Sensors play a key role in the industrial Internet
Smart sensor refers to a multi-element integrated circuit with information collection, information processing, information exchange, information storage, and other functions. It is a system-level product that integrates sensors, communication chips, microprocessors, drivers, and software algorithms. With the rapid development of the Industrial Internet, Industry 4.0, and intelligent manufacturing, industrial sensors are accelerating into the "Industrial Sensor 4.0" or the era of industrial intelligent sensors.
The Industrial Internet revolves around the three application scenarios of industrial site production process optimization, enterprise operation and product optimization, and resource optimization allocation and coordination of social production, bringing industrial enterprises to strengthen safety and reduce costs, product and service optimization, supply chain optimization, Achievements in four aspects of creating new models and new values.
The key to the Industrial Internet lies in the collection of data and information, and the front-end sensors used to collect data and provide basic data support for the entire ecological construction of the Industrial Internet are the nerve endings of the Industrial Internet. At the same time, with the rapid development of the Industrial Internet, Industry 4.0, and intelligent manufacturing, application requirements are becoming more and more vertical and fragmented. Smart sensors that collect the most front-end and initial data are rapidly upgrading and iterating, driving the intelligentization of industrial Internet terminals. Change, "Industrial Sensor 4.0" or the era of industrial smart sensors is coming.
Sensors play various roles in modern factories. In addition to providing data for process control, it is also widely used in quality assessment, asset tracking, and worker safety protections. The data collected by sensors can be used for various purposes from supply management to coordination of global production resources after being applied online. Various types of sensors are constantly being improved and optimized to meet the above purposes. The most common sensor types are lighting, temperature, motion, position, presence, vision, force, flow, chemical composition, etc.
Almost every processor environmental condition has a suitable sensor type. Smart sensors integrate signal conditioning, MEMS technology, and firmware to meet the easy-to-use, low-cost, and diversified sensing needs of industrial design engineers, greatly reducing the development burden of design engineers, and have great potential in optimizing and reducing industrial operating costs.
The smart sensor market will reach 35.81 billion U.S. dollars in 2020
Driven by the continued demand for intelligent and digital markets in the automotive, industrial automation, medical, environmental, and consumer sectors, the global sensor market will maintain steady growth in 2020. In 2020, the smart sensor market will reach 35.81 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 22.3% of the overall scale. The output value of smart sensors in the United States accounted for the highest proportion, reaching 43.3%, followed by Europe, accounting for 29.7%. Europe and the United States have become the main production bases of smart sensors in the world, accounting for more than 70%, while the Asia-Pacific region (such as China, India, etc.) will remain Faster growth rate.
Percentage of global smart sensor output value in 2020
In the future, the pace of digital transformation of enterprises in various countries will generally accelerate. In comparison, developed countries have a solid industrial economic foundation, a solid technological foundation, and a strong innovation capability. The United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region are key areas for the development of the Industrial Internet. Among them, American companies have significant advantages. Giants such as GE, Microsoft, Rockwell, Amazon, etc. are actively deploying, and various start-ups focus on cutting-edge innovation, which is expected to help the United States maintain industry leadership status. And European industrial giants such as Siemens, Bosch, ABB, SAP, etc. are also making rapid progress with their own basic advantages in the manufacturing industry. The vigorous development of the Industrial Internet has brought huge development opportunities to smart sensors.
CCID Consulting analyzes the global market situation by counting more than 20 industrial smart sensor companies from different countries and regions around the world, as well as the key products and application fields of each company. From the statistical results of the product types of various enterprises, the top ten rankings are pressure, liquid level, temperature, photoelectric, encoder, proximity, ultrasonic, flow, vision/image, and vibration. From the perspective of corporate distribution, the product types of American companies are mainly concentrated in encoders, vibration, temperature, and ultrasonic sensors, the product types of Japanese and Korean companies are mainly concentrated in vision/image, encoder and proximity sensors, and the product types of European companies are mainly concentrated. In terms of flow, proximity, and ultrasonic sensors, Chinese companies mainly focus on pressure, temperature, and acceleration sensors.
From the statistical results of the product application fields of various enterprises, the top ten are life sciences and health, machining, and manufacturing, automobiles, semiconductors and electronics, industrial automation, transportation and logistics, energy and power, food, oil, and gas. , Aerospace. From the perspective of corporate distribution, American companies are mainly concentrated in life sciences and health, Japanese and Korean companies are mainly concentrated in automobiles, semiconductors, and electronics, European companies are mainly concentrated in mechanical processing and manufacturing, and China is mainly concentrated in oil and gas, industrial automation, and aerospace. field.
Judging from the regional distribution of corporate global offices, they are mainly concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region. It can be seen that companies attach importance to the Asia-Pacific market. Among them, the number of Chinese corporate branches accounts for more than 90% of the Asia-Pacific region. From the perspective of country distribution, the Asia-Pacific region is mainly concentrated in China (51%), Japan, and India, North America is mainly concentrated in the United States (50%) and Mexico, South America is mainly Brazil, and Europe is mainly in Germany (23%), France, and the United Kingdom. , Spain mainly. From a domestic perspective, companies in East China are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, Suzhou, and other places, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are the main areas in Central and South China, Beijing and Tianjin are mainly in North China, and Chengdu and Chongqing are mainly in Southwest China. From the perspective of urban distribution, Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen occupy the top three, accounting for 10%, 8%, and 7% respectively.
Four areas focus on promoting the development of industrial smart sensors
The construction of new infrastructure such as the Industrial Internet has brought huge market opportunities to the sensor industry. The construction of the Industrial Internet will have an all-around, in-depth, and revolutionary impact on the sensor industry. At the same time, smart sensors will provide the key information and measurement data required for the operation of the Industrial Internet of Things. The market opportunities are self-evident. As the industrial Internet application scenarios gradually expand in breadth and depth, more functions and design details will appear, and smart sensors will be widely used in the field of industrial automation.
The technological innovation of industrial smart sensors will promote the high-quality development of the Industrial Internet. With the continuous introduction of new, low-cost, low-power, high-performance industrial smart sensors, the cost of sensor applications will continue to decrease. On the one hand, it can improve the perception ability of the underlying equipment of the industrial Internet, and on the other hand, it can realize the large-scale deployment of perception technology. This will promote the deep integration of the industrial chain at various stages of smart sensor manufacturing, design and development, and optimization and iteration, and promote the ecological development of the smart sensor industry Rapid growth, so as to better promote the high-quality development of the industrial Internet industry.
Industrial intelligent sensors will accelerate the evolution of industrial intelligent perception systems. Industrial smart sensors are the foundation of industrial control, and it is a huge challenge to transform industrial smart sensors into industrial IoT systems. With the advent of the industrial Internet era, industrial smart sensors are accelerating the development of intelligent perception systems that include software and hardware, crossing the gap from edge devices to cloud services, storing data securely in the cloud, and using artificial intelligence and big data technology in the cloud. Further analysis to form a usable solution.
The safety and reliability levels of industrial smart sensors will gradually increase. Many industrial and enterprise intelligent devices have a large number of security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. With the gradual popularization of smart sensors in the industrial field, in order to ensure the safety and reliability of industrial Internet data, more and more industrial scenes have data security for intelligent sensing devices. Reliability puts forward higher requirements, that is, improving the safety and reliability of old equipment and raising the barriers to entry for new equipment.
The future development of industrial smart sensors needs to focus on four aspects. One is to find a precise positioning based on a global perspective and seize opportunities to realize their own value. Different stages of the development of the industrial Internet have different requirements for smart sensors. Smart sensors and sensor system industry enterprises need to have a global vision, not only to see the blue ocean brought by the industrial Internet to the development of the smart sensor industry but also to tap an effective market, To achieve the final output value and profit.
The second is to strengthen cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and improve the industrial ecology. Based on the needs of the industrial Internet application market, actively improve the supporting capabilities of the industry, encourage the construction of industrial cluster parks and public innovation platforms, accelerate the introduction of new designs and new processes, and shorten the product conversion cycle. Strengthen the role of market applications in driving demand for the industry, encourage application manufacturers to participate in the research and development and manufacturing of smart sensors through business cooperation, investment, and shareholding, and integrate the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to form industrial cooperation.
The third is to enhance the overall solution capability of the system and expand industrial applications. It is necessary to grasp the new market space brought by emerging application fields, focus on improving competitiveness from the level of application technology, solutions, etc., take application requirements as the traction, and carry out product software and hardware, security tools, network, storage, and system integration. Integration, providing overall system solutions, driving technological progress, and promoting industrial development.
The fourth is to focus on the development of new principles, new technologies, and new materials for smart sensors. Pay attention to research integration, wireless energy, software algorithm update, and other technologies, and continuously increase the functional types of smart sensors to promote smarter working modes, realize applications in complex environments in multiple fields, and expand data collection to achieve data sharing between different fields, Improve the level of intelligence.