Johnson Allen NDT Equipment

World Non-destructive Testing Equipment Market

Drive toward Digitized and Automated Solutions to Boost Sales of Non-destructive Testing Equipment

Frost & Sullivan, a global Growth Consulting firm, has recently completed analysis on the World Non-destructive Testing Equipment Markets, reveals that revenues in this market totaled $724.3 million in 2003 and are projected to reach $1.03 billion by 2010.

Palo Alto, Calif. — June 30, 2004 — A wave of consolidation is sweeping over the non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment industry, bringing in its wake both benefits and challenges. The consolidated companies must cope with the challenge of balancing the integration of businesses and managing stakeholder concerns. Smaller companies, in-turn, are pressured by the looming threat of their larger sized competition.

On the upside, the conglomerates have the financial might to invest in new technologies and products, global reach to meet customer requirements, and the ability to influence product prices. Their smaller sized competitors are focusing on niche markets and customized solutions to compete effectively.

With the continued drive toward enhancing quality, improving production efficiency, and increasing residual life of assets, the demand for digitized and automated NDT equipment is projected to grow.

In spite of the emphasis on quality of products and longevity of asset life, severe economic conditions have forced customers to take a cautious stand toward acquiring new NDT equipment. Some of them have overlooked the benefits of NDT technology, owing to limited capital available for investment in new equipment.

This leads to intense competition among vendors to capture the wary and price conscious customer base. Established vendors also face stiff competition from local vendors that typically supply lower priced equipment.

Compromise on quality of NDT equipment and incomplete testing can affect the overall output, even leading to catastrophic results that endanger safety of human life and the environment. Therefore, end users need to be made aware of the benefits of using NDT technologies as a tool toward providing effective damage and disaster prevention, as well as for enhancing overall productivity.

At the same time, there is a range of emerging and enhanced NDT techniques such as acoustic emission, phased array ultrasonics, digital radiography, computed tomography (CT), etc. that require further customer adoption. Add these to established techniques, die penetrant inspection, ultraviolet inspection, magnetic particle inpspection, ultrasonic testing services, eddy-current inspection services, we can see effective marketing techniques need to be employed to communicate the range of available technologies and illustrate their potential benefits to decision makers in end-user companies.

Presenting an economic approach with demonstrated results on reduced risk, increased throughput, and resultant improvement of profitability could help convince key decision makers. Uptake of this equipment is bound to increase once NDT is accepted as a value-enabler and not an impediment that slows down production.

Increasing opportunities presented by the foundry, oil and petroleum, and automotive and aerospace markets provide a focus area for NDT equipment vendors. Growth in manufacturing activity in Asia Pacific and eastern European markets further holds potential opportunities for vendors of NDT equipment.

Vendors can look to profit by establishing a presence in these rapidly developing markets through self-initiated forays or by partnering with local distributors and dealers.