Manufacturing Executive - November 2008 - (Page 9) Europe’s Terminal Spend Is Full of Life E uropean manufacturers are seeking more advanced operator terminals than ever before to help boost productivity among their workforce, according to U.K.-based technology watcher IMS Research. In 2007, EMEA companies invested roughly $650 million in operator terminals, IMS estimates, but they are rapidly moving away from basic text displays and terminals to more advanced models. These include graphical, touchscreen, open, and portable products. Whether the terminals are intended for use on production lines, in distribution and warehousing centres, or off-site, the potential for greater business functionality, higher levels of performance, and falling prices are driving the change. As report author Mark Watson said: “As application complexity in general increases, the trend to higher-level operator terminals will also continue.” Manufacturing companies are now benefiting from fundamental shifts in terminal technology. “The decrease in price of graphical operator terminals is expected to be one of the most pronounced of all the product types,” Watson said. “It has become a recent trend for some of the larger operator terminal suppliers to upgrade their products to incorporate a graphical screen with only a very small, or no increase, in price. This means that even if machine builders do not always need the increased level of functionality, they are likely to adopt the graphical option because it adds perceived value to their product, at no added cost.” By 2012, the report said, text displays and text operator terminals are expected to account for less than 8% of EMEA terminal spend. Worldwide, meanwhile, terminal sales to the automotive, food, beverage & tobacco, and machine-building sectors are expected to increase significantly, especially in emerging economies, such as China and India, the report said. “One factor driving growth is the increasing use of highly ruggedized, touchscreen operator terminals, which can be washed down,” Watson said, citing the often hostile environments in which the technology is used. “These advanced products also store, analyse, and distribute larger amounts of data, which is crucial in sectors where traceability is often required by law.” So, When’s the Recovery? A fter a treacherous summer, when manufacturing output slipped again in many Western European countries, banks exploded on both sides of the Atlantic, and the smell of global meltdown hung in the air, attempts to predict the future for manufacturing may seem futile. But manufacturers still have to plan ahead — boom or bust. The good news is that companies are recognising that technology can help on the road to recovery, whatever the future holds, and European manufacturing companies are expected to invest in efficient and innovative IT in the year ahead. A report from Berlin-based European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) states, “Demand worldwide for information technology (IT) is growing strongly in spite of the general economic turbulence.” Global IT spend is expected to increase 5.2% this year to just under €1 trillion, and EITO sees growth of 5.6% next year, despite continued global financial upheaval. “The weakening trend in the world economy has hardly affected turnover in the high-tech sector,” said Chairman Bruno Lamborghini. While China, India, and Russia show predictably exceptional booms of 17% to 18% in 2008 IT spend, and the United States moves more slowly at 3.7%, European companies are generally spending 4.2% more on IT investments this year. These levels will remain steady in 2009, EITO said, driven in part by Eastern European compa- nies transforming their outdated IT infrastructures. As European manufacturers plan for next year, their IT investment needs to balance current uncertainty with future recovery, whenever that may be. Seeking out technologies that can deliver greater efficiencies, create agility, and add value in both processes and products has rarely been more important. Of course, technology alone can’t turn back an economic tsunami. But one thing’s for sure, when the world’s leaders have fin- ished crying into their cocktails on the snowy slopes of Davos when they meet in January, let’s hope manufacturing’s future will be high on their recovery agenda. Getting Discrete About Wireless anufacturing executives could save plenty by eliminating cables that connect controllers to sensors. Such untethering is under way in the process industries, where global deployment is expected to grow 32% annually to $1.1 billion in 2012, according to research firm ARC Advisory Group. But deployment is less popular in the discrete sector. ARC Vice President Chantal Polsonetti explained that discrete manufacturers require faster signaling than what is permitted by today’s relatively high-latency wireless technologies. An automaker might create Chaplinesque Modern Times chaos if a controller were to fail to transmit in time to perform an assembly line task before a chassis moves to the line’s next station. Process manufacturers do not require such rapid fire because they typically use wireless to gather data on slowly changing values, such as pressure and temperature. ARC said global discrete deployment of wireless gear connecting controllers and sensors will grow 16.2% annually through 2012, when manufacturers will spend $780 million. M November 2008 9
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