The march of automation into factory floors has been a defining feature of industrial change, but the reality of robotics adoption—who’s buying, who’s installing, and what it means for jobs—remains difficult to capture in real time. For analysts and policymakers, ISIC 2825, covering the manufacture of machinery for mining and construction, offers a strategic vantage point to start measuring the uptake of robotics across manufacturing.
The process begins by identifying all firms registered under ISIC 2825. This code, while broad, includes many of the main players responsible for producing and integrating robotics systems—especially in countries where construction and mining overlap heavily with advanced manufacturing. By mapping new orders, production runs, and equipment deliveries reported by these firms, analysts can begin to infer installation rates for robotics within the broader industrial sector.
Capital expenditure (capex) data is the next critical ingredient. Large manufacturers often disclose annual spending on new machinery and automation, sometimes with enough detail to separate investments in robotics from other capital goods. Industry associations, central banks, or government statistical offices may also track sector-level capex, especially in economies prioritizing industrial modernization. Analysts cross-reference these figures with sales and shipment data from ISIC 2825 firms to estimate what share of investment is directed specifically toward robotic systems.
Yet, adoption rates mean little if they’re not connected to the workforce. Employment data, broken down by manufacturing subsectors and tracked over time, shows where automation is making the biggest impact. A rise in robotics installations, when mapped alongside employment trends, can reveal the sectors or regions where job profiles are shifting most dramatically—whether that means fewer line workers, new roles in programming and maintenance, or simply a slower rate of hiring as output rises.
Bringing these threads together, the framework becomes clear: use ISIC 2825 firm records and sales to estimate potential installation volumes, validate these with capex disclosures, and finally interpret the results in the context of employment data. This approach, though far from perfect, brings welcome rigor to a field that often leans on anecdotes or scattered case studies.
Of course, challenges remain. Not all robotics are purchased directly from ISIC 2825 firms; integrators, importers, and multinational subsidiaries can muddy the picture. And while capital expenditure data is invaluable, it’s rarely broken down with the precision that analysts would like. Still, the combination of these datasets gives a structured way to see where automation is moving fastest—and which segments of the workforce are most affected.
In the end, measuring robotics adoption is less about finding a single number than about understanding a set of dynamic relationships: investment, technology, and labor all influencing one another. The ISIC framework helps ground this analysis in something repeatable and internationally comparable, even as factories and technologies continue to evolve. For those watching the future of manufacturing, these signals from 2018 still echo in the strategic decisions being made today.