The global economic slowdown and the sovereign debt crisis of Europe have lowered capital investments in the European hydraulic equipment market for industrial and mobile applications. The most viable way to dispel the air of uncertainty in the market is to tap new end-user segments, Frost & Sullivan reported in a study released Feb. 13.
Manufacturers are attempting to attract additional end users by developing integrated hydraulic equipment products that are cost effective, compact and user friendly. The market earned revenues of $11.54 billion in 2011, at a base year growth rate of 7.8 percent, Frost & Sullivan reported. It is estimated that in 2016, the market will reach $14.78 billion, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.1 percent.
Hydraulic equipment’s product integration with electronics has expanded its application scope to include markets such as entertainment simulators and renewable energy sectors. It will also help the market stave off competition from alternative technologies such as electric drives.
In addition, manufacturers provide streamlined customer service for their integrated products. They offer favorable maintenance contracts as part of the product purchase and absorb the costs of equipment installation. This ensures that the manufacturer becomes a one-stop point for the purchase, maintenance and servicing for the equipment.
Meanwhile, hydraulic equipment manufacturers for industrial and mobile applications are also responding to customer demand for higher efficiency equipment by investing more than 10 per cent of their revenue in R&D. In some product segments such as valves and pumps, manufacturers are looking to improve the product life cycle to more than a decade.
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