During the annual AIA networking reception at the VISION Show in Stuttgart, leading executives from North America, China and Korea provided updates on the market for vision in their countries and talked about the future opportunities.
Despite the Great Recession of 2009, despite the concerns over a “double-dip” recession in 2011 or 2012, the machine vision industry has continued to post impressive growth on a global basis. The reason? Machine vision technology is critical to a wide-range of manufacturing and non-manufacturing applications and is being embraced throughout the world. The long-term trend line for machine vision continues to remain very positive despite cyclical ups and downs.
Greg Hollows of Edmund Optics, representing the Automated Imaging Association (AIA), discussed North America. He presented the trend line for machine vision sales in North Amercia for the past decade, noting that sales have headed steadily upward. While sales fell over 29% in 2009 during the recession, they recovered 60% in 2010 and have continued to grow in the low single digits in 2011. The forecast for 2012 is unclear, though he expects a relatively flat first six months of the year. Long term, the industry will grow because vision is becoming increasingly important to companies in manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries.
AIA data shows that semiconductor, automotive, wood, and food are the four largest machine vision markets in North America based on revenue. Surface flaw/cosmetic analysis, 2D/3D metrology and assembly verification are the leading application areas.
Looking forward, Hollows said that defense, energy (solar, wind, advanced battery and fuel cell), vision guided robotics, health care, and pharmaceuticals are among the most promising growth markets.
Sungho Huh of Envision, representing the Korea Machine Vision Industrial Association (KMVIA), said that the Korean machine vision market also has recovered strongly from the 2009 recession. In 2011 the market is up five percent and is expected to grow seven percent in 2012, though uncertainties remain. Here is a look at the Korean market:
The top three current user industries are flat panel display, PCB, and semiconductor. The leading application areas are 2D surface inspection, 3D inspection, and part presence/measurement.
Looking forward he sees the greatest opportunities in next generation displays (touch, flexible, transparent) such as OLED televisions, mobile devices and augmented reality. He also sees opportunities in bio-medical imaging and green energy.
Isabel Yang of LusterLight, representing the China Machine Vision Union (CMVU), discussed the current outlook for the Chinese machine vision market. She estimates that machine vision market revenue in China will grow nearly 12% in 2011. Among the leading user industries in China are electronics, semiconductor, intelligent transportation, security, scientific imaging, life sciences, medical, web inspection, and food & beverage.
Among the challenges to growth she sees in the year ahead are an end to government stimulus programs that have helped fuel consumer demand, weakening demand from the US and Europe, and the transfer of manufacturing to other Asian countries.
By Jeff Burnstein, President, Automated Imaging Association
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