Measuring What Matters: ABB’s Push for a Global Energy Standard in Industrial Robotics
Industrial robots are often portrayed as a cornerstone of efficient, sustainable manufacturing. They promise faster production, lower waste, and optimized energy use. Yet one fundamental problem has persisted beneath the surface of automation’s green narrative: no one has had a reliable way to measure and compare how much energy robots actually consume.
That may soon change.
ABB Robotics has announced a major initiative to develop a global, standardized method for measuring the energy consumption and efficiency of industrial robots—a move that could reshape how manufacturers evaluate automation, how vendors compete, and how sustainability is quantified across the robotics industry.
“With no global standard currently in place, it’s a challenge for customers to compare the energy consumption of different robots and choose the most energy-efficient solution,” said Gianluca Brotto, head of sustainability at ABB Robotics. Unlike household appliances and electric motors, robots have long existed outside standardized energy benchmarks, leaving buyers with fragmented data and inconsistent metrics.
Why Measurement Is the Missing Link
The timing of ABB’s initiative reflects a broader reality: robotics is scaling faster than its sustainability frameworks. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), more than 4 million industrial robots are operating worldwide, with deployment accelerating across manufacturing, logistics, electronics, automotive, and emerging sectors.
As companies align with climate targets such as the Paris Agreement, the environmental footprint of robotic systems has become impossible to ignore. ABB’s internal studies indicate that more than 70% of the carbon footprint of its robots comes from electricity consumption during the operational phase—not manufacturing, not transport, but day-to-day use.
This insight underscores a critical point: improving robot efficiency is not a marginal optimization problem. It is a systemic sustainability challenge.
From Corporate Initiative to Global Standard
ABB’s effort is not a unilateral move. The company has collaborated with the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) and experts from robot manufacturers and research institutes across 11 countries to develop a proposal for international adoption. The result is an ISO technical specification expected to be completed by August 2026.
If adopted widely, the specification could do for industrial robots what energy labels did for household appliances—introducing transparency, comparability, and accountability into a market historically driven by performance specs, payloads, and cycle times rather than energy metrics.
“This effort marks a critical step toward improving transparency and supporting the global transition to more sustainable manufacturing,” ABB Robotics stated. With standardized measurement in place, customers will be able to compare robots across vendors and applications, potentially reshaping procurement decisions and competitive dynamics.
Implications for the Robotics Industry
The introduction of a global energy standard could trigger ripple effects across the robotics ecosystem.
For manufacturers, it may redefine product differentiation. Energy efficiency could become as important as speed, precision, and payload capacity. For system integrators and end users, standardized metrics could influence system design, ROI calculations, and lifecycle cost models. For regulators and policymakers, the specification could provide a foundation for future sustainability requirements in industrial automation.
Perhaps most importantly, it signals a maturation of the robotics industry. As automation moves from experimental innovation to critical infrastructure, it must adopt the measurement frameworks that underpin mature industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, and energy.
ABB’s Broader Strategy in Context
ABB Robotics’ initiative fits within a broader strategic shift toward data-driven sustainability and software-enabled automation. The company launched its Energy Efficiency Service in 2024 and continues to expand its portfolio of industrial robots, collaborative robots, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), orchestrated by software and AI under its “autonomous versatile robotics” (AVR) vision.
At the corporate level, ABB Robotics is also undergoing transformation. In October 2025, ABB Group announced plans to sell its robotics unit to SoftBank Group for $5.3 billion, highlighting the strategic value of robotics in the global technology landscape. With approximately 7,000 employees and a major U.S. presence in Auburn Hills, Michigan, ABB Robotics remains a central player in the evolution of industrial automation.
Beyond Efficiency: Toward Accountable Automation
ABB’s push for a global energy measurement standard is about more than sustainability. It reflects a deeper shift in how robotics is evaluated—not just by what robots can do, but by how responsibly they do it.
In an era where automation is expanding into every corner of industry, the ability to measure impact may become as important as the ability to deploy technology. If successful, ABB’s initiative could mark the beginning of a new phase in robotics: one where efficiency, transparency, and environmental accountability are no longer optional—but measurable.
