“Motor services have transformed from a regular maintenance solution that can increase the lifespan of motors into a strategic business discipline, which can improve the overall efficiency of the asset. Increased technological changes such as predictive maintenance systems and bundled service package options provided by motor manufacturers are some of the key driving factors”, observes Research Analyst Raaj Thilak Raveendran in a recent briefing to motor manufacturers, private service providers, service partners and consultants win the European motor services market.

EU motor services market grew at a healthy rate in 2011, but the outlook for 2012 is gloomy due to the impact of the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. The need to improve uptime, increase plant profitability, process efficiency and complexity of the manufacturing process resulted in the need for increased service requirements.

Adoption of motor management, predictive maintenance systems and online data capture are the key growth factors. However, high competition between the private service companies and tier 1 companies triggers a price war that indirectly affects the total revenue of the services segment.

Highlights of the briefing included analyses of technology trends, competitive structure, customer expectation and end-user trends related to the motor services segment.

Listen here: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/analyst-briefing-detail.pag?mode=open&sid=259989164

Post 2010, after the infamous Stuxnet attack in Iran, cyber threats have gained considerable attention from all sections of the industry, from automation and device vendors at the plant-floor to management personnel in boardrooms.

The need for implementing security initiatives is increasingly becoming a regulatory compulsion. A practical projection of current trends indicate that regulations and standards governing cyber security is likely to surge in future, reflecting the urgency and opportunity for automation vendors to invest in this emerging market space.

This briefing will try to understand:

• the history of cyber threats
• significance to automation vendors
• contemporary security initiatives

It will provide automation vendors with an insight into some of the popular industrial perceptions towards cyber security, offering viable recommendations for security initiatives in future enterprises.

WHEN: 16 May 2012 at 2pm BST

WHERE: Online, with free registration

For more information, and to register online go to: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/analyst-briefing-detail.pag?mode=open&sid=259433753

Steady growth in the European control valves market was derailed by the global economic recession, resulting in a significant decline in sales in 2009. Fears of a double-dip recession caused sales to slump in 2010 as well.

The market has experienced a sluggish recovery in 2011, powered by demand from the food and beverage and power generation sectors. Promisingly, however, projects that had been put on hold during the recession are back on track. These, together with newly initiated projects, are expected to drive growth.

An increased focus on reducing maintenance costs and tighter pro-environment regulations are the two factors poised to boost market prospects.

“There is heightened emphasis on incorporating a diagnostic tool within the control valve, which would eliminate the need for periodic services as well as downtime due to maintenance problems,” explains Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Ashwin Annareddy. “This would also result in a revamping of the basic design of control valves, leading to a significant increase in sales.”

Regulations regarding environmental pollution are poised to become tougher in the coming years. This will impact the design of control valves and boost the sales of valves that promote environmentally sustainable practices across various end-user industries.

Investments in the food and beverage as well as the power generation industries are also set to fuel the uptake of control valves. At the same time, Central and Eastern Europe are anticipated to emerge as the primary geographical markets.

“Manufacturers should develop broad product portfolios that would satisfy the requirements of these end-user and geographical segments,” advises Annareddy. “This strategy would enable them to broaden their market reach as well as increase their penetration of these emerging geographical markets.”

A key challenge for European market participants has been pricing due to intensifying competition from Asian low-cost alternatives. This situation has been aggravated by budgetary limitations that have affected R&D initiatives.

“To assert their competitive dominance, European control valve manufacturers have to focus on developing innovative, high-quality yet cost-effective designs that meet end-user requirements,” advises Annareddy. “Value added services that would generate valuable income and enable companies to differentiate themselves from the competition would also be critical to long-term success.”

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.industrialautomation.frost.com), Strategic Analysis of Control Valves in the European Market, finds that the market earned revenues of €496.5 million in 2010 and estimates this to reach €676.3 million in 2017. Rotating shaft and sliding stem-type control valves are the product segments covered in the research.

Industry Research Series - Current Focus: Batch and Specialty Chemicals

DrivesMag is working hard to better understand how automation, control and drives are currently being designed into and used in key industrial and manufacturing markets, assessing impact that they might have on the processes and value that they bring to users. Our focus this month is on the Batch and Specialty Chemical Markets.

If you are an expert in the field of chemical production, we'd like to ask you a few questions and will pay you for your time. Of course, we'll share our findings with you.

If you would like to participate in this study, please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for a link. The survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. When you have finished, you can choose to be paid $45 for your time, or to give the $45 plus a $10 matching donation from DrivesMag to one of three great charities. Your answers will remain anonymous and combined with answers from others in a final report that you can choose to receive. Nobody will contact you afterwards to sell anything.

Siemens boasts about its automation offer and how it increases productivity and energy efficiency in this promotional video.

The US and Canada lead the world in motor efficiency standards, a major transition to IE3 Premium Efficiency having already occurred by the end of 2010.

New motor sales growth in China will be driven by local power-saving legislation mandating sales of higher-efficiency, and thus more expensive motors. Based on these trends, the Chinese market for low-voltage integral horsepower AC motors should triple in revenues to $7.9 billion in 2016 from 2010 with unit shipments expected to grow annually at double-digit rates, reaching 22.6 million units in 2016, according to IMS Research in a new report.

A company representative says, “China is far behind North America. We are starting to see how government directives for improved motor efficiencies will result in leveling the playing field for motor manufacturers in China. The Chinese motor manufacturers are required to change to selling IE2 motors in July 2011.”

The representative adds, “While this might seem to make it harder to enter the motor market and to eliminate many low-end motor suppliers, all industries will benefit greatly from improved motor efficiency leading to a significant reduction in energy costs, which is the prime objective of the legislation”.

With the shift from IE1 to IE2, motors sold in China will be more expensive than in the past, since IE2 efficiency-class motors have prices more than 30% higher than those of IE1 Standard Efficiency motors. IMS Research estimates that market revenues for IE2 motors will double in 2011. The international companies and leading local suppliers such as ABB, Siemens, Teco, Huali, Nanyang - Explosion, Jiamusi, Hebei and Jinlong will lead the charge in China.

The IE1 market segment will still dominate, with over 60% share of revenues until 2013 in the Chinese low voltage AC motor market. The biggest shift will happen in 2014 and 2015. The IE2 High efficiency market segment will take the lion’s share of revenues in 2016. By 2016, the IE2 market is expected to account for 75% of Chinese low voltage AC motor revenues.

In addition, China, with the big advantages in the rare earth mineral market, is expected to become the leading producer and consumer of permanent magnet motors.  With the legislative rebates, the permanent magnet motor will be the fastest growing of the low-voltage AC motor types in China, with nearly 80% CAGR from 2010 to 2016.

ABB is reporting that growth is accelerating on industrial demand. Here are the details of their quarterly announcement.

• Q4 growth accelerates: Orders up 18%, revenues 6% higher
• Energy efficiency, industrial productivity and grid reliability drive demand
• Q4 operational EBIT margin of 12.3% within target range on growth and cost savings
• $1.8 billion in cash from operations close to previous year’s record Q4
• Proposed dividend increase to CHF 0.60 per share shows confidence in the business
• Additional cost savings of more than $1 billion targeted for 2011