World process automation market heading to $64B

A new study finds the process automation market is showing signs of recovery, and could grow at a rate above 5% a year in the next three years.

A report by the ARC Advisory Group in Dedham, MA found the worldwide market for total process automation is expected to grow by 5.1% thought 2008, and the market will grow from $50 billion in 2003 to $64 billion by 2008.

"Fast growing regions, increasing service revenues, broader solutions, regulatory requirements, and expanding scope of applications for automation products due to their low cost and increasing performance will boost the market growth, " according to ARC senior analyst Himanshu Shah, the study's principal author.

The report finds that while manufacturers are expected to remain cautious, plant equipment capital expenditures will rise modestly across many industries. Global competition will compel most manufacturers to improve their plant machinery and processes in order to stay competitive.

While the shift of manufacturing bases to low cost regions is fueling growth in those regions, this growth comes at the expense of growth rates in developed regions.

Economic recovery will result in the reasonable revenue growth for industrial products and services sold to the process industries for all five regions of the world. China continues to be the primary growth driver for the market, but India is also providing increasingly bright prospects for suppliers as users there continue to build new infrastructure, expand their manufacturing base, and modernize the many existing plants that have less sophisticated or limited automation.

The full report can be obtained by contacting the ARC Advisory Group at www.arcweb.com.