by Brianna Crandall — December 14, 2016 — In findings that may prove reflective of a growing trend in other countries as well, after a flat couple of years, the Australian condition monitoring market is set to grow as demand for data-driven services increases, according to the latest analysis from global growth partnership company Frost & Sullivan.
Condition monitoring market drivers
The business case for condition monitoring is strong despite budgetary pressures and inadequate customer understanding of condition monitoring. According to the report, over the next five years, falling hardware prices as well as benefits such as higher efficiencies and productivity, zero breakdowns around critical and high-value assets, lower maintenance costs, remote monitoring capabilities, and insights from predictive analytics will drive uptake. The rise in industry training and certification is also helping customers understand instrumentation and condition monitoring principles better.
The business case for condition monitoring is strong, driven by falling hardware prices and other benefits, despite budgetary pressures and inadequate customer understanding, according to the report.
Types of monitoring; market verticals
Frost & Sullivan’s analysis finds that while the market was stagnant over 2015 and 2016 due to the downturn in the mining industry, there will be steady increases through to 2020. In terms of types of monitoring, the study finds that vibration analysis continues to dominate, followed by lubricating oil analysis and thermography. In terms of verticals, the resources sector (mining and oil and gas) accounts for nearly half the total market for condition monitoring.
Key market players
The condition monitoring market in Australia represents a significant opportunity for companies such as GE Bently Nevada, SKF, Emerson Process Management, Rockwell Automation, ABB and Schneider Electric to build on their robust market share, according to the report. While traditional global companies dominate the Australian market, local innovators such as Meshnet, IPACS, XMPro, Lynxrail and Vayeron are part of a growing number of disruptors helping change the way condition monitoring achieves its outcomes.
Ivan Fernandez, head of Research, Industrial Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia and New Zealand, noted:
They are doing this by leveraging the convergence of information and operation technology (IT/OT), which enables advanced applications to support real-time decision making. As a result, the future of competition in the condition monitoring landscape will be about who can provide an efficient integrated platform to manage IT and OT.
This extension beyond condition monitoring to adjacent operational segments bodes well for information and communication technology (ICT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) vendors, says Frost & Sullivan.
Fernandez further explained:
IIoT will be a key ingredient for the implementation of Industry 4.0 or smart factories. The converged evolution of wireless technology, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the Interne, allows objects with a unique identifier (UID) to have machine-to-machine (M2M) interaction without or with minimal human intervention.
Summing up the unmet need in the market, Fernandez concluded:
Customers are looking to derive actionable insight from their condition monitoring data, but need assistance with integrating disparate data and leveraging analytics. Comprehensive, data-driven services and customized solutions, tailored to different use cases and applications, will thus be the key differentiator.
The Australian Condition Monitoring Market — Forecast to 2020: Data-driven Services to Redefine Condition Monitoring by 2020 report is part of the Frost & Sullivan Australian Digital Transformation Research program. All research services included in this subscription provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.
