Drone Inspection Services

The Drone Inspection Services market research delivers current market analysis plus a five year market and technology forecast. It is available in multiple editions including worldwide, all regions, and most major countries. The research covers Unmanned Aerial Systems, Proprietary Drone Protocols, Autonomous Navigation, Flight Control Software, Unmanned Traffic Management Systems, AI, Machine Learning, Strategic Analysis, Market Size, 5 Year Forecast, Industry Trends.

Drone Inspection Services Are Taking Off in Many Industries

According to ARC Advisory Group research, demand for drone inspection services in companies operating in asset-intensive process industries will be robust as the desire to keep employees safe from working in inaccessible areas or confined spaces or completing dangerous tasks remains paramount for a growing number of companies and companies find outsourcing such operations an attractive option. The drone inspection service market is comprised of drone service providers deploying unmanned aerial systems or drones designed to operate in hard-to-reach areas and confined spaces and/or perform dangerous tasks in order to ensure employee safety, save time and money, and provide operational improvements via automation and digitalization.

Drone Inspection Services Strategic Issues

In addition to providing a five-year market forecast, the Drone Inspection Services market research provides detailed quantitative current market data and addresses key strategic issues as follows.

Carefully Review Specific Operational Requirements – The Right Drone Service for the Right Application

Users should fully understand what they need from a drone service in terms of level of autonomy desired or required; data collection and analytics capabilities, including AI and/or cloud computing capability; communications requirements such as WiFi, proprietary drone protocols, and 4G (or 5G pending); and drones’ ability to support. These are all important as they can help select the best drone service to meet their current and future application(s) requirements. Ease of integration of the drone’s API into the user’s existing inspection or asset management system and/or ability to integrate third-party application software or AI and machine learning on the drone are also important considerations.

Depending on the complexity of the task, the drone provider may require AI and machine learning to ensure autonomous navigation and operations such as automated inspections capability, equipment condition monitoring, and other tasks for which advanced functionality may be needed. Users that may require deploying a fleet of drones will want to ensure their service provider offers sufficient tools and capabilities to provide fleet management remotely and with ability to scale its requirements as necessary. Effective flight control software and reliance on unmanned traffic management systems (UTM) are also important considerations.

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Ensure Drone Service Performance

Since drone service providers typically possess much greater expertise about drones but not necessarily industry-specific knowledge when it comes to harsh environments and the unique needs in oil & gas, end users should seek to select service providers that will act as a partner that is flexible and willing to innovate and iterate drone design and functionality as needed as they begin their journey into deploying drones in their unique operations. Some service providers offer drones that can be customized to meet a customer’s specific requirements in terms of sensor payloads deployed, advanced analytics and application software requirements, communications options such as 4G LTE (or soon 5G), Wi-Fi, and cloud access via a docking station. Users are advised to work closely with their service provider to ensure the drone can meet their specific application requirements, today and possibly in the future.

Consider Drone-as-a-Service as an Option

For those users that cannot afford to make the investment in a drone, or perhaps may be challenged to justify the investment and/or lack the internal resources to manage the integration and operations of inspection drones in the field, seeking out drone service providers or suppliers that offer Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) is an option worth considering. DaaS can be a win-win for both the user and suppliers that have the necessary resources, R&D strength, and internal expertise (or a strong partner ecosystem) to fully support the user’s requirements.

Users benefit as they save on the initial upfront investment, avoid having to deal with maintenance issues, get ongoing software updates and support, and can scale operations as demand and need warrant, within limits of the contract. Shifting from a Capital Expenditures to an OpEx budget can shorten purchasing cycle and typically simplify ROI criteria; there is no need to train or hire drone experts; the customer enjoys a close partnership relationship with the supplier who is incentivized to design robust and reliable drones (since they are responsible to repair and/or replace) and keeps evolving and improving their hardware and software capabilities faster and more precisely in order to maintain a competitive advantage.

Drone service providers offer a complete outsourcing service, including providing automated inspections or surveying and mapping by experienced pilots and inspectors using drones they manufacture themselves. The user simply pays for the data collected and reporting and any analysis that may be requested or required. Drone manufacturers that manufacture drones but do not offer drone services will be covered in a separate study titled Drones for the Process Industries.