Shipment Volume

出货量Common

The number of robots a manufacturer actually ships to customers over a given period.

Shipment volume is the quantity of product a manufacturer actually ships out during a given period, usually reported annually or quarterly, and it's one of the most direct measures of how far a robotics company's commercialization has progressed. A few things are worth watching when reading this number: shipping a unit doesn't mean a customer is actually using it (it may be sitting in channel inventory); robots sold for research and education or paid appearances mean something different from robots doing real factory work; and framework orders or letters of intent are only agreements, not shipments. Industry reports, from the IFR and various consultancies, compile shipment figures across manufacturers, but the definitions used for humanoid robots aren't standardized, so it's worth checking the source closely before citing a number.

Also called: Units Delivered
Related: Mass Production · Framework Order / Letter-of-Intent Order · Scaled Deployment · Research & Education Market · International Federation of Robotics
Sources: IFR World Robotics