INTRODUCTION
STUDY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES
This BCC report is designed to provide an overview of current technology developments and an assessment of the NDT equipment market within the U.S.
The goals of this report are to:
- Provide an overview of NDT technologies;
- Identify companies that are actively engaged in the development and manufacture NDT equipment;
- Assess new developments by analyzing patents granted within an 18-month period prior to the publication of this report;
- Identify technological and business issues that will impact the NDT industry;
- Provide an understanding of the market and technology so that decision-makers are able to evaluate and consider opportunities within this
market.
REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY
The nondestructive testing (NDT) industry continues to play a leading role in the key industries. Core NDT technologies are evolving in important
ways and are more and more user friendly. The applications in which NDT is used are also expanding rapidly. New industries that have only recently
begun to use NDT techniques are becoming significant consumers of this technology. The potential market for nondestructive testing equipment continues
to expand with emphasis on product quality, lean manufacturing, just-in-time inventory practices, and advances in nanomaterials and related
manufacturing and testing. This report identifies the major industry movements and trends, and describes the state of the NDT industry at present and
the direction in which it is headed.
CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY AND FOR WHOM
This report strives to provide an understanding of intelligent sensing technology, its products, and markets. As such, BCC wrote this report for
the following persons:
- NDT Equipment manufacturers and users
- Research and development firms
- Government and private laboratories
- Investment and financial executives
- Others interested in this technology
SCOPE AND FORMAT
This report focuses on the U.S. market for nondestructive testing equipment. The report is limited to the eight techniques widely accepted as the
main nondestructive testing methods: acoustic emission, eddy current, infrared and thermal testing, liquid penetrant, magnetic particle, radiography,
ultrasonic, and visual/optical testing.
This report is an analytical business tool whose purpose is to examine nondestructive testing technology,
its products, and applications in key markets. The report provides an overview of NDT, its developmental history, and profiles of market leaders,
their new products, and consolidation trends within the industry.
The report looks at the key NDT technologies, including their individual histories
and applications. Sales forecasts for each NDT technique are provided by market segment. The report then discusses five key NDT markets and forecasts
sales by the technologies used within each market. Abstracts of recent patents are included in Appendix A.
METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES
BCC obtained the information presented within this report from interviews with manufacturers, universities, and government laboratories, as well as
from review of secondary sources such as company literature, conference proceedings, and related government data. Almost 300 companies in the U.S.
Were contacted for input. The cooperation from private companies was limited but sufficient to develop confident projections, trends, direction and
sophistication of the NDT market. BCC based data projections on a variety of factors, including technology developments and industry issues, among
other conditions, which BCC discusses where appropriate. All dollar projections are in 2003 constant dollars. The current dollars could be projected
using an inflation rate for the next 5 years. However, this was considered unnecessary with the current (July 2003) small inflation rate and the talk
of disinflation.
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