the report.
Advances in robotics and other technologies have leveled the playing field where costs are concerned, making equipment that was once accessible only to the biggest companies affordable for even small and medium-sized players, the source states.
As the industry headed into the last part of the 2025 peak season, DC Velocity asked a panel of four material handling experts for their take on the current state of automation and robotics, what is driving demand, and where benefits and efficiencies can be found.
Source: DC Velocity
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
