Universal Robots UR10e
Made by Universal Robots
Photo: Universal Robots
- dof
- 6
- e series
- true
- reach mm
- 1300
- weight kg
- 33.5
- payload kg
- 12.5
- power max w
- 615
- power typical w
- 350
- repeatability mm
- 0.05
Who's exposed
Jobs in the threat radius
- palletizer
- packaging operator
- machine tending operator
- light assembly worker
- quality inspector
Deployment status
Shipping at massive scale — Universal Robots is the most-deployed cobot platform globally with deployments across automotive, electronics, food/beverage, plastics, pharmaceutical, and metalworking. The UR10e is the mid-payload workhorse of the e-series, used in palletizing, machine tending, and packaging applications. Over 75,000 UR cobots have been deployed worldwide across UR's product line, with active deployments in over 50 countries.
When this hits the labor market
Already happening at scale. UR10e and its predecessor UR10 are the canonical cobots — they shaped the modern cobot category and most subsequent platforms (Fanuc CRX, Doosan, Techman) explicitly compete with them. Each cell typically displaces 1-2 dedicated operators per shift. The deployment math closed for large manufacturers years ago; the current wave is small-to-mid shops finally getting to it as financing options like UR's leasing program lower the upfront.
Is this robot coming for your job?
Press releases speak in averages — LostJobs talks about your role. Find out which parts of your job hold up and which don't. Free.
Talk to LostJobs about my future
The cobot that defined the category
If anyone says “collaborative robot” generically, they probably mean a UR. Universal Robots invented the modern cobot in the early 2010s, and the UR10e is the mid-payload workhorse of the current e-series. 12.5 kg payload, 1300mm reach, 0.05mm repeatability, 33.5 kg total weight — light enough to pick up and move between cells, capable enough to actually do work.
The base unit lands around $48,000. Accessories (end effectors, vision, safety scanners, integration time) often double that. The financial entry point is the lowest in heavy-payload cobots, which is why UR is in more first-time-automation conversations than every other cobot platform combined.
Where it’s deployed
Everywhere. Automotive Tier 1 and Tier 2. Electronics assembly. Food and beverage palletizing. Pharmaceutical packaging. Injection molding machine tending. Metal stamping inspection. The UR ecosystem of pre-built end-effectors (Robotiq, OnRobot, Schmalz) and pre-validated application templates means a small shop can buy a UR10e on Monday and have it palletizing finished goods by Friday — which has been the deployment story since around 2018.
UR’s parent company Teradyne and its 75,000+ unit installed base means UR also has the most mature service infrastructure of any cobot vendor. That’s not glamorous, but for a buyer making a 7-year depreciation decision, it’s the most-cited reason in UR-vs-competitor procurement evaluations.
Why we care for LostJobs
The UR10e is the boring, ubiquitous robot that has been quietly displacing jobs at the small-and-mid-sized manufacturer level for the better part of a decade. The Fanuc CRX is the newer challenger; the UR10e is the incumbent. If you’re in palletizing, packaging, machine tending, or assembly at a non-automotive small-to-mid manufacturer, statistically, you’ve already worked next to a UR cobot or you will within two years.
The threat isn’t theoretical — it’s been the dominant industrial-automation story of the late 2010s and 2020s. What’s newer is how cheap the financing has become, which is what’s bringing UR cells into the long tail of shops that previously couldn’t justify the capex.