MAY 3--The automation and control solutions market in Eastern Europe is expected to witness strong growth, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan (www.industrialautomation.frost.com), Automation and Control Solutions Market in Eastern Europe. At present, European Union legislation is driving growth in the market, as end users are forced to upgrade their existing automation systems to comply with EU norms. The report finds that the market earned revenues of $514.7 million in 2006 and estimates this to reach $959.5 million in 2013.
"The automation and control solutions market in Eastern Europe is primarily driven by stringent EU regulations that govern most of the end-user industries," states Frost & Sullivan research analyst Karthikeyan Balasubramaniyam. "The countries comprising Eastern Europe, which are all members of the EU, have to comply with these regulations at the earliest possible opportunity, which will lead to increased investment in automation and control solutions."
The market is characterized by technological advances, and the new automation and control solutions offer better functionality and advanced features. This is likely to propel demand for automation and control solutions across various end-user sectors in Eastern Europe.
Although there has been strong growth in the end-user sectors, the state of existing infrastructure and production processes is rudimentary, which does not help in achieving compliance with regulations. As a result, the adoption of automation and control solutions is expected to increase to ensure regulatory compliance and increase the productivity of plants.
At present, the main challenge is to establish a strong distributor and system integrator network in order to penetrate the market and provide continuous service and maintenance support to maintain customer reliability.
"From the point of view of suppliers, reaching customers and addressing their demands for service and system integration support are extremely essential," explains Balasubramaniyam. "Moreover, given the tremendous opportunities across all end users, suppliers have to market their products effectively." Here, a suitable sales channel in the Eastern European region is of great importance in order to reach customers, particularly when language barriers pose a significant challenge.
Market participants will need to aggressively pursue sales and promote their brand name, as well as their products, with the help of distributors. Finally, despite local language barriers, challenges in establishing strong local distribution and systems integrator contacts, alongside difficulties in providing highly compatible automation and control solutions, the market is poised for growth.
