Analysts predict industrial automation market to reach US$64.5bn by 2022

The latest report on the industrial automation market by Research and Markets predicts that the global automation market will grow to US$64.5 billion within five years, rising from US$35.2 billion in 2016. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 10.6%.

According to the report, North America is currently the leading market for industrial automation market, followed by Europe, while the Asia–Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing region. It is reported that during 2015–16, US companies exported nearly US$10.5 billion worth of products to foreign markets. Advantages of industrial automation include increased productivity, improved product quality, reduced routine checks and improved operational efficiency.

The need for greater operational efficiency, rapidly growing SMEs, the growing Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based automation are leading to a growing demand to build ‘smart factories’ and to utilise mass customisation and supply chain synchronisation, as well as to achieve higher integration of business IT systems. Increasing R&D, innovation in artificial intelligence and advancements in M2M communication technology are some of the key growth factors. Research into smarter manufacturing systems is also being driven by the need to reduce currently high installation and maintenance costs, as well as a decreasing supply of trained professionals.

Major companies in this industry include Honeywell International., General Electric Company, Mitsubishi Electric, Rockwell Automation, Johnson Controls, ABB, Samsung Electronics, Siemens and Schneider Electric. The report also pointed out that most of the regional and local vendors are vertically integrated. International players can grow by acquiring regional or local players.

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