Machine vision sales growth stuck in single digits despite advent of Industry 4.0
Very sophisticated sensor technology is key to the next phase in the development of the “internet of things.” Machines, vehicles and devices will need to be able to “see” in order to collect valuable data, avoid collisions and spot when something has gone wrong.
Yet sales of machine vision technology are fairly modest and growing at a fairly sedate pace. In 2015, the German machine vision industry, which is in the vanguard of this sector, achieved sales of 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) – a rise of 9% compared to the previous year, according to figures recently released by the industry association VDMA.
Although sales have more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to the VDMA, there is no sign yet of the exponential growth that might be expected as machine vision moves beyond simply inspecting finished products for defects to a much wider range of applications. In theory at least, the market should see a dramatic boost as the IoT expands and the Industry 4.0 concept gains traction. Machine vision is a pivotal enabling technology for Industry 4.0, which involves extensive data capture and analytics to continually optimize the operation of factories.
Slight slowdown in 2016?
If there is a tipping point ahead for the machine vision market, it isn’t going to happen in 2016. The VDMA forecasts that the German machine industry’s sales will rise just 8% to 2.2 billion euros in 2016. That forecast is based on 15% growth in Asia, 14% in America and just 5% in Europe.
“There is greater caution about developments in Europe,” the VDMA said. “Relevant risks and opportunities include future developments in the price of raw materials, exchange rates, and last but not least, the effects of political crises.”
Independent analysts also see steady, rather than spectacular, growth ahead. The global machine vision market is set to grow from $8.08 billion in 2015 to $12.49 billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1%, according to RnR Market Research.
Such forecasts may reflect the fact that the manufacturing sector is inherently conservative. Few companies are prepared to overhaul existing production lines to implement complex Industry 4.0 systems. Because the costs of down time are too great, self-optimisation technologies are likely to be adopted primarily by new factories, curbing the pace of adoption.
Looking beyond the factory floor
Still, the machine vision sector should be seeing strong growth in nonindustrial applications, such as driver support systems, building and land surveillance, conservation, logistics, and medical technology. The VDMA said Germany’s machine vision sales to nonindustrial sectors grew an average of 16% per year between 2011 and 2015.
Ongoing improvements in the technology, such as the growing sophistication and flexibility of systems that can see in 3-D and the employment of machine learning techniques, could expand the market further still. The upcoming VISION trade fair, held by the VDMA in November in Stuttgart, Germany, should help clarify whether there is a tipping point ahead. One of the key talking points is likely to be the falling cost and improving processing speed of 3-D machine vision systems.
Among the 400 exhibitors will be some notable debutants. German technology company Bosch, for example, will be present for the first time. It plans to showcase its APAS Inspector solution for smart manufacturing. Designed for human-machine cooperation, the system can be configured to stop working if a human gets too close and start again once the human is out of the way. Bosch said APAS, which uses 3-D imaging, can inspect matte or glossy surfaces and give completeness checks, as well as carry out microcrack and dimensional inspection.
In a news release issued by the VISION organizers, Jana Bartels, product manager for 3-D/ToF at Basler, a machine vision company based in Ahrensburg, Germany, added: “There is growing interest in 3-D cameras, for example, for process automation and monitoring, to simplify the control of robotic systems, and to optimize, and increase the security of, man-machine interfaces.” She highlighted a collaborative project between Jungheinrich and the Hanover Institute for Integrated Production with Basler, and Götting KG and the University of Lübeck to create a “high-reach forklift truck that understands human language and uses 3-D machine vision to interpret gestures.”
That forklift truck is likely to be a harbinger of things to come – the rise of robots equipped with artificial intelligence could yet give the machine vision market the major fillip it has been waiting for.
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