Wireless strengthens
12 May 2011
Global demand for wireless-enabled industrial products is growing 18% (CAGR), estimates IMS Research, which is preparing a report on the market. Users, it said, continue to find new use cases for the technology and are often getting a return on investment within one year.
“After end users have made the initial investment in wireless infrastructure, expanding wireless into more and more applications becomes even increasingly attractive,” said IMS automation analyst Toby Colquhoun.
However, IMS warned that confusion over different wireless technologies remains an issue in the process automation market, which is largely driven by the oil and gas sector.
The lack of standardisation will become more important in future applications with a longer payback period, said IMS: “End users have to be certain that they can source replacement parts for many years, if investment in these applications is to be attractive.”
According to Colquhoun, the main business case in process automation currently lies in three applications: simple wire replacement at remote tank farms; communicating with rotating equipment; and flexible relocation of plant and machinery.
End users in the EMEA seem less ready than those in the Americas, but more ready than those in Asia to deploy wireless.
“Europe tends to worry about things [such as] standards more than the rest of the world,” said Colquhoun. “There’s also less investment in greenfield sites compared to, say, Asia. In percentage terms, greenfield sites have a higher [uptake] of wireless nodes compared to wired.”
Meanwhile, cyber threats to wireless have yet to really register. The analyst added: “Vendors have definitely stressed their protocols use all the modern security techniques. I’ve always asked if there’s ever been a recorded incident of an industrial wireless network being used for espionage or sabotage, but no vendor said yes.”
