CARY, N.C.– In the newest version of ARC Advisory Group’s "Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook," study, ABB retained its leading worldwide market position in this core automation market based on revenues. According to the study, the global DCS (distributed control system) market in 2012 grew modestly, with stronger growth in North America and Latin America. The overall market for DCS increased by 3%, while North America increased by almost 18%.
The ARC report stated that there were several factors that contributed to the Americas regional growth in 2012. The overall economic recovery in North America has been stronger than in other parts of the world. Contributing factors to this include the increased use of new technologies in oil and gas production and related petrochemical project expansion in the region.
Globally, prices for oil, gas and other commodities have remained at a level that can support new production investments. The resurgence in power generation projects, especially in gas-fired combined cycle projects, also increased demand for DCS.
"ABB's focus on the needs of energy and energy-intensive industries like oil and gas, utilities and mining operations have driven the integration of its electric power infrastructure and automation systems; this has reinforced its global market share," said Harry Forbes, principal analyst at ARC and author of the report. "For industrial customers, the benefit is greater visibility of energy use and more integrated and automated operations."
According to the study, based on revenues, ABB was also the market share leader for Latin America and the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) regions. ABB remained the global market share leader for both service and software and the worldwide leader in key global verticals including oil and gas, mining and metals, and pulp and paper.
The report also notes that the DCS business has been and will continue to be primarily a services business, with combined project, engineering and operational services accounting for more than half of total projects revenues. The shortage of qualified engineers will contribute to the growing need for these services. The use of new information technologies, such as virtualization and collaboration portals, give EPC and end-user firms the ability to access teams for global projects from a worldwide pool of technical talent.
"ABB's deep process industry knowledge, globally distributed engineering and support teams help our customers successfully implement and manage their DCS automation projects, regardless of location or complexity. Our expert teams help them to expand their operations or evolve their current system forward for maximum results with minimal disruption," said Sandy Taylor, head of sales and marketing for ABB’s Process Automation division. "We offer a diverse range of DCS automation solutions to improve the efficiency and safety of any size process, with the capability to integrate process, electrical, safety and third party systems on one platform."
ABB's family of DCS solutions includes its flagship System 800xA Extended Automation platform, Symphony Plus control system, Freelance process control system for small-to-medium process applications, as well as its prior generation systems. ABB also offers an extensive portfolio of industry applications and services to complement these core automation systems.
