Digital Readout Equipment Market

Digital Readout Equipment Market Outlook (2023-2033)

The global digital readout equipment market is set to reach a valuation of US$ 863.4 million in 2023 and expand at a CAGR of 6.2% to end up at US$ 1.58 billion by 2033. Worldwide sales of digital readout equipment are expected to equal an absolute dollar opportunity of US$ 770.5 million over the forecast period (2023-2033).

According to this new analysis by Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, utilization of digital readout equipment witnessed a growth rate of 4.1% from 2018 to 2022.

Data is crucial for consistent and reliable manufacturing. This is why the data needs to be accurate and trustworthy, otherwise, it is nothing beyond numbers. With the use of digital readout (DRO), reading and recording data can be made effortless. A digital readout system is a combination of a simple computer, axis position encoders, and a numeric display with integrated keyboards.

DROs have plenty of functionalities, providing commutation of common operations faster, safer, and easier with accurate results. Since digital readout equipment facilitates operations such as milling, turning, boring, grinding, and other similar tasks, it results in reduced time and manpower, leading to optimized operational efficiency.

End-use industries such as industrial, manufacturing, and many others have vital requirements with precise data. Especially for metalworking such as lathes, milling machines, boring mills, planning machines, and other similar machines and equipment, DROs aid in keeping track of and display to the machine operator the precise tool or workpiece position.

There are various types of digital readout devices, among which, three axis is the preferred choice among machine tool builders and users alike due to their versatile features. Six axis DROs are anticipated to replace conventional DROs due to their extensive extra functions such as programs for recurring tasks, versatile mounting functions, and intuitive user interface counting to more flexibility in the type of work undertaken on the machine.

Furthermore, the surging use of digital readout equipment in industrial automation and robotics is likely to supplement the growth of the market over the period of 2023 to 2033. Rotary encoder DROs are predicted to account for a market value of US$ 541.7 million in 2023.

As mentioned earlier, demand for digital readout equipment is expected to grow due to the lucrative industrial and manufacturing sector, undeterred by significant labor and supply chain challenges. Manufacturers accelerating their adoption of digitalization and investing in greenfield and brownfield smart factories are viewed as one of the keys to driving competitiveness in the digital readout equipment landscape.

Skilled labor shortage, supply chain instability, and inventory management concerns will also positively impact digital readout equipment market growth. Implementation of smart systems, enhancing the process, and improving performance monitoring and decision-making, would also contribute to the increased sales of digital readouts.

The manufacturing industry enduring a digital transformation to increase efficiency, productivity, and accuracy, will drive worldwide digital readout equipment demand.

Report Attributes	Details
Market Size (2022A)	US$ 809.6 Million
Estimated Market Value (2023E)	US$ 863.4 Million
Forecasted Market Value (2033F)	US$ 1.58 Billion
Global Market Growth Rate (2023-2033)	6.2% CAGR
North America Market Share (2023)	~ 27.6%
North America Market Value (US$ Mn), 2023	US$ 238.3 Million
Europe Market Share (%), 2023	~29.4%
Europe Market Value (US$ Mn), 2023	US$ 253.8 Million
China Market Share (%), 2023	~11.4%
China Market Value (US$ Mn), 2023	US$ 98.44 Million
Top 3 Countries’ Market Share (%)	~38.2%
Key Companies Profiled	ACU-RITE DRO PROS Easson-Vertex Fagor Automation Faridabad Control Electricals Private Limited HEIDENHAIN JIRKA a spol., Ltd. Newall Sichuan Aikron Precision Tool Co., Ltd Sterling TSI Co. Ltd. Warren Machine Tools Ltd Zhejiang Pinrui precision instrument co., ltd

What’s Driving Demand for Digital Readout Equipment?

“Digitalization of Manufacturing Associated with IR.4.0 Will Be Key Factor Fueling Market Growth”

In a majority of sectors such as metalworking, optical, electrical & electronics, automobiles, and many more, digital readouts find high application. DROs have a lot of functionalities in providing the computation of routine operations with the capability to accurately monitor position, without operators needing to worry about mechanical issues in machines.

With the emergence of industrial digitalization, manufacturing industries are also integrating digital technologies, which will enhance productivity, lower costs, and will be key to structuring a more vibrant manufacturing sector.

In the Industry 4.0 era, digital readouts can gather data from across a plant or multiple plants. They can send the data for analysis and indicate trends. As businesses become more intelligent, the requirement for real-time data and monitoring has become a crucial component of the intelligent manufacturing environment. Subsequently, the demand for digital readouts is increasing in various industries as they aid in achieving the goal of a smart manufacturing system.

“Economic Advantage to Drive Market Expansion”

Economic factors are an excellent reason to choose digital readouts for basic applications. A DRO consisting of a numeric display, computer, and three axis position encoders costs between US$ 2,000 to US$ 3,000, whereas, a CNC control with three axis control and servo actuators to move the cutting head might be ten times costlier.

When a manufacturer needs to make prototype parts or one-off products in support of maintenance and repair services, manual machines are relevant. The resolutions and accuracies needed in these applications are less than those of a CNC operating in a machine shop.

With advancements in technology, digital readouts are also getting smarter. Nowadays, DROs with up to six axis are available and also specially designed for EDMs and optical comparators. Thus, all these benefits of digital readouts in different applications will open up new doors of opportunities for digital readout manufacturing companies over the coming years.

What Concerns Do Digital Readout Equipment Manufacturers Have?

“Acceleration of Automation Adoption to Impede Market Growth”

With the advancement of CNC conversational controls and offline CAM programming, machine tool operators can create part programs directly at a machine’s control without a human. Since conventional digital readouts only monitor position, they make manufacturer organizations reluctant towards their benefits.

In addition, conversational programming provides simple, fast solutions directly on a machine’s control unit, with CAM programming used for more complex parts. It can also create quick prototype part designs using a machine’s controls. New menu-driven software applications that let users of various ability levels input data into prompt and drop-down choices for the machine's control have emerged as a result of developments in automation.

These advancements are potential threats to digital readout suppliers’ growth; however, they are still a good reason to choose basic applications.

Market share analysis of digital readout equipment based on end-use industry and region. Under the end-use industry segment, discrete manufacturing leads with 32.2% market share in 2023.

Country-wise Insights

Why Does the U.S. Account for High Demand of Digital Readout Equipment?

The United States digital readout equipment market is currently estimated at US$ 200.7 million and is predicted to expand at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period.

The United States possesses one of the world's largest industrial and manufacturing sectors, roughly accounting for 16.6% of global manufacturing. Digital readouts have a very promising future in the country due to improved production capabilities because of advanced manufacturing process implementations in the industry.

How is China Faring in the Digital Readout Equipment Industry?

China will hold 11.4% share of the global digital readout equipment market in 2023 and is projected to expand at the rate of 6% during the forecast years. Due to rapidly expanding sectors in the country, such as discrete manufacturing, metalworking, and industrial automation, sales of digital readout equipment are expected to increase substantially over the coming years.

Moreover, owing to the developing construction and manufacturing sectors in China and the rise of the country as a manufacturing hub of the world, demand for DROs is expected to propel owing to their application in metalworking. China holds a strong position at the country level and will account for around 56% share of East Asia`s digital readout equipment market in 2023.

Category-wise Insights

What is the Potential of Digital Readout Equipment in Discrete Manufacturing?

Key manufacturers are offering DROs specifically for lathes and milling machines. Thus, the utilization of digital readout equipment has increased consistently in the recent past, surpassing a market valuation of US$ 809.6 million in 2022.

Market players are offering digital readouts that can be installed into various types of machinery such as machine tools, dividing apparatuses, measuring and inspection equipment, setting tools, and more, to precisely track the position of a workpiece on the machine, thereby improving the accuracy and speed of the machining process.

In addition, the capability of DROs to accept input from various sources such as dimensional gages, machine tools, coordinate measuring machines, measuring microscopes, and optical comparators makes them ideal for discrete manufacturing. The discrete manufacturing end-use industry will see a valuation of around US$ 278 million in 2023 and is expected to hold a market share of 32.2% under the end-use segment.

Why are Linear Encoders Likely to Witness Accelerated Demand Growth?

Revenue generated from linear encoder digital readouts under the encoder segment is expected to increase at 4.2% CAGR during the forecast period.

Linear encoders are more frequently used than rotary encoders in lathe and mill works as they help errors in motion transmissions such as hysteresis and backlash. Rotary encoders lack the feature to track the effect of significant friction placed on a ball screw during high speed and acceleration or deceleration rates.

In 2023, the linear encoder DRO segment is predicted to account for the highest market share of 62.7% and reach a market value of US$ 541.4 million.

Competitive Landscape

Prominent digital readout equipment manufacturers are ACU-RITE, Easson-Vertex, Elctronica, Fagor Automation, Faridabad Control Electricals Private Limited, HEIDENHAIN, JIRKA a spol., Ltd., Newall, Sichuan Aikron Precision Tool Co., Ltd, Sterling TSI Co. Ltd., Warren Machine Tools Ltd, and Zhejiang Pinrui Precision Instrument Co., Ltd.

Leading manufacturers of digital readouts are focused on developing application-specific products to optimize the efficiency and accuracy of their tasks. Companies are focused on developing entry-level, mid-range, and high- end products to meet various levels of functionality and price points. Working with customers, manufacturers are identifying and addressing the specific needs of applications and tailoring customized solutions.

For instance :

• Newall launched a new meterology-focused DRO in August 2022, DRO203Q, which uses power of DRO203 hardware to integrate geometric metrology functions. It will be useful in applications for optical comparators and measuring microscopes as it meets the needs for basic 2D meterology functions.
• Global manufacturer of precision hand tools L.S Starret Company, launched MetLogix Mx200 DRO in April 2020, which offers an intuitive user experience with a wide range of functionalities and current touchscreen conventions for optical comparators. It is capable of crosshair measurement and optical edge detection. It also has an exclusive EdgeLogic feature that allows gesture-driven control of start and end measurement commands, thereby minimizing the requirement to interact with the DRO directly.

Fact.MR has provided detailed information about the price points of key manufacturers of digital readout equipment positioned across regions, sales growth, production capacity, and speculative technological expansion, in the recently published report.

Segmentation of Digital Readout Equipment Industry Research

• By Encoder :

  • Linear Encoders
    • Optical
    • Magnetic
  • Rotary Encoders
    • Optical
    • Magnetic

• By Resolution :

  • 1 µm
  • 5 µm

• By Display :

  • LCD Graphic Displays
  • LED Graphic Displays

• By Axis :

  • Single Axis
  • Multi-Axis
    • 2 Axis
    • 3 Axis
    • 4 Axis
    • 5 Axis
    • 6 Axis

• By End-use Industry :

  • Aerospace & Defense
  • Automobile Industry
  • Discrete Manufacturing
  • Electrical & Electronics Industry
  • Industrial Automation & Robotics
  • Metal Working Industry
  • Others

• By Region :

  • North America
  • Latin America
  • Europe
  • East Asia
  • South Asia & Oceania
  • MEA