The machine vision industry can look back on a phase of strong growth. The future also promises brilliant business. One reason for this is that more and more user industries are recognizing the benefits of machine vision for their processes – not least in connection with industry 4.0. This development will also be reflected in the Vision 2020 trade fair.

Machine vision is conquering an increasing number of application areas – through its constant use for quality, efficiency and product reliability – also outside factories. According to the latest figures from the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), the machine vision industry in Germany and Europe has been posting turnover and growth records for years. Turnover increased by an average of 13 per cent per annum between 2013 and 2017. Turnover in the machine vision industry doubled within a space of just ten years (2008 to 2017). In 2017 the German machine vision industry alone achieved a new record turnover of €2.6 billion, i.e. an increase of 18 per cent. The industry grew even further in 2018 and recorded an increase of 4 per cent.

Machine Vision Industry Is a Data Supplier

Machines and robots learn “how to see” with machine vision systems. Machine vision is therefore becoming a key technology of the future. Not only is it being used to a greater extent in the worldwide automation competition between traditional branches of industry, it is also increasingly conquering new industries outside factory automation. Improved quality, higher reliability, increased safety and cost-efficiency are properties which are required both in non-industrial application areas and in the smart factory of the future.

The global machine vision market is also characterised by enormous dynamism: pronounced merger and acquisition activities have been forecast for the industry for years and they increasingly seem to have started becoming reality in the last few weeks and months. Whereas image sensor manufacturers, in particular, were initially affected by changes, this now also increasingly applies to camera manufacturers. The industry is changing permanently and companies are being confronted by a continually changing competitive environment. A large number of companies are combining synergies and are merging in order to react to new market participants or jointly offer new system solutions over and beyond individual components.

Investor groups have also recognised the strategic importance of the industry and are investing more in machine vision companies. The new players include, for example, camera suppliers from Asia, but also automation companies which do not originally come from the machine vision sector. These companies have recognised the attractiveness and key role of the machine vision industry, for example as a data supplier in the context of Industry 4.0, and have the necessary company size or R&D resources. Small and medium-sized machine vision firms are faced here with great challenges which are also being intensified by the imminent generation change in many companies and the lack of company successors. In addition to current market tendencies, we are seeing new technological trend topics which are now promoting machine vision and with which entirely new players are also entering “the machine vision stage.”

Vision Expects More Growth

These developments will also be reflected at the forthcoming Vision, the leading world trade fair for machine vision, which will be held in Stuttgart from 10 to 12 November 2020. Messe Stuttgart is currently assuming that the trade fair will experience additional growth in terms of the number of exhibitors and visitors. In 2018, when the Vision last took place, 10,000 visitors came to see the products and services of 472 exhibitors from 31 countries.

New strategic company alliances will be presented in Stuttgart along with first-time exhibitors from the smart factory sector who seamlessly integrate the topic of machine vision in automation and the area of machine control systems. Due to the trend towards embedded vision, new exhibitors involved in embedded systems will be able to show their portfolio and know-how at Vision 2020. The trade fair will focus on machine vision in the “non-visible area”, i.e. short wave infrared (SWIR), hyperspectral imaging, polarisation cameras and thermography, as another trend topic. Visitors will also be able to experience even more start-ups and new companies from areas such as artificial intelligence and deep learning. Data security will be another exciting topic area. Last but not least, Vision 2020 will again feature all global key players from the area of machine vision components together with a large number of system integrators and solution providers who use the components to manufacture systems and implement them within the framework of application solutions in specific industries.

Disclamer: This article was written in late 2019. All the information and forecasts contained in it therefore refer to the situation at the turn of 2019/20, so the impact of the corona crisis in 2020 is not taken into account.