Stats show $3.827 billion in shipments in 2018, up 8 percent over 2017

The global motion control and motor market experienced record growth in 2018, with $3.827 billion in shipments, up 8 percent over 2017. According to the Motion Control & Motor Association, part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), shipments were up 3 percent in the last quarter of the year, at $946 million, contributing to the overall annual growth of the market.

“Motion control and motor technologies are getting smarter, more capable and more productive, and as a result, are playing pivotal roles in increasing the overall productivity of any given operation,” said Dana Whalls, vice president of A3. “As these technologies continue to advance, especially those targeted at progressively smaller devices, the industry will see even more growth.”

The largest categories within the overall market were motors (40 percent), actuators and mechanical systems (19 percent), and electronic drives (17 percent). Those three categories grew 11 percent to $1.508 billion, 12 percent to $735 million, and 7 percent to $641 million respectively, which contributed to the overall growth. The strong performance in these markets highlights the substantial role motion control and motor technologies play in growing automation worldwide.

Trends in Motion Control and Motors Market

Digitalization is having the biggest impact on the motion control and motors market. It saves on maintenance and downtime costs by providing data to identify probable component or machine failures well before they happen.

“Digital transformation of the industrial landscape has reached an inflection point, and implementation among early adopters has given way to broader market penetration,” Whalls added. “Data is now being captured at the component, machine, line, plant and enterprise levels. Modern components simplify digitalization with built-in connectivity, memory, and processing capabilities, and edge-computing devices send data sets to the cloud where it is mined with analytics. This enables much more rapid, informed decisions.”

Whalls expects to see higher, more intelligent performance in motors in a smaller footprint. “Frameless motors are providing greater flexibility for integration into compact spaces,” she said. “The increase in battery operated mobile devices, for example, has created a demand for smaller drives that fit in a constrained space and don’t add weight. Today’s smaller drives perform more intelligent functions with onboard memory and processing power that allow them to detect bearing defects, enable an operator to clear a jam without invoking lockout tag out, or even act as a master controller for a network of daisy-chained drives.”

About MCMA | Founded in 2006, the Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA) was developed to advance the global understanding and use of motion control and related automation technologies and to help our member companies and the industry grow. We promote innovation and growth from supply through distribution by providing comprehensive education, research, communication, industry trades shows, events and networking. Today, MCMA is serving the needs of hundreds of its member manufacturers, distributors, system integrators, manufacturers’ representatives, end users, suppliers, consulting firms, researchers and academics from across the globe. For more information, visit www.motioncontrolonline.org.

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3) | The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA – Advancing Vision + Imaging, Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA) and A3 Mexico. RIA, AIA, MCMA and A3 Mexico combined represent over 1,200 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward. For more information, visit the Association for Advancing Automation.

In the second quarter 2019 issue of MHI Solutions magazine, “The Supply Chain Shift Toward Technology: How It’s Impacting Companies’ Workforce Talent Strategies,” a number of experts agree weighed in on different measures businesses are adopting to both recruit and cultivate the skillsets they need from their employees—both blue and white collar.

That’s because as more companies place higher importance on their supply chains as a competitive advantage, they’ve increasingly adopted next-generation technologies like automation, robotics, predictive analytics, digitization, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and more. Potential hires with experience and qualifications specific to the areas supply chain organizations are seeking to leverage are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

So how can current and future workers better equip themselves to be attractive hires in the midst of this supply chain technology shift? By developing a lifelong learner mindset, says De’Onn Griffin, Senior Research Director and Analyst with Gartner.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn,” she explains. “That’s really a mindset. Whether someone is already employed or is currently a student about to enter the workforce, they have to approach changing technology as an opportunity for personal and professional growth.”

Further, continues Griffin, employed workers who already see increasing adoption of technologies by their companies changing processes and practices, “need to open themselves up to learning about the new roles and the skills they’re going to need as they grow into one of those roles.”

The most attractive workers to businesses are those who blend technical acumen with the ability to understand business and communicate effectively—what Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Thomas Boykin, Supply Chain and Network Operations Specialist Leader with the firm. He refers to them as “purple people.”

“Whether you’re a student or already in the workforce, today’s companies need people who can deliver beyond just being a technical expert; they need people who also bring business knowledge, insights and judgment—perspective if you will—to interpret the needs of an operation and know how to appropriately apply technology to address those needs,” he says.

“It’s not just the ability to use the technology. It’s the ability to use the technology in a way that applies your own insights into the business’ goals and objectives,” concludes Boykin. “Those are the kind of people who are going to be the most successful as supply chains increasingly adopt next-generation technologies.”

Workers aren’t the only ones who need to adapt to the supply chain shift toward technology. To learn more about the different approaches companies are taking, click here.

Real-time Analysis Needed to Make Instant, Actionable Decisions and Improve Efficiency

AM systems will produce US$2 trillion worth of parts and end products by 2030

The number of production-ready Additive Manufacturing (AM) platforms that ship each year will increase more than 10 times by 2030, as the technology’s use in structural and mission-critical commercial applications comes to fruition. According to a new report published by ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies, these systems will produce more than US$360 billion worth of parts and end products each year and nearly US$2 trillion in sum by the end of the next decade.

“Additive manufacturing is moving from the prototype to the production market in a big way,” explained Ryan Martin, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “A new set of technologies is breaking out to create net-shape parts in a variety of build platform sizes that significantly broaden the overall scope of applications where AM can compete, and ultimately win. The integration of digital and physical production systems will accompany the hybrid manufacturing models that follow for higher degrees of automation and just-in-time, on-demand delivery.”

“3D printing” has been around for more than 30 years in specialized aerospace and medical applications (for prosthetics, hearing aids, and dental implants). The latest round of innovation is an entirely different breed. Specialist AM Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) like 3D Systems, EOS, and Stratasys are still in the mix and have primarily led the charge due to their market tenure and resulting credibility with a wide range of companies and applications, but there are also a number of emerging players, such as Carbon, Desktop Metal, Digital Alloys, and Markforged that need to be taken just as seriously. ExOne, GE Additive, and HP (which plans to start shipping its Metal Jet production system in 2020) are another tier in the middle, but breakout growth across Aerospace & Defense (including commercial aviation), Automotive, Consumer Goods, and Machinery (including tooling) makes it anyone’s game.

The automotive industry represents the largest opportunity globally with US$148 billion in additive manufacturing product value forecasted for 2030, but it is closely followed by the machinery markets, and these figures differ from country to country. The United States currently leads the world in terms of AM product value but will be passed by China in 2029 under present conditions.

“Additive manufacturing brings production closer to the places where products are sold and used. For suppliers, this means the ability to better dictate the priority, timeliness, and process that best fits their manufacturing needs,” concluded Martin.

These findings are from ABI Research’s Additive Manufacturing Market Tracker market data report. This report is part of the company’s Industrial Solution, which will help manufacturers digitize operations to create better quality products at lower costs. Market Data spreadsheets are composed of deep data, market share analysis, and highly segmented, service-specific forecasts to provide detailed insight where opportunities lie.

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About ABI Research | ABI Research provides strategic guidance for visionaries needing market foresight on transformative technologies, which reshape workforces, identify holes in a market, create new business models and drive new revenue streams. ABI’s own research visionaries take stances early on those technologies, publishing groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms. ABI analysts deliver their conclusions and recommendations in easily and quickly absorbed formats to ensure proper context. Our analysts strategically guide visionaries to take action now and inspire their business to realize a bigger picture. For more information about ABI Research’s forecasting, consulting and teardown services, visionaries can contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com.

Recently released, the newest MHI View video is the second in a four-part series providing a Next-Gen Supply Chain Update on Automation. Automation leverages systems, robotics and augmenting technologies to perform repetitive, resource-intensive tasks. The goal is to optimize operations for speed, reliability and safety. That’s why the 2019 MHI Annual Industry Report includes a digital supply chain adoption framework and assessment tool to help companies identify where they are and how to move forward with digital adoption.

Food and beverage companies have a sense of the importance of new digital technologies to food safety, but lack the understanding of how to apply solutions like blockchain for this purpose — that’s according to a global survey of more than 1,600 industry experts.  The survey carried out by DNV GL and GFSI found that only 1 in 10 companies are currently using new technology to ensure food safety but firms responded more positively in the longer term, with that number rising to almost 4 in 10. Other findings in “Food Safety: What’s Next to Assure Its Future?” include:

• 27% of firms say they do not know how much they will in invest in digital technologies for food safety in the next 12-18 months
• Only 8% of respondents say new digital technology is playing a role to a “great extent” in food safety, compared to 13% who say “not at all”
• Safeguarding the health of consumers is the main driver of food safety
• Operational risk, such as contamination, and the lack of food safety culture are the overwhelming food safety threats for firms
• 1 600+ industry experts surveyed across the globe as part of DNV GL and GFSI survey “Food safety: what’s next to assure its future?”

Of the new wave of digital technologies, sensors and beacons (44% today, 56% in three years) are the most widely used solution followed by blockchain (15% today, 40% in three years).  However, the lack of clarity is impacting investment decisions with more than a quarter of companies saying they do not know how much they will invest in digital solutions in the next 12 to 18 months and 14% answered that they will not spend in this area at all.  Asian companies in particular see value in blockchain, with 57% expecting to use the technology in three years, which is significantly higher than other regions.

“Digital technologies such as blockchain will transform many industries, especially those in the retail sector, but this survey indicates that to many food and beverage companies these technologies have yet to transition from buzzwords to real applications,” said Luca Crisciotti, CEO – Business Assurance, DNV GL. “At DNV GL we introduced blockchain to raise transparency in the certification process and to help brands bridge the trust gap between their efforts and consumers’ concerns, but it is clear we must work together as an industry to fully utilize the potential of new digital technologies to improve food safety.”

Elsewhere in the survey, safeguarding the health of consumers (88%) was shown to be the main driver of food safety, followed by laws and regulation (69%) and needs/requests from customers (60%).  Commercial benefits (30%) rank low, indicating that ensuring food safety is seen as a prerequisite.

Operational risk (76%), such as contamination, is perceived to be the standout threat whilst a lack of food safety culture (30%) and compliance to regulations (28%) are the next two biggest risks.  The fear of operational risks is especially strong in Europe (82%) compared to other regions.

A clear majority of companies view certification as a necessity of doing business (79%) whilst more than half (53%) see it as a way of improving food safety.

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About DNV GL – Business Assurance | DNV GL is one of the world’s leading certification bodies. We help businesses assure the performance of their organizations, products, people, facilities and supply chains through certification, verification, assessment, and training services. Partnering with our customers, we build sustainable business performance and create stakeholder trust across all types of industries. For more information, visit www.dnvgl.com.

The findings of a recent report from The Conference Board— a think tank examining the future developments and issues facing businesses across multiple industries—confirmed the reverse of a multi-decade trend in the U.S. job market: blue-collar workers are now scarcer than white-collar workers. Additionally, the report forecasted that blue-collar labor shortages will continue to increase in 2019 and beyond.

So how can companies cope?

In the second quarter 2019 issue of MHI Solutions magazine, “The Supply Chain Shift Toward Technology: How It’s Impacting Companies’ Workforce Talent Strategies,” a number of interviewed experts agree that there’s on one approach, but rather a spectrum of strategies being employed across a variety of operations.

Gad Levanon, lead report author and The Conference Board’s Chief Economist for North America, suggests: “Increasing pay is the most obvious answer, because it not only helps keep your workers, but gives you a greater opportunity to recruit workers from other companies. But that’s not always the most popular choice.”

Other options include lowering educational requirements, providing in-house training, relocating to different areas with a more available and accessible workforce, and expanding the diversity among the pools of potential candidates—such as how the trucking and transportation industries have been working to attract women to jobs previously dominated by men—he adds.

Another strategy, says Jeff Christensen, Vice President of Product at Seegrid, is to be more flexible in job descriptions and required qualifications: “Whatever job you hire for is going to change; that means companies need to find people with the ability and propensity to adapt to those changes.”

Christensen says the ideal worker brings “T-shaped” education and experience, meaning both a breadth of knowledge across multiple domains, as well as a depth of knowledge in a single area of expertise.

“The breadth across many domains allows someone to make connections across different people, roles and technologies to see the bigger picture, and then to apply that input to the objectives and tasks within his or her area,” he says. “That degree of adaptability is already becoming incredibly important.”

De’Onn Griffin, Senior Research Director and Analyst with Gartner, notes that increasing use of technology is having a significant impact on talent, the way companies plan for talent, and the entire employee lifecycle.

Notably, Griffin says that corporate spending on employee training has increased significantly: “Usually, training is the last place companies invest. But over the last three to five years, we’ve seen increasingly higher investment in learning at the expense of other areas—which is totally abnormal.”

Among the reasons for that, she continues, is that with technology itself changing so rapidly the skills attained by last June’s computer science graduate, for example, will likely become antiquated within a year. That recognition is prompting companies to invest in keeping their employees’ skills fresh.

Additionally, according to Dr. Randy Bradley, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, companies are coping with the supply chain technology shift by placing more emphasis on what he calls “the digital quotient.”

“Meaning, are they attracting a talent base that is comfortable with digital and emerging technologies, both externally and internally,” he explains. “If they can’t find the outside talent to hire, they’re taking a closer look at resident talent to identify who has the potential or interest in becoming proficient with these technologies.”

Since these days the best of both worlds is rarely found in a single individual, companies are employing a technique Bradley calls “reverse mentoring,” wherein a person with a digital, technical skillset (typically younger) is paired with a person (typically older) who has both expertise and depth of knowledge in the business.

Increasingly as well, companies are establishing partnerships with their local technical schools and community colleges to essentially create their own labor pool, says Dr. Bill Ferrell, Fluor International Supply Chain Professor and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Clemson University.

“These organizations recognize that the only way they’re going to get the people they need is to invest in and help develop the curriculum at two-year schools, and provide experiences in their plants that support the needs of the employers in the area,” he says, noting that from a company’s perspective, the relationship enables them to influence the skills being taught.

Students also benefit, adds Ferrell, because they’re learning relevant skills that will ensure them a job locally and be valid for a given period of time.

A similar trend is occurring between corporations and universities, reports Thomas Boykin, Supply Chain and Network Operations Specialist Leader with Deloitte Consulting LLP.

“Over the last six years, we’ve definitely seen the most progressive, leading companies increasingly become involved with the universities within their regions,” he says. “They’re seizing every opportunity to raise their visibility among the student body and on the campus so they have a higher success rate when they go to recruit there.”

Want to learn more about the different ways companies are combating workforce shortages? Read the full article by clicking here.

Global revenue from demand planning applications will generate over US$8 billion by 2025 as Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities offered by vendors continue to improve and appetites for data-driven supply chain transformation reach critical mass. The growing e-commerce sector and the need for such solutions in the Asian market are also responsible for this forecasted growth. This is according to ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies.

With the volume and variety of valuable data proliferating inside and outside the enterprise, AI and machine learning are becoming integral to successful supply chain planning. Only with these technologies can companies leverage demand sensing, which uncovers the hidden relationships between hundreds of demand drivers and their effect on actual product sales. As AI and machine learning models become increasingly sophisticated and enterprises get better at collecting complex data, demand sensing capabilities, and therefore supply chain efficiency, will improve further.

“It is becoming vital for enterprises to understand how product demand is impacted by continual shifts that occur internally in the supply chain and externally in the market,” said Nick Finill, Senior Analyst at ABI Research. “Companies that can anticipate opportunities or risks and then respond in a dynamic way will gain a major advantage as agility becomes a crucial feature of the modern supply chain.”

The need for more advanced, machine learning-based demand sensing capabilities means that complex data from outside of the enterprise is becoming enormously valuable. Relying exclusively on internal data, such as historical sales figures, is no longer enough in the current climate of global supply chain complexity and unpredictable consumer behavior. Being able to digest and analyze structured and unstructured data from the external market, such as weather data, social media posts, and economic indicators will become a critical need as supply chains transform.

Demand planning software vendors are playing a crucial role in driving innovation and a more demand-driven approach to business planning within the supply chain. Best-of-Breed vendors in this space, such as Anaplan and o9 Solutions are creating compelling products for companies in desperate need for external technical expertise. While companies such as Infor and SAS are incorporating these features into an impressive offering of wider supply chain and analytics solutions.

“Forecasting demand is only half of the equation, however,” said Finill. “Companies must understand how to effectively execute demand-driven planning and involve the entire business in a coordinated, holistic response that maximizes profitability for the wider enterprise. Companies that can make value-based operational decisions driven by reliable demand sensing capabilities will have a major advantage over those that can’t.”

These findings are from ABI Research’s report Demand Planning and Optimization in the Supply Chain application analysis report. This report is part of the company’s Intelligent Supply Chain research service, which includes research, data, and Executive Foresights. Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present in-depth analysis of key market trends and factors for a specific application, which could focus on an individual market or geography.

About ABI Research | ABI Research provides strategic guidance for visionaries needing market foresight on the most compelling transformative technologies, which reshape workforces, identify holes in a market, create new business models and drive new revenue streams. ABI’s own research visionaries take stances early on those technologies, publishing groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms. ABI analysts deliver their conclusions and recommendations in easily and quickly absorbed formats to ensure proper context. Our analysts strategically guide visionaries to take action now and inspire their business to realize a bigger picture. For more information about ABI Research’s forecasting, consulting and teardown services, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Industrial robot sales in the food and beverage processing market continue to grow and now represent the second largest growth sector behind automotive, according to the new Rapid Growth Ahead for Industrial Robots in Food and Beverage Processing infographic released by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

Industrial robot sales in the Americas are estimated at $3.5 billion, with the market for industrial robots sold into the food, beverage and personal care industry projected at $456.1 million, or 13 percent of all industrial robot sales in the Americas (second to Automotive at 34.2 percent).

Applications for industrial robots are moving into meat processing, fruit and vegetable handling and pick and place for processed foods. This expansion is due to technology advances such as end of arm tooling or gripping technology, robots being able to withstand hygienic and harsh conditions, the introduction of collaborative robots (cobots), easy programming and set-up, flexibility and the advances in artificial intelligence.

Robot selection varies upon application. Processors looking to add robots to their manufacturing lines are looking at payload, working envelope, footprint, speed, accuracy and repeatability. For full details, download the complete white paper.

About PMMI | PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, represents more than 850 North American manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, components and materials as well as providers of related equipment and services to the packaging and processing industry. It works to advance a variety of industries by connecting consumer goods companies with manufacturing solutions through leading trade media, as well as the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows – PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Healthcare Packaging EXPO, PACK EXPO East, EXPO PACK México and EXPO PACK Guadalajara.