Potential of high-precision industrial measurement

According to Frost & Sullivan, inspecting every facet of manufacturing and integrating all types of inspection results will help end users to create true corrective and preventive processes and action plans to achieve ‘Zero’ errors in manufacturing. Quality inspection service providers need to build solutions for the vertical and horizontal quality inspection market to retain prominence.

 

Enterprise-Level Integration Using Software Over the next 3-5 years, most metrology companies will invest more than 50% of their R&D budget in coding enterprise-level software solutions. Digitization of Industrial Measurement Throughout the Supply Chain Revenues from ERP software will surpass the hardware revenues over the next 5-8 years.

 

Predictive insights will allow metrology companies to sell more knowledge-based services and create a new breed of client engagement models over the following years. Metrology services 2.0 will create recurring revenue opportunities, allowing metrology companies to engage with customers throughout the product life cycle.

 

Most metrology companies will reduce their focus on engineering traditional coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). Metrology companies will aggressively expand their optical scanner portfolio over the next 3-5 years.

 

Horizontal arm machine and gantry-type CMM will be replaced with optical scanners at a significant rate over the next 3-5 years. Frost & Sullivan finds that attaining absolute measurement results through optical scanners is the utopian ambition of several dimensional metrology manufacturers. If absolute measurement can be achieved using optical scanners, several industry experts believe that it could signal the end of the CMM era in the quality inspection process. Top 5 CMM manufacturers believe that CMM will not be a key product portfolio in the next 5-8 years. Hence, CMM manufacturers have started investing in optical metrology.

 

The optical scanner product line will enable metrology manufacturers to increase their initiatives towards diversifying their end-user target market. Combined synergies of the core metrology market, ICT, and automation industry will offer new value to end users. Strategic shift in business approach towards services will be driven by the end-user need for reduced total cost of ownership (TCO). Open-source enterprise software is likely to foster high degree of innovation across the value chain and create new revenue generation stream.