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Supply Chain by the Numbers

Nov. 5, 2026

Supply Chain by the Numbers for Nov. 5, 2026

US Robot Sales Up Big in Q3. October PMI Shows Manufacturing Expands Again. Chinese Mine Using Lots of Autonomous Trucks. Tracking Electric Vehicle “Gaps”


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24.6%
That was the growth in North American industrial robot orders in units in Q3, according to a new report issued late last week by robot trade group the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). North American companies ordered 10,989 robots valued at $723.5 million in the third quarter. Orders increased 24.8% in units and 26.1% in value compared to the third quarter of 2025. The third-quarter gains pushed total orders for the first nine months of 2026 to 28,984 robots valued at approximately $1.89 billion, representing increases of 9.6% in units and 13.3% in value over the same period last year.

300

That is about how many autonomous trucks with be in operation at China’s giant coal mine in the city of Hulunbuir by the end of this year. Dozens of the trucks – which by the way are also battery powered – are already hauling coal 24 hours per day, according to an article this week in the Wall Street Journal. Carrying as much as 90 tons of coal, the trucks usually stop only for about the six minutes or so it takes to swap out their batteries, which are large enough to power a typical American home for about three weeks. Other mining operations worldwide are also making similar moves. The new trucks will reduce costs by about $4 million annually by nearly eliminating human drivers.



10
That is now the number of consecutive months the Purchasing Managers Index from the Institute for Supply Management has been above the key 50 mark that separates US manufacturing expansion from contraction, with the numbers for October released by ISM on Monday. With a score of 55.5, the PMI was up a little from 54.5 in September and still above the 50 level. The New Orders Index expanded for the 10th consecutive month after four straight readings in contraction, also registering 55.5, up 0.2 percentage point compared to September’s figure of 55.3, again above the key 50 mark, in good news for future US manufacturing activity

3
That is the number of new “gaps” relative to the development of electric vehicles (EVs) that the latest report from ANSI says should be added to the 30+ issues already being tracked. Those 3 new ones called out by ANSI are: Damaged EV Battery Triage, Monitoring, Storage, and Transfer; Accessible and Inclusive EV Charging Equipment and Interfaces; and Public Unattended Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) User Experience, Operations, and Serviceability. “As EV adoption grows, the standards questions are shifting from whether the technology works to how it performs in the real world, for every driver and at every charger,” said Christine Bernat, ANSI director of standards facilitation.

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