New Growth Opportunities in the World SMT Placement Equipment Manufacturers
Markets
Research Overview
Flexible and Scalable Machines a Must for Success in the SMT Placement
Equipment Market
The growing trend toward miniaturization has opened up numerous opportunities
for surface mount technology (SMT) placement equipment vendors. In order to meet
the demand for smaller components, vendors need to focus on modular machines
that are scalable, offer the benefits of low set up time and support frequent
changeovers. Besides incorporating these must-have technical features,
competitively priced equipment is expected to play a vital role in increasing
market share. Given the highly price sensitive market, a few SMT placement
equipment vendors have already shifted or are in the process of setting up
cheaper manufacturing bases in low cost regions such as Asia. Others are
participating in research and development partnerships with technical institutes
to produce cost effective solutions.
This Frost & Sullivan research evaluates the key drivers and challenges
in the SMT placement equipment market. It also provides the regional and
vertical market share analysis for low, medium, and high-speed turret and gantry
equipment to assist participants in designing high-impact action plans.
Emerging Verticals Expected to Drive Revenue Growth
While the SMT placement equipment vendors can expect to sustain demand from
conventional segments, emerging applications in the automotive, medical
equipment, and security verticals will provide a plethora of lucrative growth
opportunities. Entertainment and safety systems in automotives; diagnostic and
measuring meters in medical equipment; and handheld security gadgets are driving
demand for SMT placement equipment.
However, vendors must be prepared to face more stringent assembly
requirements in these verticals in terms of frequent board changeover, high
set-up time, and greater number of product lines. "Though most of the needs
in the emerging verticals can be met by medium speed machines with the
capability to handle diverse components and boards, low speed SMT equipment is
considered ideal due to better prototyping and shorter batch production,"
says the analyst.
Need for Globalized Logistics and Focus on Customer Service
There has been a clear shift in the SMT placement equipment industry from
equipment intensive sales to marketing of the product as a manufacturing
solution. To remain in tune with this strategy, vendors need to develop a highly
integrated global logistics system that reduces the time to market for new
products.
"There is a pressing need for customized enterprise resource planning
software for the efficient handling of sales and distribution in a global
set-up," notes the analyst. "Offering value-added products such as
optimization and operator friendly software also helps a company in
differentiating from the competition." Additionally, with the
commoditization of the placement equipment, vendors need to be armed with new
offerings such as pre sales support in application finalization and post sales
call center assistance.
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