ARC predicts continued growth in the process technology market

The latest market research from the ARC Advisory Group is mostly positive about the outlook for the automation and process control industry, despite the global financial crisis and the present economic outlook.

Of the six market segments examined, five had a continuing positive outlook despite economic conditions, and only the low-power AC drives market was predicted to suffer in the near term.

ARC’s research indicates that the global distributed control systems market will continue to find growth in the midst of the global recession, mainly because process automation suppliers are focusing more on services business. Over 50% of the total DCS market is now services, and most major DCS suppliers have increased the scope of automation services offered, and they are filling the specific gaps created by the increasing labour shortage in the process industries.

Safety, in terms of human health and environmental protection, has moved to the forefront of critical topics for manufacturers due to an increased awareness of its strategic value. Process and automation safety technology is also now evolving in such a way as to align better with business goals. As a result, the overall process and machine safety market is growing.

ARC’s research also suggests that despite cutbacks, manufacturers are continuing to invest in collaborative production management (CPM) projects, because they have a quick ROI and focus on improving efficiency, reducing costs, consolidating operations, complying with regulations, and standardising on applications. CPM enhances their ability to innovate and adapt their products and services to changing market conditions, and manufacturers are realising that product innovation creates new business opportunities based on better serving the customer.

Similarly, the product lifecycle management (PLM) market is also expected to grow, due to the demand for increased efficiency and productivity, the need for collaboration across a global manufacturing life cycle, the growing need for product reinvention and innovation and growth of manufacturing in emerging economies.

The expanding PLM solution set across the design/build/support/maintain domains has enabled companies to manage the end-to-end process of product development much better and more productively.

PLCs, which are used across all major discrete and process industries, are expected to enjoy growth as the new economy creates increased demand. Manufacturing and infrastructure industries will invest in automation to save energy, increase productivity and upgrade existing facilities once the economic turmoil settles.

On the negative side, ARC believes that the bleak short term forecast for the global economy will directly impact the low power AC drives market over the next couple of years. This extremely competitive market means that suppliers need to find ways to differentiate themselves and offer increasing value to users and OEMs. Moderate growth is expected to resume during the latter part of the five-year forecast period due to investments in infrastructure and manufacturing industries worldwide.