ANN ARBOR, MI—Industrial robot orders in 2018 grew 24 percent over the previous year in the life sciences, food and consumer goods, plastics and rubber and electronics industries, according to the Robotics Industries Association. The main reasons are lower robot prices, and robot systems that are easier to install, integrate and program.

JIADING NEW CITY, China--Shanghai STEP Electric Corp. announced plans to build a factory here that will have an area of 48,000 square meters and an annual output of around 10,000 industrial robots.