Position: The content of this page is about the future analysis of the weighing machine market .
As days go by, more and more applications can be effectively and efficiently addressed by weighing machine, thanks to the continuous improvements made in the performance of load cells, software and indicators. The need for faster, more reliable and accurate weighing solutions is getting stronger. As a result companies are working hard to introduce even more high-performance, easy-to-use weighing machine that includes functionalities like counting and check weighing.
Weighing equipment includes a weighing platform, one or more sensors for the electronic scales and beam, and a lever mechanism for the mechanical scales. The efficiency and productivity benefits derived from using weighing machine allows for the expansion of its application scope, which currently spans across various end user sectors including automotive, aerospace, medical, waste and recycling and other end user industries.
Key market trends for weighing machine include:
Economic Slowdown
The economic slowdown that has gripped the global economy has adversely impacted the growth of the weighing machine market in the past year. The weakened dollar challenges market participants in terms of offering cost-effective products.
Availability of Used Equipment
The availability of used equipment has had a considerable impact on the purchase of new equipment. Since used equipment is less expensive yet meets buyers’ immediate requirements, end-users prefer used equipment over new equipment. As a result of its price advantage, the market for used equipment has increased significantly, making it difficult for vendors to keep prices of new equipment up.? The availability of used equipment of similar quality as new equipment although at a fraction of the price of new products, challenges the demand for new equipment.
Need for Custom Solutions
Owing to specific application needs, there is high demand for custom solutions as weighing equipment is used across various stages of product lifecycles in different end-user sectors. Preference towards ease of use, customization, services, support and software expertise are driving demand for custom solutions.
Lifespan of the Weighing Machines
End-users are constantly demanding machines with longer life expectancy to increase productivity. In order to win deals, market participants are relentlessly working on optimizing and increasing the life of the machines. However, by increasing the longevity of weighing equipment, less units are sold in the market over time. Some segments of the market are more affected by this trend than others. Rail scales have a longer life expectancy compared to platform scales, weighbridges and forklift truck scales. The life of a rail scale is between 15 and 25 years, while for platform and fork lift truck scales, it is about 5-7 years, and about 5-10 years for weighbridges. The lifespan of equipment depends on the quality of the products that goes into it, the load it takes everyday, and the maintenance attached to it.
Demand from the Waste and Recycling Industries
With the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) encouraging recycling and taking strict measures against open dumping of waste, there has been proper channeling of waste. Increase in recycling ensures more waste management processes involved, which in turn increases the sale of weighing machine in the waste management industry. There has been strict regulation implemented on the weight limit that can be carried in trucks; hence waste is weighed when it enters/exits a transfer station and landfill. The record of waste that has been received at a landfill is noted and the source is traced to check if the waste was treated properly. These measures ensure strict recycling or waste treatment before disposing and augur well for the automatic weighing equipment market.
Conclusion
Saturation of demand and market maturity of several types of conventional weighing machine is driving industry participants to offer highly advanced/customized solutions for high technology-oriented applications. These market leaders have realized the need to offer innovative equipment that caters to the changing requirements of their customers.
By Prathima Bommakanti, Senior Research Analyst
For any questions/comments on this article, please contact Prathima Bommakanti, at mailto:pbommakanti@frost.com.
