VDC Research Group (VDC) provides exceptionally detailed direct-contact primary market research and consulting services to many of the world's largest technology suppliers, innovative start-ups and leading investors.
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Intrinsically Safe Products are still seeing uneven use and growth with the European Market having the greatest penetration and stable growth. In that market, as well as the Americas and APAC, growth depends not only on the economy but overcoming the “other” alternatives to Intrinsically safe. In some respects the cost of intrinsically safe, is not only the components that are often more expensive but the fact that the networks are limited in length and the number of field devices that can be used. This may be where the wireless technology may be taking hold particularly as the market begins to trust the reliability and as the costs come down. Intrinsically Safe can be a significant value add in places where the standard sensors are becoming commodities and it is difficult to maintain pricing and margins. VDC believes that the significant drop in the preference for Explosion / flame proof enclosures is due to the human factors where the units must be properly maintained after service. Purging and encapsulation are also service issues where the units have to be removed and serviced or even discarded if they fail. Last bullet … they want/ need a clean slate for performance, cost and liability factors …
LOTO, generally involves the complete powering off of the machine, and locking the ability to power it up. It relies on employees to follow procedures each and every time. This is very impractical as some machines require a long warm-up, set-up and calibration before they can be placed back into service. Machine Automatic safeguarding has generally driven an increase in machine costs so it has been a hard sell. Insurance companies are now taking notice and making incentives that encourage M-S. Governments in many cases, are the insurers of last resorts for those injured in the workplace and therefor. The anticipated deadline for the Euro. Commission moving from EN 954 to EN ISO 13849-1 or EN/IEC 62061 to access .
Intrinsically Safe Products are still seeing uneven use and growth with the European Market having the greatest penetration and stable growth. In that market, as well as the Americas and APAC, growth depends not only on the economy but overcoming the “other” alternatives to Intrinsically safe. In some respects the cost of intrinsically safe, is not only the components that are often more expensive but the fact that the networks are limited in length and the number of field devices that can be used. This may be where the wireless technology may be taking hold particularly as the market begins to trust the reliability and as the costs come down. Intrinsically Safe can be a significant value add in places where the standard sensors are becoming commodities and it is difficult to maintain pricing and margins. VDC believes that the significant drop in the preference for Explosion / flame proof enclosures is due to the human factors where the units must be properly maintained after service. Purging and encapsulation are also service issues where the units have to be removed and serviced or even discarded if they fail. Last bullet … they want/ need a clean slate for performance, cost and liability factors …
Intrinsically Safe Products are still seeing uneven use and growth with the European Market having the greatest penetration and stable growth. In that market, as well as the Americas and APAC, growth depends not only on the economy but overcoming the “other” alternatives to Intrinsically safe. In some respects the cost of intrinsically safe, is not only the components that are often more expensive but the fact that the networks are limited in length and the number of field devices that can be used. This may be where the wireless technology may be taking hold particularly as the market begins to trust the reliability and as the costs come down. Intrinsically Safe can be a significant value add in places where the standard sensors are becoming commodities and it is difficult to maintain pricing and margins. VDC believes that the significant drop in the preference for Explosion / flame proof enclosures is due to the human factors where the units must be properly maintained after service. Purging and encapsulation are also service issues where the units have to be removed and serviced or even discarded if they fail. Last bullet … they want/ need a clean slate for performance, cost and liability factors …
The outlook for the overall industrial product markets is quite good across a broad and expanding applications base of customers worldwide, but particularly in BRIC and semi-industrial but still developing countries. As we note, wireless products are seeing increased adoption as they allow more coverage without needing the actual wiring which can be expensive and/or problematic in itself. We feel that this is especially true in new facilities or, in existing facilities where coverage is being augmented.In Machine Safety, the market is being driven not only by economic recovery and emerging markets but a drive to improve safety especially in countries that have a growing concern about social responsibility as well as the overall fiscal concernsIt has been noted that BP had been driving a system of employee based safety initiatives as opposed to automated systems. This placates insurers and regulators up until the point where something catastrophic happens. In the wake of the recent Gulf of Mexico mishap, there will likely be significant changes in process safety at BP and other industry participants.Process Safety Decisions need to be made in fractions of a second – Not by Corporate Management!!In closing we see clear indications of “Brain Drain” where many of the perspective clients’ experienced functional safety experts have been lost over the last few years and they will be increasingly looking for the suppliers to fill the gap.