Machine vision industry in Germany expects over 10% growth in 2014
Speaking at the VISION 2014 tradefair in Stuttgart, officials from the German VDMA Machine Vision Group, part of the VDMA Photonics Forum, said they expect that the machine vision industry in Germany will grow by at least 10% in 2014 . This turnover of cameras, lighting, and image processing systems will exceed its forecast of about 1.8 billion euros by the end of this year. For 2015, the VDMA is expecting further growth despite macroeconomic uncertainties.
Strong momentum continues from Asia and the USA. "All over the world we see a strong demand for automation solutions and machine vision benefits. 100% quality checks that can up with production speed and provide the highest process reliability–-it would be difficult to master the increasing requirements of modern production without machine vision,” said Dr. Olaf Munkelt, Chairman of the VDMA Machine Vision Group.
In the past few years China has been the most dynamic market for machine vision from Germany. Since 2008, turnover has more than quadrupled. In 2013, turnover rose by 23%, compared to 2012. With 10% of the total turnover, China now ranks second after North America as a market for the German machine vision industry.
Sales figures of industrial robots indicate the level of automation and of future sales of machine vision systems. According to the International Federation of Robotics (Frankfurt), sales of industrial robots in China are expected to increase at least 25% on average per year from 2015 to 2017, reaching 100,000 units in 2017--at which time more than 400,000 industrial robots will be installed in Chinese factories.
In 2013, turnover of machine vision in nonindustrial sectors grew by 25%, raising the share of nonindustrial applications in overall turnover to almost 29%. Intelligent traffic systems accounted for the highest share in total turnover of nonindustrial applications, followed by medical technologies, logistics, and postal sorting, as well as safety and surveillance.
Source: VDMA Machine Vision Group
Conard Holton
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.