With the economy acting like a roller coaster stuck on the down slope, it’s hard to predict where the instrumentation and control market is headed. For process analytical instruments, there will be some immunity from the economic turmoil. They are part of customers’ arsenals for optimizing processes through high-quality instruments, such as high-speed gas chromatographers, electronic noses, novel sample preparation systems and new versions of scanning probe microscopes.
According to a study by www.marketresearch.com, “The Next Generation of Analytical Instruments,” “One of the important factors that has brought analytical instrument R&D to this stage is micromachining technology. New materials, new microprocessors, new types of software, detectors and other components are also important. [This] important area of new product development is just beginning to build momentum. A growing number of instruments with micromachined components are coming onto the market.”
The study goes on to say that, “A special group of new products will become available in the next few years, including temperature-programmed microscopes, mass spectrometers on a chip, holographic sensors and sample processing that runs in parallel and independently of programmable modules.”
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All of these next-generation products set the stage for possible advances in process analytical instrument capability that could be a bright spot in this worrisome economy. Stay tuned.
Patti Pool
Products Editor
[email protected]