Industrial automation refers to the application of automation technology in the manufacturing process of the machinery industry to realize automatic processing and continuous production, improve the efficiency and quality of mechanical production, and release productivity.
Industrial automation involves a wide range of technologies, including multidisciplinary knowledge such as control engineering, ergonomics, computer software, embedded software, electronics, electric power, mechatronics, and network communication.
With the development of intelligence, industrial automation has integrated new technologies such as image processing, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and signal processing.
After long-term development, the industrial automation industry has achieved continuous technological innovation and the continuous expansion of downstream application fields, and has now formed a relatively mature industry competition pattern.
Multinational enterprises such as Yaskawa Electric, Panasonic Electric, Mitsubishi Group, and Siemens are in a leading position globally. In the domestic market, European, American, Japanese, and South Korean enterprises occupy a dominant position. However, local enterprises are gradually seizing the market by virtue of cost-effectiveness and rapid service capabilities, and the trend of domestic substitution is obvious. Against the background of the global entry into the Industry 4.0 era and China's vigorous development of "Intelligent Manufacturing in China", the demand for industrial automation equipment in various application fields such as manufacturing, transportation, energy, and environmental protection has further increased.
According to forecasts by Frost & Sullivan and the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the global and China's industrial automation market sizes will reach USD 509.59 billion and RMB 353.1 billion respectively in 2024, with year-on-year growth rates of approximately 6.0% and 13.4% compared with 2023.
There are a wide variety of industrial automation products, including core components such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Distributed Control Systems (DCS), motion controllers, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, frequency converters, servo systems, pneumatic components, and sensors. These products not only cover key links such as control, execution, and monitoring in industrial production, but also realize seamless collaboration between equipment through integration and communication technologies, serving as an important foundation for realizing intelligent manufacturing.
According to statistical data from Rui Industry, motion control products and drive system products have declined slightly, while segmented products such as CNC machines and high-voltage frequency converters have achieved growth. In 2024, the market size of PLCs was approximately RMB 13.01 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 18.9%; the market size of general servo systems was about RMB 20.55 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.8%; the market size of low-voltage frequency converters reached around RMB 28.28 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.0%; and the market size of medium and high-voltage frequency converters was roughly RMB 5.89 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%.
Downstream customers in the industrial automation industry are divided into OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) type and project type. The OEM market mainly targets customers who produce automated and intelligent manufacturing equipment in batches; the project market refers to the design and implementation of overall engineering automation systems.
According to statistics from Rui Industry, in the past 9 quarters, China's automation market has achieved a slight positive growth in only one quarter. Among them, OEM automation has experienced negative growth for 11 consecutive quarters, and project automation has shown a downward trend since the second quarter of 2024.
From the perspective of the downstream market of industrial automation, the project-based market has performed better than the OEM market, with a year-on-year growth of 0.1%. Among them, industries such as petroleum, refining, chemicals, mining, thermal power, and water conservancy are relatively prosperous due to policies such as equipment renewal. However, industries such as iron and steel are underperforming due to overcapacity and the impact of steel prices, which have reduced manufacturers' willingness to invest and transform.
The OEM market fell by 5% year-on-year. Among them, industries such as packaging machinery, plastic machinery, and textile machinery have achieved growth, while the demand in industries such as lithium battery equipment, photovoltaic equipment, and hoisting machinery is relatively sluggish. In 2024, among the three major types of knitting machinery, the flat knitting machine industry recovered and improved, the circular knitting machine industry operated under pressure, and the warp knitting machine industry maintained a certain growth overall.
In 2024, the economic operation of China's sewing machinery industry showed a trend of recovery and growth. Against the background of policy support and the recovery of market demand, the economic benefits of the industry have rebounded significantly. In 2024, the demand in domestic and foreign markets was gradually released, and the intelligent transformation and upgrading of equipment in downstream industries such as clothing, shoes, and hats accelerated, driving the rapid recovery of the production and sales scale of the sewing machinery industry and significantly improving the quality and efficiency of enterprises.
With the continuous expansion of the downstream market of industrial automation and the accelerated iteration of core technologies, the industrial sector is ushering in an all-round transformation. In key links such as production control and drive execution, automation technology is deeply penetrating into traditional industries such as automobiles, electronics, and chemicals, and rapidly extending to strategic emerging fields such as new energy and biomedicine.
The large-scale application of intelligent equipment such as new sensors, intelligent control systems, and industrial robots is promoting the evolution of automation equipment towards greater intelligence, precision, and reliability, and continuously expanding the application boundaries of new scenarios such as intelligent warehousing and unmanned workshops. In the process of China's manufacturing industry leaping to the high-end, the level of automated production continues to improve, which is becoming a key variable reshaping the global manufacturing competition pattern.
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