Machine Automation Controller Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The machine automation controller market is expected to register a CAGR of 7% over the forecast period 2021 - 2026. Increasing the implementation of robots in manufacturing industries to reduce operational cost and human errors, rising need to increase productivity in process industries, and rapid growth in industrial automation, as well as the internet of things based solutions, are some of the primary factors propelling the demand for machine automation controllers in various sectors. Moreover, the favorable growth of the semiconductor and electric devices will boost the market demand in the future.

Key Highlights

• Increasing demand for modular IPC, PC-based machine control platform due to the rapid increase of computing technology across the sectors to provide real-time solutions has led to the development of thousands of data centers across the world. According to the report the number of data centers across the world that are owned and operated by cloud service providers, data-center landlords and other technology firms increased to around 9,100 in 2019 from 7,500 in 2018. It is expected that the number of data centers will increase to more than 10,000 by 2020.
• Similarly, Amazon web services announced to invest USD 1.5 billion for two data center in India in 2020. These data centers will be constructed in Hyderabad, as Telangana had a dedicated policy for data centers which offers easy facilitation and incentives to the firms that set them up in the State.
• Moreover, the advent of robotic process automation is a key milestone for the development of the automotive industry. It helps to reduce the error rate and enhance the management of repeatable tasks. The robots provide flexible and accurate solutions and helps to perform repeatable tasks that are controlled by programs and enable real-time reporting, allow manufacturers to determine optimal inventory levels and to calibrate current operations based on patterns of customer demand. They are a non-invasive tool for data extraction that provides wider and deeper analytics, with specific data for each executed process.
• Further, the technological advancement such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) analytics, artificial intelligence, cloud platforms, is pushing automakers to convert manufacturing factories into smart factories. According to Capgemini report, automotive firms plan to convert 44% of factories into smart facilities over the next five years which will fuel the demand of machine automation controller in the future.

Key Market Trends

Energy and Power is Expected to Witness Significant Growth

• The energy and power sector is expected to hold a significant share in the market during the expected period. Rising energy requirements due to increasing population and urbanization has led to the modernization of grids. According to the International Energy Agency 2019 report, global power sector investment would sum up to USD 20 trillion over the period to 2040, on average it is 20% higher than annual spending from 2010 to 2018. The power sector represents 50% of total energy supply investment across the world and includes spending on new power plants, transmission, and distribution lines, as well as refurbishments and upgrades. It represents the growth of the energy and power sector over the years.
• Distributed Control Systems are an automated control system that consists of many control loops such as sensors and switches to provide an intelligent uptime for effective operations. Now leading manufacturers are also utilizing automatic control systems to optimize their production and boost the safety of the power stations.
• Moreover, increase projects on the construction of smart grids to increase the output and decrease the power failure due to centralized control system is growing the demand of machine automation controllers. Smart grids consist of smart meters, smart substations and modernized electric networks utilizing automation and smart technologies (Distributed Control Systems) for distribution and transmission of power to end user.
• For instance, in 2020, Ameren, one of the largest utility companies in the United States, Ameren, has announced to spend USD 7.6 billion on a five-year grid modernization plan that includes installation of smart meters for more than 1.2 million customers. It will spend USD 5.3 billion, on top of USD 1 billion to replace aging poles, wires, advanced grid controls and other infrastructure improvements to sectionalize circuits and reduce the scope of power outages.

North America is Expected to Witness Significant Growth

• North America is expected to witness significant growth due to increasing demand for energy and fossil fuels to meet the industrial power requirement, the growing use of robots in manufacturing units in various industries such as food and beverage, automotive, and rapid adoption of digitalization by many businesses due to technological advancement.
• Machine automation controllers in the oil and gas sector are used to support the management of almost any form of the production process (upstream, midstream, and downstream process) remotely. It collects data at remote oil and gas sites, reduces personnel visits, and leads to route and dispatch optimization thus, improves the quality and safety of facilities operations. Hence, it severs a wide range of needs in oil and gas plants from wellheads and well pads to the pipeline, terminal and storage facilities, remote monitoring, and refinery machinery controls.
• As per the IOGP’s Global Production report 2019, demand for oil and gas is at the peak, greater than ever before, with dramatic growth in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Middle East. This has fueled the investment in exploration and production of oil to meet the demand and supply in United States and so many mid-sized players are forming strategic alliance for the development of unconventional resources.
• For instance, in 2019, Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum Corporation agreed to form a joint venture for the development of unconventional reservoirs in approximately 97,000 acres of the Permian Basin in the State of Texas which is one of the largest and most active oil basins in the United States, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the total U.S. oil production.
• Due to increase in number of human errors while treating the patients has driven the healthcare sector toward automation. Number of healthcare organizations are purchasing the automated systems that boost their risk management strategies and patient safety efforts. As automation-driven processes are free from human fatigue and error they provide consistent, accurate, and potentially leads to lesser patient complications, infections and deaths. Automaton controllers are extensively used in hospitals to monitor temperature, air quality and other medical devices. It also provides a data-driven perspective that is essential for reporting and transparency mandates in healthcare sector.
• Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has hit the United States hardest with more than 8.5 lakhs positive cases and more than 50 thousand casualties. In order to cope up the surging demand of beds in hospital to treat the infected people has led to creation of temporary hospitals specifically for COVID-19 patients. New York States, worst hit states, currently has 53,000 hospital beds across the state, with 3,000 ICU beds and the State governor has mandated hospitals to increase their capacities by 50%, addition of about 27,000 beds. There has also been an appeal to authorize the state to build four more temporary hospitals to increase capacity as thousands of new coronavirus cases are detected. This has surged the demand for automatic controller in healthcare sector to monitor various automated electrical devices as well as to maintain the clean air quality (air circulation) of the ICU wards by controlling air ventilator systems.

Competitive Landscape

The machine automation controller market is competitive and is dominated by a few major players like ABB Ltd., Rockwell Automation Inc., Emerson Electric, Siemens AG, and Robert Bosch. These major players with a prominent share in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability. However, with technological advancements and product innovations, mid-size to smaller companies are increasing their market presence by securing new contracts and by tapping new markets.

• April 2020 - Siemens AG was recently selected to provide three 33-megawatt (MW) SGT-700B industrial gas turbines for a Long-Term Program (LTP) with Ascend Performance Materials’ nylon intermediate and specialty chemicals facility in Alabama. This project will allow Ascend Performance Materials to retire assets that currently provide process steam for the facility. The shift to gas turbines for steam generation is part of Ascend’s long-term sustainability strategy to improve its environmental footprint and accelerate the growth of expanding its core businesses.
• March 2020 - Omron Corporation launched the “Sysmac Studio 3D simulations” that can integrate and verify the movements of robots and peripheral devices that are integral part of the facilities. It simplifies operational simulations of manufacturing facilities by adding optional licenses for simulation functions to the programming software Sysmac Studio of OMRON's automation controller for machines NJ/NX Series. It is the first in the industry to be able to control and verify robots and other peripheral equipment in a single operation.

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• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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