Makes factory robots that untrained workers can program by simply moving the arm by hand.
At a glance
- Depends onDownstream position: depends on 12 industries, supplies 4
- ScaleMarket cap is above the global median
Makes factory robots that untrained workers can program by simply moving the arm by hand.
Doosan Robotics builds collaborative robot arms that an untrained operator can program by physically guiding the arm through a motion by hand — a six-axis torque sensor in each joint reads forces below 150N to distinguish deliberate guidance from an accidental knock, and the safety-rated controller records that guided path and repeats it. Because the ISO 10218 certification that legally permits the robot to work next to people without a safety cage is issued to the specific robot-controller pair rather than to any component individually, every motion file a customer saves, every production line they build around it, and every custom tool mount they design is anchored to that exact certified combination. Switching to a competitor's robot means re-certifying the new machine from scratch, rewriting every stored motion program in a different proprietary format, and redesigning every gripper before the first production shift — which makes the accumulated library of motion files and certifications the real switching cost, not the hardware price. The thing that could undo all of that at once is a revision to ISO 10218 that tightens the force-discrimination threshold below 150N, because it would immediately push every robot already deployed in a cage-free environment outside the new standard and force hardware redesigns across the entire installed base.
How does this company make money?
The company earns money when it sells a complete robot system, with six-axis units priced between $20,000 and $50,000 each. After the sale, it collects recurring fees for software licenses that unlock advanced features. Over the 10-to-15-year working life of each robot, it also sells replacement parts, creating a long tail of revenue from every unit ever shipped.
What makes this company hard to replace?
Every motion program a customer has built is stored in a proprietary file format that cannot be transferred to a different brand of robot — switching means rewriting every program from scratch. The safety certification that allows cage-free operation is tied to the specific robot-controller pair, so a customer who buys a replacement robot from another supplier must go through the entire re-validation process before that robot can legally work next to people. On top of that, every custom tool or gripper is built around the company's specific mounting interface, and switching suppliers means redesigning all of that hardware too.
What limits this company?
Every individual robot must have its force-torque sensors hand-calibrated by trained technicians using specialized test equipment before it can ship. Production can only grow as fast as the company can find and train qualified calibration technicians — there is no shortcut. On top of that, any change to the hardware or software, even a small sensor update forced by a parts shortage, wipes out the existing safety certification and requires the entire approval process to start over before the updated robot can legally work in a cage-free environment.
What does this company depend on?
The company cannot run without Harmonic Drive strain wave gears for precise joint movement, TÜV-certified SIL 3 safety controllers, six-axis force-torque sensors capable of detecting forces below 150N, real-time Ethernet communication protocols such as EtherCAT or PROFINET, and lithium-ion battery packs for its mobile robot variants.
Who depends on this company?
Electronics assembly lines rely on these cobots for sub-millimeter pick-and-place accuracy — if the robots stopped, those production lines would halt. Automotive parts manufacturers depend on cobots to hand work back and forth with human workers at mixed assembly stations, and any gap in that handoff breaks their cycle times. Contract manufacturers use these robots to keep labor costs down by letting cobots work safely next to temporary workers who need little to no training — without that, their cost advantage disappears.
How does this company scale?
Path-planning and collision-detection software can be copied to every robot unit at almost no extra cost, so the intelligence of the system scales easily. What does not scale easily is the physical calibration work: every single robot requires a trained technician with specialized test equipment to calibrate its force-torque sensors and joint encoders before it leaves the factory, and that step cannot be automated or skipped.
What external forces can significantly affect this company?
Semiconductor shortages can cut off the supply of real-time control processors and motor drive chips the robots depend on, and any hardware substitution triggers a full recertification process. Revisions to ISO 10218 safety standards could force hardware redesigns across the entire installed base. China's industrial automation subsidies allow domestic competitors to sell cobots below their own manufacturing cost, putting direct price pressure on every deal.
Where is this company structurally vulnerable?
If ISO 10218 is revised to require robots to detect forces below the 150N threshold that the current sensors are built around, every robot the company has ever shipped would fall outside the new standard. Customers would lose their cage-free deployment approvals, the company would have to redesign its sensors, and every robot-controller combination would need to go through full certification again from scratch — erasing the years of approval history that no competitor can currently buy.
Sign in to view price data.
Sign inStructural observations derived from financial data, industry benchmarks, and supply chain position.
Companies that share the same coordination system — how they create, deliver, or capture value.
Companies that share active interpretations — structural patterns currently present in both stocks.
CompanyGraph