Control Valve Market to See Some Lean Years Ahead
This study is intended to serve as an effective planning guide for control valve, actuator, and positioner suppliers and new entrants to the business. Control valves regulate the rate of fluid flow as the position of the valve plug or disk is changed by an actuator. Control valves are used to maintain a process variable as close as possible to the desired set point.
What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, we lamented that virtually none of the market dynamics had changed since the previous edition of ARC’s Worldwide Control Valve report, and that we were going to have to find a way to convey the same message two years in a row without repeating ourselves. This year, the dynamics of the global control valve market have reversed 180 degrees; from historic growth, to a historic recession. Although nobody knows exactly how long the current global recession will last (some signs indicate that at least we’ve bottomed out), one thing is certain; the global control valve market is in line for some leans years for 2009 and 2010. Emerging economies, such as those in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, however, will eventually bring the global control valve market out of its current doldrums.
Strategic Issues
The global control valve market has fallen on hard times as the world continues to wait for a clear sign that the global economic recession has ended. Even the rapidly expanding developing nations are not immune to this phenomenon. Consequently, control valve suppliers find themselves competing fiercely over dwindling opportunities. Key supplier recommendations and strategies for success in the global control valve market are analyzed in this study and include:
- Address changing workforce demographics
- Increase service capabilities
- Benchmark the value of digital postioners