Who and where are the RaaS Players today?
Robot as a Service, or RaaS, offerings compete very well in industries that are traditionally labor-dependent and sensitive to minimal labor wages. These industries include the cleaning services, safety and security services, delivery services, warehouse operations and manufacturing operations. For each industry, we will look at the industry-specific RaaS companies and the types of robots used in the industry below:
1CLEANING ROBOTS-AS-A-SERVICE
Cleaning Robot-as-a-Service Solutions
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Image credit: TechObjects.io
There are at least 10 cleaning robot-as-a-service offerings in the global market, providing commercial floor cleaning/scrubbing, window/facade cleaning or room cleaning services. The RaaS pricing models range from hourly fees (US$4-$6 per hour) to monthly charges (US$215 to 1.5K per month).
List of Cleaning Robot-as-a-Service Companies (source)
Robotic companies in the commercial floor cleaning segment include Avidbots (Canada), Lionsbot (Singapore) and Softbank Robotics (Japan). Room-cleaning/housekeeping RaaS companies include Peanut Robotics (USA) and Mira Robotics (Japan). Window/facade cleaning RaaS companies include KITE Robotics (Netherlands), Skyline Robotics (Israel) and Wall Robotics (Finland).
Find out more about these companies and their RaaS business models in this list of cleaning robot-as-a-service companies worldwide.
2SECURITY ROBOTS-AS-A-SERVICE
Security Robot-as-a-Service Solutions
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Image credit: TechObjects.io
In cities where the security workforce is increasingly costly and aging, hiring and ensuring adequate security is becoming a serious challenge. Security robot-as-a-service (RaaS) enables companies and security contractors to fill gaps in their security coverage and yet avoid having to invest in high, upfront capital expenditure. The general security RaaS model is on monthly rental basis, with each robot costing easily from US$1.5K per month to as high as US$10K per month.
List of Security Robot-as-a-Service Companies (source)
Companies offering security robot-as-a-service solutions include Cobalt Robotics (USA), Knightscope (USA), SMP Robotics (USA), OTSAW Digital (Singapore) and Ademco (Singapore). Find out more about these security RaaS companies and their business models in this list of security robot-as-a-service companies worldwide.
3DELIVERY ROBOTS-AS-A-SERVICE
Delivery Robot-as-a-Service Solutions
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Autonomous delivery vehicles (ADVs) can travel on public roads and are capable of handling city-range or town-range deliveries (5-20km radius). Companies in this segment include Robomart (USA), nuro (USA), AutoX (USA) and UDelv (USA).
List of Delivery Robot-as-a-Service Companies (source)
Local delivery robots make deliveries within 5-6km radius (typically using sidewalks and small-roads) and generally target local communities and campuses. RaaS companies in this segment include Starship (USA), HelloWorld (Malaysia), Kiwibot (USA) and Marble (USA). On-premise delivery robots help to deliver food or carry packages within a premise, such as a restaurant, hotel or hospital. RaaS companies in this space include general-purpose carrier robots such as Aethon TUG or Savioke Relay and specific waiter robots such as the Pudubot and Keenon Peanut Waiter.
Find out more about these delivery RaaS companies and their specific business models in this list of delivery robot-as-a-service companies worldwide.
4FACTORY ROBOTS-AS-A-SERVICE
Factory Robot-as-a-Service Solutions
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Image credit: TechObjects.io
With global initiatives on smart manufacturing, such as Industry 4.0 and "Made in China 2025", in high gear, one of the key trends in factory automation is the adoption of Cobots (or Collaborative Robots) and a diversity of robot types for different stages of manufacturing. There are several variants of the pay-as-you-use model here - from monthly rental (from Mobile Industrial Robots MiR and Ready Robotics), to pay per productive hour (from Hirerobotics and HAHN RobShare) to pay per intelligent action (from Kindred).
List of Factory Automation Robot-as-a-Service Companies (source)
Find out more about these factory automation RaaS companies and their specific business models in this list of factory automation robot-as-a-service companies worldwide.
5WAREHOUSE ROBOTS-AS-A-SERVICE
Warehouse Robot-as-a-Service Solutions
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Image credit: TechObjects.io
Warehouse management is one of the major industries that is being automated at a blazing speed - from fetching items around the warehouse, to sorting and shelving , to picking and packing, and eventually shipping off. Picker-as-a-service players include InVia Robotics, Magazino and Geek+ Robotics. Warehouse AMRaaS (Autonomous Mobile Robot as a Service) players include 6 River, Fetch Robotics, Locus Robotics and Ronavi Robotics.
List of Warehouse Automation Robot-as-a-Service Companies (source)
Find out more about these warehouse automation RaaS companies and their specific business models in this list of warehouse automation robot-as-a-service companies worldwide.
Quick Industry Links (TLDR)
Conclusion
In this year-end report for 2020, we have compiled and looked at the state of Robot-as-a-Service markets as well as the up-and-coming players. We will continue to update this special report next year for 2020.
You may also like to continue to our other robotics report - 2020 Robot-as-a-Service Business Models.
Gary Yates
I cover and write all things robotics @ Insights. Like everyone else, what I do today may be performed by a robot writer one day. So, I get ahead by keeping abreast of what is happening in the robotics world. You should too!
