HMI software is critical to manufacturing

The global HMI software market is expected to reach more than $559 million by 2008, outperforming the industrial automation market, a new ARC Advisory Group study reveals.

By Control Engineering Staff October 14, 2004

The global HMI software market is expected to reach more than $559 million by 2008, outperforming the industrial automation market, a new ARC Advisory Group study reveals. That represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% over the next five years. The market totaled $439 million in 2003. In addition, says the report, the North American share of this market grew despite the outsourcing of a portion of manufacturing to China and other developing countries.

HMI software market is expected to reach more than $559 million by 2008, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% over the next five years, an ARC Advisory Group study reveals. (Illustration courtesy of ARC Advisory Group)

HMI or visualization software using flexible, multi-functional, interoperable platforms that provide peer-to-peer interfaces with other platforms is driving factory visibility and intelligence, and playing a major role in providing plantwide connectivity, the study continues. HMI software suppliers who offer applications that address user requirements for exchange and distribution of factory floor information will see greater market success, ARC predicts.

“HMI and related software has become a critical component in the infrastructure for successfully managing manufacturing operations,” according to Craig Resnick, ARC research director and principal author of HMI Software Worldwide Outlook Market Study . “Ensuring connectivity across the manufacturing enterprise is a primary value proposition for manufacturers employing automated production systems,” he said. “These manufacturers want to access and aggregate real-time production process information to drive factory visibility and intelligence. Enterprise connectivity translates into both manufacturing efficiency and a lower cost of goods sold.”

According to the survey, HMI and related control software applications remain an integral part of the process, hybrid, and discrete industries for the access, presentation, and exchange of information for managing plant-floor production processes. HMI software systems today represent the application of cutting-edge technologies while maintaining the established functionality that each vertical industry depends on. Because of the strategic role played by HMI software, the survey claims that manufacturers are looking to these systems as the tools for plant-wide information collection and integration.

To read an article on this topic from ARC Advisory Group, click here . To read more on this study, click here .

—Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, Control Engineering, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com