VDMA Machine Vision Department
Weak forecast for the machine vision industry
According to the VDMA Machine Vision department, sales are expected to fall by 10% - significantly more than the 3% forecast in April. However, the industry is pinning its hopes on impetus from the Vision trade fair.
The German machine vision industry is facing declining sales this year. There are also no signs of a recovery for the coming year 2025. Mark Williamson, Chairman of the VDMA Machine Vision Division, explained: "The manufacturing industry, our most important customer with a market share of 71% for systems and 62% for components, is struggling with a declining order backlog. In July 2024, this was 4.3% lower than in the same month last year." This has an immediate impact on the demand for machine vision technologies. However, Williamson emphasized that in the long term, the importance of machine vision as a key technology for automation will continue to grow.
Growth potential in new markets
Despite the current challenges, the machine vision industry is benefiting from increasing automation in various sectors. Demand for machine vision systems outside the traditional manufacturing industry is growing particularly strongly, increasing by 5% in 2023 and now accounting for a market share of 29%. The most important application areas here are intelligent transportation systems (61%), logistics & mail sorting (20%) and medical devices (7%).
Demand for machine vision components outside the manufacturing industry is also high with a 38% market share. Medical devices (34%), intelligent transportation systems (18%) and the logistics industry (12%) in particular are driving this growth.
Inspection applications dominate the market
In the field of image processing systems, inspection applications are the segment with the highest sales; they account for 34% of sales and are primarily used in quality control as well as in print and surface inspection systems. Robotics and automated assembly (23%) and object recognition (16%) follow as further important fields of application.
Artificial intelligence as a growth driver
A key technological trend is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in image processing. According to a VDMA survey, the share of sales accounted for by AI-based solutions rose to 19% in 2023. Over two thirds of companies see AI as a driving force for future business.
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