Control Design survey its readers to gather market intelligence about a variety of subjects that are of interest to controls engineers, machine builders and machine designers. Here are the results of the surveys.
2014
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Networking - August
91% of survey respondents currently recommend, purchase or specify
Industrial Ethernet equipment with the following most common applications:
- HMI to controller 86%
- Controller to controller 73%
- Machine control 66%
- Maintenance and diagnostics 59%
- Device-level network 48%
- Batch/Process control 47%
- Electronic Drives 44%
- Front-office/enterprise integration 28%
- Process Safety 23%
- Machine/Cell safety 20%
- Building environmental controls 19%
- Physical/Perimeter Security 14% See all the results.
I/O Modules
Industrial Networking - February
Survey respondents indicated their I/O systems are remote/distributed, but have some centralized (42%); centralized, but have some remote (31%); mostly or entirely centralized/rack-mounted (16%); and mostly or entirely remote/distributed (12%). See all the results.
Motion, Drives and Motors
February
Nearly 69% of respondents report using servo motors, 52.5% are using standard motors, and 26% are using stepper motors. With regards to efficiency motors respondents indicated high-efficiency motor use at nearly 43% and premium-efficiency motors use at 33%. See all the results.
2013
Wireless
Industrial Networking - February
Nearly 57% of survey respondents currently have wireless. 43.2% of respondents do not use wireless. See all the results.
Motion, Drives and Motors
February
Nearly 57% of respondents report using servo motors, 52% are using standard motors, and 19% are using stepper motors. With regards to efficiency motors respondents indicated high-efficiency motor use at nearly 36% and premium-efficiency motors use at 30%. See all the results.
HMI & Industrial PCs
April
The majority of respondents (74.7%) indicated the operator interface hardware installed on their machines was a graphical display with touchscreen, followed by graphical display with key board or other input device (20.7%), text-based display with integral input keys (3.5%), and discrete panel switches and lights only (1.2%). See all the results.
I/O and Terminal Blocks
June
Nearly 37% of survey respondents use centralized I/O, but have some remote while a further 37% use Remote/distributed I/O, but have some centralized; 25% use mostly or entirely centralized/rack mounted I/O compared to nearly 7% who use mostly or entirely remote/distributed I/O. See all the results.
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Networking - August
90% of survey respondents currently recommend, purchase or specify Industrial Ethernet equipment with the following most common applications: HMI to controller (69%); Controller to controller (69%); Machine control (61%); Maintenance and diagnostics (50%); Batch/Process control (49%); Electronic Drives (48%). See all the results.
Pneumatics & Hydraulics
August
Electric motors and actuators are the primary machine motion source used by Control Design readers (41%), with Complementary electric plus pneumatic power sources (20%). Complementary electric plus hydraulic power sources (11%), Hydraulic Motors/Actuators (9%), and Pneumatic Motors/Actuators (9%) are less widely used as a primary power source. See all the results.
Machine Safety
October
When asked to identify all the safety components on their machines, 96% of the respondents report having e-stop buttons, 82% have safety relays, 72% have gate or door interlocks, a further 72% have status indicators/stack tower lights, 61% have operator panel access controls, 50% have light curtain, 49% have visual status sensors, 47% have programmable safety controllers and 28% have safety mat. See all the results.
Sensors & Vision
December
72% of respondents indicated they use process variable sensors, 67% use rotary encoder/resolver, nearly 64% use photoelectric, 59% use inductive proximity, 47.5% use vision, 37.7% use linear position and a further 37.7% use capacitive proximity, 26.2% use optical laser, 16.4% use ultrasonic proximity, 14.8% use vibration/condition monitoring and 13.1% use color. See all the results.
2012
Gateways & Protocol Adapters
Industrial Networking - February
When asked what control and automation respondents used (not for the factory/enterprise backbone) the majority (64%) indicated they primary use EtherNet/IP, followed by Modbus TCPIP (33.7%), Profibus-DP (30.5%), ModBus (25.8%), and HART (27). The top 5 secondary used control and automation protocols indicated were ModBus (55.7%) and RS-232/422 (55.2%), Modbus TCPIP (47.4%), Profibus-DP (32.6%), and HART (32.6%). The majority of respondents indicated they did not use CC-Link (94.3%) or Powerlink (93%) at all. See all the results.
Motion, Drives and Motors
February
65% of respondents report using servo motors, 49% are using standard motors, and 32% are using stepper motors. While the findings regarding the use of servo motors were almost identical to last year's survey a slight increase was reported for stepper motors (up from 28% in 2011) and a decrease for standard motors (down from 55%). With regards to efficiency motors high-efficiency motor use show a slight increase to 44% (up from 41%) while premium-efficiency motors show a decrease to 30% (down from 35%). See all the results.
HMI & Industrial PCs
April
The majority of respondents (65%) indicated the operator interface hardware installed on their machines was a graphical display with touchscreen (up from 59% in 2011); followed by graphical display with keyboard or other input device (21%, down from 30%); discrete panel switches and lights only (5%, down from 8%) and text-based display with integral input keys (up to 9% from 3%.) See all the results.
I/O Systems and Terminal Blocks
June
The percent of survey respondents who use centralized I/O, but have some remote dropped to 32% in 2012 (from 46% in 2011), while those who use mostly or entirely centralized/rack mounted I/O increased from 20% in 2011 to 25% in 2012. We also saw an increase in respondents who use Remote/distributed I/O, but have some centralized (32% in 2012, 19% in 2011). While respondents who use mostly or entirely remote/distributed I/O decreased slightly from 14% in 2011 to 12.6% in 2012. See all the results.
Network Switch Use
Industrial Networking - August
60.5% of survey respondents currently use managed Ethernet switches, 39.5% use unmanaged Ethernet switches. See all the results.
PCs, PLCs and PACs
August
When asked what their primary automation and control function was 32.2% of respondents indicated discrete, 26.3% analog, 21.2% motion, and 20.2% sequential. See all the results.
Sensors & Vision
October
Nearly 70% of respondents indicated they use inductive proximity sensors, 59% use process variable sensors, 53% use rotary encoder/resolver, 45% use capacitive proximity, 44% photoelectric and a further 44% linear position, 29% use vibration/condition monitoring, 27% use vision, and 23% use ultrasonic proximity. See all the results.
Machine Safety
December
When asked to identify all the safety components on their machines, 95% of the respondents report having e-stop buttons; 65.3% have gate or door interlocks; 62.8% have safety relays; 52.1% have status indicators/stack tower lights; 49.6% have operator panel access controls, 47.1% have programmable safety controllers; 44.6% have light curtains; 39.7% have visual status sensors; 27.3% have safety mat. See all the results.
2011
Wireless
Industrial Networking - February
61% of survey respondents currently have wireless or have plans to deploy wireless in the next 12 months. Not surprisingly, this number is up from 55% in 2010 and 39% in 2009. 38% of respondents do not use wireless or plan to in the next 12 month. See all the results.
Motion, Drives and Motors
February
64% of respondents use servo motors, 55% use standard motors, while only 28% are using stepper motors. These findings were almost identical to last year's survey with the exception of standard motors which dropped from 65%. The 2011 survey also included efficiency motors; 41% are using high-efficiency motors, 35% premium-efficiency motors. See all the results.
HMI & Industrial PCs
April
The majority of respondents (59%) indicated the operator interface hardware installed on their machines was graphical display with touchscreens; followed by graphical display with keyboard or other input device (30%); discrete panel switches and lights only (8%) and text-based display with integral input keys (3%). See all the results.
I/O Systems and Terminal Blocks
June
The percent of survey respondents who use centralized I/O, but have some remote jumped to 46% in 2011 (up from 37% in 2010), while those who use mostly or entirely centralized/rack mounted I/O dropped from 28% in 2010 to 20% in 2011. We also saw a decrease in respondents who use Remote/distributed I/O, but have some centralized (28% in 2010, 19% in 2011). While respondents who use mostly or entirely remote/distributed I/O doubled from 7% in 2010 to 14% in 2011. See all the results.
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Networking - August
95% of survey respondents currently recommend, purchase or specify Industrial Ethernet equipment (up from 88% in 2010) with the following most common application. See all the results.
Pneumatics & Hydraulics
August
Electric motors and actuators are the primary machine motion source used by Control Design readers (57%), with hydraulic (14%), pneumatic (12%), hybrid of hydraulic and electric (10%), and diesel (2%) less widely used as a primary power source. The same preferences were shown in 2007 except for the use of hybrids which show a significant drop in use (28% in 2007 down to 11% in 2011. See all the results.
Machine Safety
October
When asked to identify all the safety components on their machines, 96% of the respondents report having e-stop buttons; 75% have gate or door interlocks; 68% have safety relays; 56% have status indicators/stack tower lights, 55% have operator panel access controls, 45% have programmable safety controllers and an additional 45% have visual status sensors; 43% have light curtains; 27% have safety mat. While these results are similar to 2010 they appear to reflect a shift from the 2008 survey, when 80% of respondents reported using safety relays; 79.5% used gate or door interlocks; 53.5% used light curtains; 40% used programmable safety controllers; and 39% had safety mat. See all the results.
Sensors & Vision
December
No huge technological changes have shaken the world of sensors and machine vision since we first conducted this survey in 2008, and the pecking order of sensor popularity and selection is largely unchanged. 72% of respondents use inductive proximity sensors, 64% use photoelectric and a further 64% use process variable sensors, 62% use rotary encoder/resolvers, 45% use capacitive proximity, and a further 45% use linear position, 33% use ultrasonic proximity, 31% use vibration, and 29% use vision sensors. See all the results.
2010
Wireless
Industrial Networking - February
55% of survey respondents currently have wireless or have plans to deploy wireless in the next 12 months. Not surprisingly, this number is up from 39% in 2009. 45% of respondents do not use wireless or plan to in the next 12 months. See all the results.
Motion Control
February
Respondents were pretty evenly spread between 65% who use standard motors and the 64% who use servos motors, while only 28% are using stepper motors. These findings were almost identical to last year's survey results. See all the results.
Watch Our Videos: Market Intelligence Report - Motion Control Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
I/O and Terminal Blocks
April
37% of survey respondents use centralized I/O, but have some remote while 28% use mostly or entirely centralized/rack mounted I/O; a further 28% use Remote/distributed I/O, but have some centralized compared to 7% who use mostly or entirely remote/distributed I/O. See all the results.
Programmable Controller Platforms
June
Almost 74% of survey respondents reported using PLCs as their primary machine control platform. This is up from 2008 when only 67% used PLCs as the primary machine control platform. PACs made modest gains, from close to 13% in 2008 to approaching 16% this year. The biggest decline was in PC-based controls, which dropped by half from close to 13% last year to less than 6% this year. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report Programmable Controller Platform
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Networking - August
88% of survey respondents currently recommend, purchase or specify Industrial Ethernet equipment (up from 75% in a study conducted in 2008), with the following most common applications. See all the results.
Electromechanical Components
August
Among For linear motion and positioning, 92% of the respondents specify cylinders either always or sometimes; 83% order ballscrew- or leadscrew-driven slides; 81% specify belts and chains or pulleys and gears; 74% order direct linear motors; and 64% specify belt-driven, rod-less slides. The results of our 2008 survey showed similar variety, but this time we notice an increase in the use of direct linear motors and a little less for mechanical devices. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Electromechanical Components
Machine Safety
October
When asked to identify all the safety components on their machines, 93% of the respondents report having e-stop buttons; 74% have gate or door interlocks; 62% have safety relays; 48% have programmable safety controllers; 41.5% have light curtains; 32.5% have safety mats; and 1% each have barriers guarding and software diagnostics. These results appear to reflect a shift from the 2008 survey, when 80% of respondents reported using safety relays; 79.5% used gate or door interlocks; 53.5% used light curtains; 40% used programmable safety controllers; and 39% had safety mats. See all the results.
Watch Our Videos: Market Intelligence Report - Machine Safety Part 1 and Market Intelligence Report: Machine Safety Part 2
Sensors & Vision
December
No huge technological changes have shaken the world of sensors and machine vision since we first conducted this survey in 2008, and the pecking order of sensor popularity and selection is largely unchanged. 68% of respondents use inductive proximity sensors, 61% use photoelectric, 59% use rotary encoder/resolvers, 58% use process variable sensors, 37% use capacitive proximity, 36% use linear position, 31% use vision, 30% use ultrasonic proximity sensors. See all the results.
2009
Wireless Networking
Industrial Networking - February
61% of survey respondents do not have wireless Ethernet or plans to deploy wireless Ethernet in the next 12 months. Of the 39% of respondents who have wireless Ethernet the following were the most common types use. See all the results.
Motion Control
February
The majority (65%) of machine builder respondents indicated they primarily use servos and Std motors (62%). 30% primarily use steppers. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Motion Control
Power Supplies & Circuit Protection
April
When asked about their company's overall power protection policy for their machines roughly half (51%) of the machine builders indicated basic devices protect equipment from surges and transients without regard for process interruption. An additional 35% have uninterruptible power supplies manage power outages and shutdown to a safe condition. 14% have no power protection policy. See all the results.
Watch Our Videos: Market Intelligence Report - Circuit Protection
Market Intelligence Report: Safety and Control System Integration
Market Intelligence Report: Power Supplies & Circuit Protection (2009)
Programmable Controller Platforms
June
The majority of respondents (67%) primarily use PLC's for their machine
control platform. PAC and PC tied with 13% of respondents using them primarily; 5% of respondents primarily use embedded board controllers; 3% indicated standalone motion controllers. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Programmable Controller Platforms
I/O Systems
Industrial Networking - August
Survey respondents indicated their I/O systems are centralized, but have some remote (39%); remote/distributed, but have some centralized (27%); mostly or entirely centralized/rack-mounted (24%); and mostly or entirely remote/distributed (10%). See all the results.
Watch Our Videos:
Market Intelligence Report - I/O Systems
Market Intelligence Report: HMI/Operator Interface
HMI/Operator Interface
August
The majority of respondents (62%) indicated the operator interface hardware installed on their machines was graphical display with touchscreen; followed by graphical display with keyboard or other input device (28%); Text-based display with integral input keys (6%) and discrete panel switches and lights only (4%). See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Discrete Automation Controllers
Motors and Drives
October
The majority of machine builder respondents (71%) indicated that they currently use servos. They remaining 29% do not. Just over half use both analog and digital servos (53%); 47% use only digital servos. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Drives & Motors
Sensors and Vision
December
Respondents indicated the sensors they use are inductive proximity (75%); photoelectric (75%); rotary encoder/resolver (63%); process variable sensors (60%); linear position (58%); capacitive proximity (57%); laser (48%); safety light curtains (48%); vision (47%); ultrasonic proximity (41%); color (28%); vibration (26%); and safety mats 26%. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Sensors & Vision
2008
Physical Connectivity - Cable & Fiber, Connectors & Cordsets
Industrial Networking - February
When asked about the effects of Europe's RoHS for the "reduction of hazardous substances" standards on their cable and wire purchasing habits, only 20% of respondents indicated that they currently require their suppliers to meet those standards. 46% of respondents do not hold their suppliers to this standard, 18% intend to do so in the future, and 16% of respondent were not familiar with the standard. See all the results.
Input/Output Systems
February
Remote, or machine-mounted, I/O continues to make inroads on centralized, or rack-mounted, I/O, but centralized approaches are still most prevalent among the machine builders who responded to the survey. 29% use mostly or entirely centralized I/O compared with 14% who use mostly or entirely remote I/O. In between are 31% who use mostly rack, but some remote, and 27% who use mostly remote and some rack-mount I/O. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - I/O Systems
Power Supplies & Circuit Protection
April
When asked about their company's overall power protection philosophy, roughly half (52%) of machine builders say they include basic circuit or surge protection devices in their designs. An additional 36% include uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) to manage power outages and shutdown to a safe condition. 12% of respondents view power protection as a customer responsibility. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Power Supplies/Circuit Protection
Design & Simulation Software
June
Just over half of machine builder respondents (58%) indicated that they currently use some sort of electrical computer-aided design (ECAD) software solution. They remaining 42% do not. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Design & Simulation Software
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Networking - August
75% of survey respondents currently recommend, purchase or specify Industrial Ethernet equipment (up from 71% in March 2007), with the following most common application. See all the results.
Electromechanical Components
August
Cylinders are most commonly used by for electromechanical linear motion/positioning, with 78% of respondents using cylinders "sometimes" or "always." Next in popularity were ballscrew/leadscrew-driven slides at 67%, direct linear motors at 56%, and belt-driven rodless drives at 41%. See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Electromechanical Components
Machine Safety
October
The primary reason to implement machine safety is operator protection (88%). Other considerations included liability protection (7%) and Asset protection (5%). See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Who's Responsible for Machine Safety?
Sensors and Vision
December
Among those respondents who use sensors the majority used "hard wired" connections to the I/O (65%) followed by Device-level digital network (12%) and Serial 232/422/485 (10%). See all the results.
Watch Our Video: Market Intelligence Report - Sensors & Vision
2007
Hydraulics & Pneumatics
February
Electric motors and actuators are the primary machine power source used by Control Design readers (43.9%), with hydraulic (15.2%) and pneumatic (6.1%) less widely used as a primary power source. 28% of respondents reported using a hybrid of hydraulic or pneumatic along with electric power sources. See all the results.
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Networking - March
71% of survey respondents currently recommend, purchase or specify Industrial Ethernet equipment, with HMI to PLC (69%), PLC to PLC (68%), batch/process control (51%), and maintenance and diagnostics (51%) being the most common applications. Other applications of Industrial Ethernet mentioned include: front-office/enterprise integration (33%), building/environmental controls (14%), process safety (13%), machine/cell safety (10%) and physical/perimeter security (4%). See all the results.
Motors & Drives
April
On the topic of "premium efficiency" motors, 72% of readers said they were familiar with the energy usage claims of these types of motors, while the balance said they were not. Further, 47% said they specified premium efficiency motors for their machines while 19% did not. 34% of respondents specified premium efficiency motors only if requested by the ultimate end-user. See all the results.
Drives & Motion Control
December
At 27%, digital controllers with servo
motors was the most commonly used means of machine synchronization among respondents, followed by drives with standard electric motors (14%), mechanical means (10%) and digital controllers with stepper motors (5%). See all the results.
Operator Interface
December
The majority of survey respondents (60%) use graphical displays with touchscreens as their primary operator interface device. A graphical display with keyboard or other complementary input device are used by 19% of respondents; with discrete panel switches/lights or text-based displays with integral input keys used by 13% and 7% of respondents, respectively. See all the results.