Eastern Europe offers significant new growth opportunities for the automation and control solutions (ACS) market as industrial activity in Western Europe reaches maturity. According to new research from Frost & Sullivan (www.industrialautomation.frost.com), European Union accession has generated investments in the new Eastern European member states, since the end users are obliged to accomplish new European standards.
The end-user segments covered in this research service are power, chemicals, oil and gas, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, water and wastewater and others such as metals and mining, cement, glass and textiles.
"The foremost priority of end users has been to invest in the development of their existing automation and control solutions," says Katarzyna Owczarczyk, research analyst. "This is to fulfill the new European standards imposed on the region since accession to the EU."
ACS manufacturers are making considerable effort to adhere to these regulations and serve their respective end-user industries, the report says.
The most significant challenge in the Eastern European ACS market is to provide solutions with greater compatibility. In the former communist countries in this region, almost all the privatized old factories have outdated technology that needs to be modernized.
