The rising environmental consciousness of governments have set off a spate of regulations for ensuring improved air quality, which has given a shot in the arm for the oil-free compressors market. End-user industries are scurrying to equip their machines with oil-free compressors to ensure compliance with industry standards, chief among which are the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 8573-1 CLASS 0 (2001) certification, which specifies oil concentration level in compressed air, and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) management system.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.industrialautomation.frost.com/), North American Oil-Free Compressors Markets, finds that the market earned revenues of $378.0 million in 2008 and estimates this to reach $455.1 million in 2015.
It is becoming increasingly critical to use clean compressed air, as end-users in the pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries will testify. These industries have faced lawsuits relating to low-quality products caused by air containing oil particles.
Meanwhile, in textiles and electronics, air containing oil particles can result in high rejection rates and returns, costly production downtime, and cleanup. Oil-free compressors eliminate these hassles, as their components – filter cartridges, desiccant material and rubber elements – remain clean and oil-free. This is a huge environmental benefit, as the compressor does away with the need to deal with waste oil.
In industries where air quality requirements are not stringent, end users that are strapped for funds prefer oil-flooded compressors fitted with pre- and post-filters, as they help to achieve oil-free air with smaller initial investments.
"Even though oil-flooded compressors are offered at a lower price, they tend to carry hidden costs such as the disposal cost of waste oil, which is not incurred by oil-free compressors," says Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Anand M Gnanamoorthy. "In spite of these costs accounting for a small percentage of the total cost, they are often overlooked when calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO)."
The suppliers of oil-free compressors need to educate end-users about these hidden costs and the ways in which their high-investment product can reduce the TCO through higher energy savings and better waste management.
Better marketing strategies and growing consumer awareness are likely to boost the oil-free compressors market in the long term. End users need better air quality and reliability, and lower installation and maintenance costs, which make oil-free compressors the compressor of choice among end users in life sciences and process industries.
Their preference for an end-to-end solution provider drives market participants to be more customer-centric in their approach, which, in turn, hikes sales.
"The economic revival and pent-up demand for the product will further accelerate the growth of the market in the short term," notes Gnanamoorthy.
North American Oil-Free Compressors Markets is part of the Industrial Automation & Process Control Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: European Oil-free Compressors Market, APAC Oil-free Compressors Market, Chinese Compressors Markets, and North American Compressors Markets. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.
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