ABB celebrates 22nd year as world’s DCS leader
5 Jan 2022
ABB has once again topped the ARC Advisory Group forecast report rankings for the leading share of the Distributed Control Systems (DCS) global market.
The company has held that position for the last 22 years – more than half the total period since the ARC report was first published.
In 2020, the last year reviewed, ABB controlled around 20 percent of the $14 billion-plus DCS market
While the sector had to contend with the effects of pandemic, energy transition and sustainability projects, as well as an upturn in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology markets were identified as key growth drivers for ABB.
“ABB leads the field in DCS thanks to its domain knowledge in multiple industries, extensive service network, a continued investment in developing technology, loyal customers and digital solutions that meet rapidly changing customer requirements,” said ABB Process Automation chief technology officer Bernhard Eschermann.
He added that much of the firm’s development had focused on advancing technology including modular automation, select I/O and secure edge integrated solutions , adding such solutions were vital to successful implementation of industrial IoT and agile navigation within Industry 4.0.
While the first industrial control computer system dates back to 1959, it was not until the development of microcomputers and microprocessors in the seventies that companies including Taylor Instrument, Fischer & Porter and Bailey – all now part of ABB – plus Honeywell and Yokogawa began manufacturing their own DCS.
These systems provided more localised control for plants coupled with remote monitoring, rather than cetralised control systems, reducing cost and potential downtime.
“Our industry-leading technology integrates the automation of the power and process side of operations – two traditionally separate domains,” said ABB Process Automation president Peter Terwiesch.
“The industries that we serve require reliable power, while working on improving the sustainability of their operations. Integration of power and process automation enables a higher share of inherently more volatile renewable sources in their energy mix – without compromising reliability.”
