Characteristics of industrial automation industry and development trend of competition pattern: opportunities and challenges

1. Characteristics of industrial automation service market

Industrial automation service is located in the middle of the industry, connecting product manufacturers and downstream customers, and has a unique bridge role in the whole process of value-added transmission. Industrial automation product service providers mainly include two types of enterprises or provide two types of services: (1) product distribution biased toward supply channels; (2) Focusing on system integration of technology application, i.e. scheme design, system integration and secondary technology development based on standardized products according to the personalized needs of users, and integrating standard finished products into a special control system.

Generally, product distribution mainly provides product sales, logistics distribution and after-sales service. However, distribution is different from the Sales Department of the product manufacturer. It is a series of activities involved in the entire product delivery process from the manufacturer to the end-user by an independent third party. Because industrial automation products are highly specialized and diversified, product manufacturers tend to focus on products of a certain category or field. Moreover, industrial automation products are complex and widely used. It is generally not economical for a single product manufacturer to establish a wide-ranging channel network.

Therefore, distribution has become widely used in the field of industrial automation. In foreign countries, the distribution mode of industrial automation products has been very mature. Professional distributors and their professional logistics systems and service intensive distribution networks have become an indispensable link in the industrial chain of industrial electrical products. In China, the distribution mode has also developed into the main mode of sales of medium and low voltage power transmission and distribution products and industrial automation products.

System integration is a comprehensive service to design the system or function scheme based on the customer's needs, and build, install and debug an automation system or functional module to achieve the customer's goals on the basis of optimizing various automation products. According to the complexity of the implementation scheme, system integration can generally be divided into system type system integration and functional technology integration. To meet customer needs, the system integrator must not only understand the complete automation product line, but also fully understand the processes of specific industries and even single customers, and have the secondary technology development ability, so as to form a customized judgment scheme. On the basis of combining their own understanding of process and application, system integrators can also mine and embed programs or modules with independent intellectual property rights, encapsulate and integrate integration solutions, cultivate and create core solutions with independent intellectual property rights, and thus gain a foothold in the fierce market competition.

In addition, for industrial automation service providers, system integration business and distribution business complement each other and have synergistic effects. The distribution channel is conducive to the expansion of service providers to the channel layout and the accumulation of customer groups for the development of system integration business. The system integration business is also conducive to improving the market recognition of service providers, expanding product sales and increasing user stickiness.