United States Factory Automation and Industrial Controls Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023-2028)

Key Highlights

• Factory automation and control solutions facilitate the automation of an entire manufacturing/production facility by designing and constructing a fully integrated and intelligent control system, including sensors, robots, computers, industrial instruments, and advanced data processing solutions.
• These solutions are implemented primarily to reduce companies' reliance on unreliable and error-prone manual processes and replace them with command-response activities executed by logical programming commands and mechanized equipment. Some general-purpose industrial-process controllers include programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and stand-alone I/O modules.
• A notable impact of COVID-19 was observed in the US industrial sector. Due to several restrictions on staffing in industries, the growth of the industrial sector was negatively impacted. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data, the country's real GDP decreased at an annual rate of 4.8% in the first quarter of 2020. However, the pandemic significantly enhanced awareness about using advanced technologies such as automation, AI, IIoT, etc. These are expected to have a long-term impact on the growth of the market studied in the United States.
• In recent years, especially after the pandemic, the US government started focusing on boosting its local manufacturing industries with initiatives like 'Make in America,' which is expected to drive the growth of the market studied. For instance, in March 2022, the US government announced that for the products to qualify as Made in America for federal procurement, 60% of the value of their parts should be manufactured in the country, which earlier accounted for 55%. The government plans to enhance it further to 65% in 2024 and 75% in 2029.

US Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market Trends

Distributed Control Systems (DCS) are Expected to Witness Significant Adoption

• DCS are process-oriented platforms that depend on a network of interconnected sensors, controllers, terminals, and actuators to act as a centralized master controller for all of a facility’s production operations. Thus, a DCS focuses on controlling and monitoring processes and allowing facility operators to see all facility operations in one place.
• DCS allows the implementation of more advanced process automation strategies because it operates on a closed-loop control platform. This makes DCS ideal for controlling operations at a single facility or factory. Additionally, a DCS is critical for maximizing the visibility of a facility’s day-to-day operational processes.
• One of the significant benefits of DCS systems is that the digital communication between distributed controllers, workstations, and other computing elements follows the peer-to-peer access principle. To achieve greater precision and control in process industries, like the petrochemical, nuclear, and oil and gas industries, there is an increasing demand for controllers which offer specified process tolerance around an identified set point.
• These requirements have driven the adoption of DCS, as these systems provide lower operational complexity, project risk, and functionalities, like flexibility for agile manufacturing in highly-demanding applications. The ability of DCS to integrate PLCs, turbomachinery controls, safety systems, third-party controls, and various other plant process controls for heat exchangers, feedwater heaters, and water quality, among others, further drives the adoption of DCS in the energy sector.
• Considering the growing concern regarding cybersecurity issues with industrial control systems such as DCS, several organizations and DCS providers are taking initiatives to make distributed control systems more secure.

Automotive Industry is Expected to Exhibit Significant Adoption

• The automotive industry is one of the prominent sectors that hold a significant in worldwide automated manufacturing facilities. It is observed that the production facilities of various automakers are automated to maintain accuracy and efficiency. Further, the growing trend of replacing conventional vehicles with EVs is expected to further augment the automotive industry's demand.
• One of the primary concerns of the automotive industry is the duration of a project. Quick return-on-investment projects, along with low-cost automation and cost innovation, help the manufacturers to improve competitiveness through efficiency improvement.
• Moreover, the growing adoption of automation in manufacturing processes and digitization and AI involvement are primary factors driving industrial robots in the automotive sector. It has been identified that auto assembly increased significantly, using automation, showing a growth pattern in the number of cars being produced worldwide while simultaneously cutting costs, paving the way for the growth of smart factory implementation in this sector.
• The United States is among the most promising markets for vendors offering smart factory solutions, owing to its presence in some of the biggest industries. The country is fast adopting advanced industrial technologies, where data is being used on a large scale for production while integrating the data with various manufacturing systems throughout the supply chain. The market studied is expected to receive significant growth opportunities during the forecast period.
• The US automotive industry is among the largest globally and is home to some of the biggest auto manufacturers, such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, etc. According to OICA, in 2021, about 9.17 million motor vehicles were manufactured in the United States, compared to 8.82 million in 2020. The country offers a huge opportunity as the automotive sector accounts for the significant adoption of automation technologies to enhance production efficiency.

US Factory Automation & Industrial Controls Market Competitor Analysis

• April 2021 - Google Cloud and Siemens collaborated to streamline production operations and boost shop floor efficiency. Siemens plans to integrate Google Cloud's top data cloud and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities with its factory automation solutions to assist manufacturers in the manufacturing process.

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