Misery yes; hopeful, of course

No one says the automation industry is immune from the abysmal global economy, but there are some opportunities out there.
“With the housing crisis we are experiencing, I would also say we have a manufacturing crisis as well,” said Andy Chatha, president and founder of ARC Advisory Group today at the industry research company’s “Winning Strategies and Best Practices for Sustainable Manufacturing” conference in Orlando, Fla.. “We are talking about Baby Boomers leaving the industry, but unfortunately, a lot of companies are being forced to let them go now. That just compounds the problem.”
It is easy to dwell on the problems, but there are opportunities for automation companies moving forward.
“The U.S. innovation machine is at work creating lower cost products and processes,” Chatha said. The time is right for innovation.”
“Automation companies are starting to fill the gaps in manufacturing,” Chatha said. “Automation companies are becoming more service providers. Working with partners will be a key down the road.”
There are some growth areas, like wireless, virtual concepts and integrating engineering, Chatha said. He added the electric power industry is a bright spot and showing great growth potential. He said his company also revised its forecasts for the industry for this year and it looks like the booming growth areas of China and India will experience “only” single digit growth, while it will remain flat in the U.S. and Europe. He also added consumer products, life sciences and food industries are looking good for the coming year.
If you listen to some of the folks here at the forum, they are worried, but things are not as bleak as some pundits are saying.
Stephen Lambright, vice president of marketing and customer service at wireless provider, Apprion, said they have not really seen a slow down. They have cautious customers, but they are still going strong.
Honeywell is looking for growth by going after the small manufacturing market with its new Experion LS system, which takes the large scale Experion product and scales it down to fit with the smaller manufacturers.
“We are looking to grow our business in emerging markets like India and China where there are quite a few smaller manufacturers that would want to use a DCS,” said Timothy Sweet, manager of product marketing at Honeywell.