Use of Ethernet as an Industrial Communications Technology in Motion Control to More than Triple by 2016

The use of Ethernet with motor drives and motion controllers will more than triple to 2016 from 1.8 million new connected nodes in 2011. According to a new study from IMS Research, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for new motor control Ethernet nodes is projected to be the highest across the whole industrial space at nearly 30%.

IHS analyst, Tom Moore commented “Ethernet, particularly certain industrial variants, is very well suited to drive and motion control applications. The growing numbers of Ethernet protocols, which are high-speed, deterministic, and low jitter, mean its application has never been easier. Some of the most suited protocols are forecast annual growth rates exceeding 30% to 2016”.

As Figure 1 shows, new Ethernet nodes are forecast to account for over 20% of the total new networked motor control products in 2016. This is a large increase from the estimated 12% in 2011, when fieldbus protocols dominated new node connections. Ethernet is quickly gaining ground in a market that is well known for being reserved and slow to adopt new technology.

Moore continued, “Part of the transition to Ethernet is due to the protocols available, such as PROFINET, Ethernet/IP, POWERLINK and EtherCAT, which are all very well suited to motor control applications. In particular, EtherCAT is well known for very high speed data transmission and low response times. Its adoption is forecast to grow very strongly to 2016, especially as its member count continues to increase.”

Networking, however, isn’t just about the technology or protocols on offer; it is about the equipment itself. Nodes, the connections to the higher network, are set to increase and part of this is being driven by an increasing number of ports per device. This has an added affect to the adoption growth of networking technologies. “The increase in node count has come about for several reasons,” indicated Moore. “More and more products are being released with the ability to daisy-chain, requiring at least 2 ports.”

Ethernet is certainly making headway in the industrial space and its projected adoption growth is set to outstrip that of fieldbus technologies in almost all applications. “It is forecast that in 10 to 15 years Ethernet will have replaced fieldbus as the mainstream networking technology for motor control products.” says Moore, “This can only be good for the unification and simplification of networking solutions; driving down costs and increasing up-time”.

“The World Market for Industrial Ethernet and Fieldbus Technologies – 2013 Edition” is now available. This includes extensive analysis of industrial Ethernet and fieldbus technologies used in motor control, process and control and discrete control.

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Chinese Market for Low Voltage AC Motor Drives and DC Motor Drives Enters Period of Steady Growth

According to a recent IMS Research study, The Chinese Market for Low Voltage Motor Drives - 2012 Edition, revenue growth in this market slowed considerably in 2011 from an abnormally high 2010. Revenues from motor drives (excluding software and services) are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.7 percent from 2010 to 2015.

The total Chinese market for low-voltage AC & DC motor drives (including software and services) was estimated at $2.68 billion in 2010. The Chinese Government’s RMB 4000 billion stimulation policy and other domestic consumption policies enabled healthy growth in the market to continue from 2009 to 2010.

“In the first half of 2011, the markets for low voltage motor drives were still growing strongly. In the second half of 2011, as the Chinese Government tightened monetary policies and imposed strict lending conditions; this caused delays in numerous large projects, such as high-speed railways, city metros, highways, and factory renovation projects. These policies are also causing financial strain for both end users and machine builders”, commented Wilmer Zhou, senior analyst and report author. In June 2011, the market went into a precipitous decline. The bad news first came from local small and medium machine builders in South and East China; many reported no new orders during the second half of the year and many small machine builders went bankrupt and closed. The low-voltage motor drive market has been more affected than that for the medium-voltage drives, because of its greater dependence on machine builders. Nevertheless, with $3.1 billion in revenues in 2011, China still accounted for 25 percent of the world market for low voltage motor drives.

The new report found that ABB and Siemens were the market leaders in the Chinese low voltage motor drive market in 2011, with 16 percent and 13 percent share respectively. Market leadership is concentrated, as the top five suppliers accounted for nearly 46 percent of the total. However, there is a large tail of suppliers, each with less than 1 percent of the total revenues. Wilmer states, “Because of the Japanese earthquake, component shortages, and other reasons such as the appreciation of the Japanese Yen in 2011, European and local Chinese suppliers are taking share from several Japanese suppliers.”

Growth in the Chinese market will continue, because of implementation of policies regarding motor  and motor driver efficiency and energy-saving renovations in various industries. But market growth will be at a lower rate than in the past few years as investment is reduced in the near future, with concerns over high inflation in China.