The process automation & instrumentation market is expected to reach USD 81.69 Billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 4.68% between 2015 and 2020. The growth of the process automation & instrumentation market is driven by factors such as the increasing demand for energy-efficient production process, rising concerns related to functional safety, and the demand for a software system to determine failures at the component level. Factors such as the increasing importance of regulatory compliance, implementation of automation solutions for manually uncontrollable processes, predictive maintenance and factor visibility, increased labor cost, high level of efficiency with the help of wireless networks are also supporting the growth of the process automation & instrumentation market.

The process automation & instrumentation market in pharmaceuticals, power, and pulp & paper sectors has been estimated to grow at a high CAGR compared to other application sectors. Companies are implementing automation products and services to meet stringent rules and regulation requirements in the pharmaceuticals industry. This helps in maintaining the production process and production specification under control. The implementation of process automation & instrumentation in power and paper & pulp applications helps in improving the efficiency of their production processes. There are certain critical processes in the power application, which are difficult to be controlled manually; therefore automation is required.

The market for software products such as human machine interfaces (HMI), advanced process controls (APC), and manufacturing execution systems (MES) in process automation & instrumentation is expected to grow at a higher CAGR compared to that for non-software based products. This is mainly due to the fact that software systems help in identifying and collecting data regarding the problem area in a production process. Companies are actively looking for such software products, which would help in increasing the production efficiency by eliminating wastage and in-efficient elements in the production process.

North America accounted for the largest market share in 2014; however, the market in APAC is expected to grow at a high CAGR between 2015 and 2020. The growth of the industrial activities in APAC coupled with increasing cost pressure and production rate has led to the increasing demand to implement process automation products and services. Applications in oil & gas accounted for a large share of the process automation & instrumentation market; however, its growth rate is very slow. This is mainly due to the declining oil prices.

Process Automation and Instrumentation Market

The restraint for development of the market is the high investment required for the implementation and maintenance of solutions and devices, and declining oil & gas prices. Declining oil prices are considered to be a major restraining factor for market growth. If the declining trend of oil prices continues then the growth of process automation, especially in the oil and gas application would also slow down. ABB Ltd. is considered as one of the important players in the development of process automation & instrumentation market. ABB invests heavily in R&D for designing innovative products to match the market needs and explore new opportunities to drive growth and profitability. Moreover, the company has signed many contracts which enabled it to strengthen its market presence in the ecosystems of process automation. Recently in July 2015, it signed a contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd (South Korea) for electrical and telecommunication systems, in which it will provide solutions for power management, power-from-shore, and telecom systems. Emerson Electric Company (U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), and Rockwell Automation Inc. (U.S.) among others are considered as important players in the development of process automation.