Automate (United States) - Press Release: North American sales of machine vision (MV) components and systems that provide vision intelligence to robots and other machines declined 4.5 percent over the same period last year. According to statistics from the AIA, the industry’s trade group part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), financial transactions for the entire market contracted to $674 million, with sales of MV components down 12.6 percent to $93 million and sales of MV systems down 3.1 percent to $579 million.

“Based on what we were hearing from our member companies at the end of last year and into the new year, we expected the statistics to reflect fewer sales for the quarter,” said Alex Shikany, vice president of membership and business intelligence at A3. “The semiconductor industry, which is a leading indicator for machine vision, showed signs of contraction at the end of last year, which led us to believe lower sales figures might’ve been ahead to begin 2019. Fortunately, machine vision technologies are still becoming smarter and smaller to fit within in-demand automation applications such as AI-driven bin picking, autonomous vehicles, and advanced inspection technologies, which is a positive indicator for the future health of this industry.”

Mixed Expectations Predicted for Future MV Sales:

According to AIA’s latest survey of industry experts, 41 percent believe machine vision component sales in total will increase, 39 percent believe they will remain flat and 21 percent are bracing for further declines. There is more consensus for machine vision systems markets with 71 percent of respondents expecting flat performance, 23 percent expecting increases and only 6 percent bracing for declines. Overall, two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents believe the overall machine vision market in North America will remain flat in the next six months.  

Learn more about the machine vision market and innovation in the technologies at the Collaborative Robots, Advanced Vision & AI Conference (CRAV.ai) – November 12–13, 2019, San Jose, California.

About AIA:

AIA was established in 1984 to advance the understanding and use of imaging and vision technologies and to drive global expansion and growth through education and promotion. Today, AIA continues its mission and represents some 380 vision suppliers, system integrators, users, researchers, and consulting firms from 32 countries.

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3):

The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA), and A3 Mexico. RIA, AIA, MCMA and A3 Mexico combined represent more than 1,200 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups, and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward.

Other upcoming A3 Events:

• Autonomous Mobile Robot Conference – September 17, 2019, Louisville, Kentucky
• MCMA TechCon – October 7–10, 2019, Indianapolis, Indiana
• International Robot Safety Conference – October 15–17, 2019, Indianapolis