Drones for the Process Industries

The Drones for the Process Industries market research delivers current market analysis plus a five-year market and technology forecast. The study is available in multiple editions including worldwide, all regions, and most major countries.

Drones Fly Higher in Process Industries

ARC Advisory Group research demonstrates that demand for drones in the process industries is rising as the desire to keep employees safe from working in inaccessible areas/confined spaces or completing dangerous tasks is crucial for a growing number of companies. Enhancements such as advanced sensor payloads, cameras, on-board computing, and advanced processing using AI and machine learning to enable autonomous navigation and operations are enabling drones to tackle increasingly more complex tasks while helping keep employees safe and serve as a mobile inspection platform enabling automated data collection and analysis.

Drones for the Process Industries Strategic Issues

In addition to providing a five-year market forecast, the Drones for the Process Industries market research provides detailed quantitative current market data and addresses key strategic issues as follows.

Carefully Review Specific Operational Requirements – the Right Drone for the Right Application(s)

Users should fully understand what they need from a drone solution in terms of flight time; sensor payloads; 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; and drones’ ability to support. These are all important as they can help select the best drone solution 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 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 be deploying a fleet of drones will want to ensure their supplier offers sufficient tools and capabilities to provide fleet management remotely and with the ability to scale its requirements as necessary. Effective flight control software and reliance on unmanned traffic management systems (UTM) are also important considerations.

Drone-as-a-Service

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 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 the limits of the contract. Shifting from a CapEx 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.

Some suppliers 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. Third-party drone inspection service providers that rely on a drone manufacturers’ drones will be covered in a separate study titled Drone Inspection
Services.

Ensure Drone Performance

Since suppliers 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 or other industries, end users should seek to select suppliers 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 suppliers 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 or 5G, WiFi, and cloud access via a docking station. Users are advised to work closely with their supplier to ensure the drone can meet their specific application requirements, today and possibly in the future. Suppliers are also recommended to expand their potential business opportunities by working with drone service providers as they have firsthand knowledge of specific requirements among the applications and markets they serve.