Hydraulic equipment makers up their game
21 Feb 2013
London - A slump in capital investments in the European hydraulic equipment market is prompting equipment makers to develop more integrated products that are cost effective, compact and user friendly.
Hydraulic equipment’s product integration with electronics has expanded its application scope to include entertainment simulators and markets in the renewable energy sectors, said a new Frost & Sullivan analysis.
It will also help the market stave off competition from alternative technologies such as electric drives, said the report titled European Hydraulic Equipment Market for Industrial and Mobile Applications.
“Electronic products are more user-friendly and make it easier for hydraulic equipment products to integrate with new end-user applications,” said Frost & Sullivan analyst Sivakumar Narayanaswamy.
“This integration has also expanded the product portfolios of current end-user segments, as customers prefer electronics-integrated products for its multi-functionality.”
Further, manufacturers provide streamlined customer service for their integrated products. They offer favourable maintenance contracts as part of the product purchase and absorb the costs of equipment installation.
This ensures that the manufacturer becomes a one-stop point for the purchase, maintenance and servicing for the equipment, said F&S.
Equipment manufacturers are also responding to customer demand for higher efficiency equipment by investing more than 10% of their revenue in R&D. In some product segments such as valves and pumps, manufacturers are looking to improve the product life cycle to more than a decade.
“Energy-efficient hydraulic equipment products are also expected to become popular due to the EU’s energy efficiency regulations and rising energy costs,” noted Narayanaswamy.
To maintain efficiency standards, factory owners are likely to periodically replace their hydraulic equipment, generating revenue from the retrofit market.
These additional revenue streams will substantially improve the market’s prospects and help it stay afloat in testing times, the F&S analyst concluded.
