Machine vision market is improving and technology is more sophisticated

When it comes to manufacturing and engineering, machine vision plays a key role in keeping operations safe and efficient and they are being integrated in new and exciting ways and the market’s projected growth reflects this. In a video interview with Interact Analysis, senior research director Tim Dawson and research analyst Jonathan Sparkes discussed how the machine vision market has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and what the future looks like.

Sparkes said their research considered industrial and non-industrial applications where a combination of hardware and software is used to provide operational guidance to devices in the execution of their functions based on the capture and processing of images. The scope considers products designed to withstand harsh operating conditions, including varying lighting conditions, temperature extremes and vibration, ensuring consistent and reliable image capture and the primary segments were:

• Smart cameras/sensors

• Configurable vision systems

• Line-scan cameras

• Area-scan cameras

• 3D cameras

• Frame grabbers

• Lenses

• Lighting

• Software

• Accessories

• Services.

The machine vision market contracted in 2023, but it is expected to rebound after a challenging year, which was in part affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The machine vision industry is still recovering from a post-COVID hangover,” Dawson said. “I think one of the main factors really influencing that is this stocking and destocking effect. We saw a lot of overstocking happening in 2022 off the back of a shortage of products in 2021, obviously, as a result of semiconductor shortages and then those supply chain issues post-COVID. This left customers and distributors with a glut of products.”

While the overstocking had a positive effect on the market for 2022, it led to excess inventory and distributors and customers had to deal with a regression back to the mean because what had happened was not normal and unsustainable. With the market sliding back toward normalcy, the stocking issues should be alleviated and growth is likely to return in 2024 and beyond, Dawson said.

“The long-term outlook for the industry should always remain positive,” Sparkes said. “We would see machine vision as naturally continuing to have revenue growth as more systems and processes become automated.”

Chris Vavra, web content manager, CFE Media and Technology, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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See additional interviews with Interact Analysis linked below.

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