The world market for wireless communications in automation is forecast to grow at an average of 28.1% per year over the next 5 years, according to IMS Research. Wireless communications is not widely used within the automation environment at present, but a proliferation of new products is being introduced currently.

Senior Market Analyst John Morse commented, “Of the three market regions covered in the report, Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at a rate higher than either EMEA or the Americas. This is true for most of the seven product sectors considered for the report.

IMS Research consulted manufacturers and users for its study and concluded that there is a strong requirement for wireless communications in industry, but growth is forecast to be limited to certain applications including monitoring, data collection and programming.

Morse continued, “Although high growth is forecast, progress will be restricted by concerns over the reliability and security of wireless communications. There will have to be a considerable period of confidence-building before wireless is commonly used for applications where there are safety issues”.

Morse continued, “The machine vision market is changing very quickly, not only from a technological point of view but in the consolidation of manufacturing companies that have taken place recently, a trend that is forecast to continue.”