News

Posted On: 06/13/2006

Demand rises for global third-party approvals and customized products

PlantServices.com

Having global third-party approvals on the products that they buy or sell is a vital requirement for tapping into European markets, according to manufacturing engineers and engineering management.  In addition, the ability for manufacturers to customize products for a particular application also is of the utmost importance, say the results of a recent survey by Chromalox Inc.

Thirty-nine percent claimed that as much as 20% of the products they buy are customized.
Of the 85 survey respondents, 67% were from the United States and 33% were from other regions of the world. They reported that North American companies represent their greatest competitive threat and are expected to remain that way for the next two years. On average only 34% of their revenues were currently derived from outside of the U.S. 

Respondents expect to continue to enhance their control systems by adding predictive maintenance and equipment diagnostic functions to help them manage information related to their process or application. Only 5% of those surveyed last year had temperature control systems that included diagnostic or predictive maintenance capabilities, compared to 25% currently. This trend is expected to continue to increase another 9% in next two years, representing a strong demand for more intelligent temperature control systems. Of those surveyed, 27% currently have some form of remote equipment monitoring technology, and another 10% expect to add remote control technology between now and 2008.

Seventy-six percent of respondents expect plant production volumes to continue to increase this year, while only 17% forecast little or no change. To remain competitive, 19% plan to install improved production technology and implement lean manufacturing techniques. While only 6% expect a decreased budget in 2006 (compared to 20% last year), 51% expect to increase their budgets for 2007. Staffing levels are expected to increase only slightly this year, with 40% claiming there will be no change, and 49% planning to increase staff.
To view the survey results, go to www.chromalox.com/news/nmw06survey.pdf.