152.(双语文稿)机器人销售量下降？机器人和工人和谐共处

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US Companies Bought Fewer Robots in 2019

2019年美国商用机器人购买数量减少

American companies put fewer robots in place during 2019 than they did the year before, Reuters news agency reports. That is the first decrease in shipped robots since 2015.

据路透社报道，2019年美国企业投产的机器人数量较上一年要少。这是自2015年来机器人出货量首次下降。

Robot shipments last year fell to 23,758. That is a more than 16 percent drop from the year before. That information comes from the Association for Advancing Automation, an industry group based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

去年，机器人出货量降至23758台——较前一年下降了16%以上。该信息来自于先进自动化协会——一个位于密歇根州安娜堡的行业组织协会。

Robot shipments also fell in Mexico last year, decreasing 25 percent to 3,263. Shipments in Canada were about the same, with just over 3,000 robots shipped.

去年墨西哥的机器人出货量也下降了25%，降至3263台。加拿大的出货量也差不多，只有3000多台。

A major goal of  administration has been to get manufacturers to bring jobs back to the United States. New robotics permit U.S. companies to compete with low-cost labor in China and other countries. Some experts, however, believe there is a slowdown in manufacturing.

当今政府的一个重要目标是通过制造业来给美国带回工作岗位。新的机器人技术使美国公司能够与中国和其他国家的低成本劳动力竞争。然而，一些专家则认为制造业发展在放缓。

Alexander Shikany is vice president of the Association for Advancing Automation. He said a slowdown is not likely to last a long time. He noted that orders for new robots in North America increased last year by 1.6 percent to 29,988 units.

亚历山大·希坎是先进自动化协会的副主席。他表示，这种放缓不太可能持续很长时间。他指出，去年北美新机器人的订单增加了1.6%，达到29988台。

The largest driver of that growth was a more than 50 percent increase in orders from carmakers. Shikany said the car industry is making robots part of their investment for the future.

这一增长的最大推动力来自汽车制造商——此类订单增长多达50%以上。希坎说，汽车行业把机器人作为对未来投资的一部分。

U.S. carmaker General Motors recently announced that it was investing $2.2 billion to build electric trucks and self-driving electric vehicles at its factory near Detroit, Michigan.

美国汽车制造商通用汽车公司最近宣布，将投资22亿美元在其位于密歇根州底特律附近的工厂制造电动卡车和自动驾驶电动汽车。

Hytrol Conveyor Company, Incorporated is a private company in Jonesboro, Arkansas. It makes conveyor belts and sold over $200 million of products last year. The company did not cut back on new robots in 2019. It spent $1.9 million last year to automate its assembly line.

海特罗输送公司是一家位于阿肯色州琼斯波罗的私营公司。该公司生产传送带，去年销售额超2亿美元。2019年该公司没有削减购买新机器人的数量，并于去年斥资190万美元实现了装配线的自动化。

David Peacock is the company’s president. He said the company realized three years ago that it would have trouble meeting demand without more robots.

戴维·皮科克是该公司的总裁。他说，公司三年前就意识到如果不使用更多机器人，将难以满足生产需求。

However, the investments have not cut jobs. The number of workers at Hytrol Conveyor’s factory has increased 18 percent over the past three years to 1,300. And the company has seen a nearly 25 percent increase in profits.

然而，这些投资并没有削减就业岗位。海特罗输送工厂的工人人数在过去三年中增加了18%，达到1300人。该公司的利润则增长了近25%。