Welder Wang stands on the left. To his right is a six-axis welding robot. They both take on the same metal bracket—the robot finishes in 3 minutes 5 seconds, while Wang takes 8 minutes 12 seconds. So where does that five-minute gap come from?
Wang starts by cleaning the joints, then flips and re-fixtures the piece after the first pass, keeping the gap and misalignment in check, clearing spatter and grinding the weld—8 minutes 12 seconds all told. The robot, meanwhile, works with a positioner to keep every weld in the right position, then unloads the finished part—3 minutes 5 seconds.
Switch to a different model, and Wang must study the drawings anew, realign and run test welds. The robot simply needs to switch programs on its teach pendant, and it's ready to weld in under a minute.
Measure the weld height with a gauge, and the robot-welded bracket shows just a quarter of the variation of the manually welded one.
This robot was made in Guangdong. In the first half of this year, the province's industrial robot output rose 34.2 percent year on year, and exports hit 1.48 billion yuan (US$221 million), up 16.8 percent. Roughly 2.4 out of every 10 industrial robots exported nationwide are made in Guangdong.
China became a net exporter of industrial robots only last year, and in the first half of this year exports reached 6.29 billion yuan, up 18.6 percent. The robot welding this bracket is among the models overseas buyers favor most. Today, more and more Guangdong-made industrial robots are working their way into factories around the world.
In November 2026, Shenzhen will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. Last year, the city produced 25.2 percent of China's industrial robots. Besides welding robots, what other robots would you like to see in Shenzhen? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
Authors | Chen Rongwei, Guan Xiruyi, Li Qian, Gong Chunhui
Revisors | Wei Shen, Liu Lingzhi, Huang Qini
