News
Te North American machine vision market fell eight per cent to $1.3bn over the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, with the robotics market down 18 per cent. Te Association for Advancing
Automation’s figures also show that order revenue for robotics totalled $716m, also down 18 per cent. Te figures mirror predictions
from VDMA Robotics and Automation, which expects a drop in robotics equipment sales in Germany of at least 20 per cent this year. Alex Shikany, A3 vice
president, membership and business intelligence, said: ‘It’s clear that our industry is feeling the effects of Covid-19, its strain on supply chains, and the overall economic uncertainty due to our current circumstances. ‘Despite the numbers
reflecting these recent challenges, our latest market surveys tell us that there is optimism for what the next six months will bring.’ When asked about the next
six months, most A3 vision and imaging members are confident of better times ahead. Some 42 per cent of believe sales will increase moderately (between
‘Our latest market surveys tell us that there is optimism for what the next six months will bring’
one and 10 per cent), while 17 per cent believe sales will increase by more than 10 per cent. More than a quarter (27 per cent) of vision respondents believe there will be further decreases, while 15 per cent expect sales to remain flat.
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Vision industry shows confidence, despite US market falling 8% for first half of 2020
Te only sectors with positive
growth for robotics in North America are life sciences, including pharmaceuticals and biomedical, up 21 per cent, automotive OEM, 16 per cent and plastics and rubber, 12 per cent. Sales of robots into automotive component production fell 39 per cent, while those to semiconductor and electronics production were down by 16 per cent. Machine vision components,
consisting of cameras, lighting, optics, imaging boards and software, fell nine per cent to $174m over the first half of 2020 in North America. Machine vision systems, including application specific machine vision (ASMV) and smart cameras, fell eight per cent to $1.1bn.
Basler bucks trend Leading machine vision firms, including Cognex, Stemmer Imaging and Isra Vision, all posted a decline in turnover this year. Basler is the only vision firm to buck that trend, up nine per cent for the first half of 2020, with sales of €88.9m. However, the firm has seen a decline in order intake at the end of the second quarter. Te company’s incoming
orders increased by 10 per cent to €92.3m over the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2019. Its earnings before taxes grew by €5.6m to €12.8m, a jump of 78 per cent on the previous year. But, given the economic
climate, Basler's management are cautious, and forecast consolidated sales in the range of €155m to 165m for the year. Cognex’s revenue decreased
4 IMAGING AND MACHINE VISION EUROPE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 @imveurope |
www.imveurope.com
by 15 per cent in the second quarter to $169m, while Stemmer Imaging’s revenue declined 10.3 per cent to €52.2m in the first half of the year. Cognex said the year-on-year
decline was down to lower sales to customers in the automotive industry, which was Cognex’s largest market in both Q2 last year and Q1 this year. Growth in logistics partially offset that weakness. In May, Cognex restructured,
which included cutting around 190 jobs, closure of leased office space, and reduced compensation for the company’s board members through to the end the year. Stemmer Imaging said shifts
in demand – particularly in sports and entertainment, infrastructure and automotive – had a negative impact on revenue. But medical and life sciences, pharmaceutical, food, logistics and packaging all showed stable to growing order patterns. Te company added that while supply chain bottlenecks were well balanced
in the first half of the year, demand in the second quarter was characterised by cautious demand planning and liquidity management on the part of its customers. Tis shift in demand had a significant impact on order intake. Stemmer Imaging assumes
that there will be a certain catch-up effect from the second quarter of 2020 on incoming orders for the rest of year, which will be reflected in increasing revenue recognition in the second half of this year. Te firm expects revenues to be from €105m to €120m this year. Most commentators
agree, however, that factory automation remains a growth area, as does image processing in new applications outside of factories. Cognex’s CEO Robert Willett
said: ‘Machine vision remains a great business with substantial long-term growth potential, and we intend to continue leading the way as companies around the world resume their manufacturing efforts.'
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