The programmable logic controller market is estimated to be valued at USD 11.89 Bn in 2024, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.1% over the forecast period (2024-2031). The market is witnessing high growth owing to the increasing demand for industrial automation across various industries and growing adoption of industrial internet of things (IIoT). Furthermore, the rising need for flexible, cost-effective, and easily configurable automation solutions is also fueling the market growth.
Market Dynamics:
The growth of the programmable logic controller market is driven by two key factors. Firstly, the increasing industrial automation across industries such as automotive, food & beverages, oil & gas, and pharmaceutical is creating significant demand for PLCs. PLCs provide flexible, reliable, and cost-effective solutions for industrial automation. Secondly, the rapid growth of industrial internet of things is augmenting the adoption of PLCs. IoT technologies are integrating PLC systems to manufacturing operations and supply chains for seamless data collection, monitoring, and control of industrial processes. This is helping manufacturers gain real-time insights and optimize productivity. PLCs play a critical role in enabling IIoT capabilities on the plant floor.
Market Drivers
Technological advancements are driving the demand for more sophisticated PLC systems
One of the major drivers for the PLC market has been the rapid technological advancements seen in the industrial automation industry. Modern PLC systems are far more powerful and feature-rich compared to early PLCs from just a decade ago. Advanced PLCs now come with high-speed processing capabilities, support for multiple communication protocols, integrated HMIs, advanced motion control functions, and IoT connectivity.
This has allowed PLCs to take over control functions that were traditionally handled by separate controllers or software programs. Sophisticated PLCs can now efficiently control complex automated processes and machines in industries such as automotive, semiconductor manufacturing, food processing, etc. Their high performance and multifunctional nature reduces the overall control system cost for equipment manufacturers.
Growing demand from process industries pushes need for fault-tolerant PLC designs
Another key driver for the PLC market is the growing demand from process industries such as oil & gas, chemical, pharmaceuticals, and power generation. Manufacturing plants in these industries require highly reliable control systems as even small glitches can disrupt critical processes and cause safety and environmental issues.
To meet this need, PLC vendors are developing fault-tolerant PLC architectures with advanced self-diagnostics, modular redundancy, and online programmable features. This ensures the continuity of operations in the event of component failures. Their use minimizes downtime and associated losses in process industries. The stringent reliability requirements from such industries are thus fueling innovation and growth in high-end PLC offerings.
Market Restraints:
Economic uncertainties restrain PLC capital expenditure
A major restraint for the PLC market is the volatility in capital expenditure (capex) spending of end-user industries due to uncertain global economic conditions. When growth slows down, industries scale back their investment plans which impacts the procurement of automation equipment and components such as PLCs.
The pandemic for example deteriorated the cash flows of many companies which has led to delays in equipment modernization projects involving PLC upgrades. At the same time, recurring costs have become a priority over growth-oriented ones. This uncertainty over capital budgets threatens the PLC demand to some extent in the near future, until the economic situation stabilizes.
Price pressures on PLC vendors from low-cost competitors
Intense competition from low-cost PLC vendors in Asia Pacific is another key challenge faced by established players. Chinese and Indian suppliers provide good quality products at significantly lower prices, targeting cost-sensitive smaller automation projects.
While advanced PLC functions give an edge to leading brands, pricing remains a decision factor. These forces bigger brands to balance margins while offering competitive prices. It also hampers their ability to regularly hike prices without losing market share. Strong price pressures thus influences the profits and investment strategies of top PLC manufacturers.
Market Opportunities:
Growing digitalization expands scope of PLC usage
One of the major opportunities for PLC providers is the vast potential arising from the ongoing digitalization and connectivity revolution across industries. Modern manufacturing is moving from standalone machines to integrated smart production cells and IIoT-enabled factories.
This allows PLCs to take on drastically expanded roles beyond basic control. Features like edge computing, advanced analytics and cybersecurity are empowering PLCs to partake in predictive maintenance, quality control, energy management etc. Using PLCs as data acquisition and edge computing nodes opens new revenue streams from smart manufacturing consulting and after-sales services. Their usage scope is proliferating among digitizing industries.
Demand for PLCs in renewable energy vertical on the rise
The renewable energy sector, which encompasses technologies like solar, wind, tidal and hydro power generation, offers another key opportunity area. Advanced PLCs play a crucial control role in industrial-scale renewable energy plants given their ruggedness, precision and communications ability.
As different nations aggressively scale up their clean energy capacities to meet climate targets, worldwide investment in renewable energy infrastructures is set to boom consistently over the coming decade. This translates to a massive and sustained demand upswing for PLC systems designed to withstand the harsh conditions in solar farms, wind turbines, wave energy converters, and other green field applications. PLC vendors are focusing on leveraging this opportunity.
Link: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/programmable-logic-controller-market-5067
Key Developments:
- In March 2024, At MODEX 2024 in Atlanta, GA, FANUC America Corporation announced its latest combined PLC/CNC motion controller, the Power Motion i-MODEL A Plus (PMi-A Plus), at booth B-4026. The new demonstration at MODEX showcased the PMi-A Plus controlling FANUC’s new Alpha i-D Series Servos and Drives, powering an automatic storage retrieval system (ASRS) operated by a FANUC CRX-10iA.
- In February 2024, WEG launched the PLC410 programmable logic controller, a versatile solution for industrial automation applicable to various sectors such as metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, sugar, and alcohol. The PLC410, equipped with CODESYS programming software, serves as the core of automation in customer machinery and equipment, enabling advanced process programming logic.
- In December 2023, Frost & Sullivan awarded Copia Automation the 2023 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award for its Git-based version control product in the PLC solutions market. This cloud-based, vendor-agnostic solution enhances code tracking, collaboration, and onboarding of new engineers through restore points and quick identification of code changes.
Key Market Players:
Key companies covered as a part of this study include ABB Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Schneider Electric SE, Rockwell Automation, Siemens AG, Honeywell International Inc, Omron Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Emerson Electric Company, Hitachi Ltd, and Toshiba International Corporation.
