For decades, the articulated arm has defined what a packaging robot looks like. That is beginning to change.
According to PMMI's 2026 Robotics in Packaging & Processing report, the U.S. robotics market for packaging and processing was worth more than $440 million in 2025 and is projected to reach roughly $800 million by 2031, an average annual growth rate of 10.3%.
Industrial robots still lead the field, holding 63% of the market in 2025, followed by mobile robots at 32%, collaborative robots at 5%, and humanoid robots at 0.1%. However, the forecast points in a different direction.
PMMI's Business Intelligence team found that mobile robots are the fastest-growing robot type and are expected to become the most popular by 2031, reaching a 45% market share.
Adoption is also broadening: 72% of end users currently use robotics in their operations, a share expected to reach 95% by 2031. But current deployment still reflects the established order. Among end users surveyed, 81% use articulated robots, valued for their effectiveness in pick-and-place operations. Mobile robots rank only fifth in current use at 33%, yet their growth rate positions them to overtake most industrial robot types in the years ahead.
What is pulling mobile robots forward is where end users see them fitting next. Asked about robotics applications of future interest, respondents pointed to using mobile robots to bring materials to the line and to pairing mobile platforms with cobot arms—two of their top four priorities. Both push robotics beyond the fixed workcell and into material movement across the plant.
Humanoid robots remain a distant prospect but are climbing fast in relative terms, with their share projected to grow from 0.1% to 5% by 2031.
The appetite to invest is there. Over the next year, 61% of end users and 81% of OEMs and integrators expect to increase their robotics investment.
For OEMs and technology partners, the implication is direct: the pick-and-place arm will remain essential, but the growth is shifting toward mobility. Portfolios built only around fixed automation risk missing where end users plan to spend next.
SOURCE: 2026 Robotics in Packaging & Processing
For more insights from PMMI's Business Intelligence team, find reports, including Robotics in Packaging & Processing, Managing Obsolescence, and The Ripple Effect: CPG Sustainability and the New OEM Spec Sheet https://www.pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
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