ABB has been named the number-one provider of distributed control systems (DCS) worldwide by an ARC Advisory Group study, however the study forecasts DCS growth to slow in the coming years.
The study, ‘Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook’, reports that the explosive growth that characterised the DCS market up until 2008 is gone due to the global economic crisis; ARC forecasts that the compound annual growth rate for this market through 2013 will be curbed to 3 per cent.
The ARC report states that the customer demand for value-added services from automation suppliers has never been higher. These include project services such as the Main Automation Contractor (MAC) concept, where the supplier takes full responsibility for all aspects of an automation project, as well as other after-sales DCS services that help end users optimise plant performance.
The report also said that as end users strive to extract every last ounce of performance out of their plants, they need to reduce energy consumption. Aside from raw materials costs, energy ranks as one of the top cost pressures affecting manufacturers today. ARC stated that integrating the automation and power/energy domains of the manufacturing process can yield significant energy cost savings.
“ABB integrates the process control, process electrification, and power distribution and management portions of a plant with System 800xA, so information is available to all areas. This strategy is particularly interesting and beneficial to industries that are heavy electrical users, such as oil & gas, utilities, pulp & paper, and metals, that view electricity as a raw material,” said ARC research director for process industries, Larry O’Brien.
“ABB’s extended and versatile control system offerings, combined with its MAC project management capabilities and vast DCS services portfolio, have helped ABB retain its leadership position in the worldwide market.”
According to the study, ABB was also the regional market share leader for Europe/Mid East/Africa (EMEA), and the worldwide leader in key global verticals including Upstream Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Mining and Metals.