Advantech Co (研華), the world’s biggest maker of industrial computers, expects increasing industrial automation demand from China to boost its industrial Internet of Things (IoT) business revenue in the region by a double-digit percentage next year, extending this year’s growth momentum.
China’s fast-growing electronics and automotive sectors are fueling demand for robots and automation as Chinese manufacturers battle rising labor costs, Advantech industrial IoT group vice president Allan Tsay (蔡奇男) told reporters on the sidelines of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show at Taipei’s Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1.
Chinese manufacturers’ latest push for “intelligent” factories is driving demand for industrial Internet of Things solutions, Tsay said.
Rising demand from Chinese firms in Apple Inc’s supply chain to automate production lines ahead of the launch of Apple’s new iPhones has also boosted orders, he added.
Automation deployment in China helped boost Advantech’s industrial IoT revenue in the region by more than 10 percent annually in the first half of this year, Tsay said.
The growth momentum will carry into the second half and is expected to strengthen next year as local Chinese governments aim to roll out more “smart” city projects, especially intelligent rail systems, he added.
“Smart cities will be the next leg of growth, following intelligent manufacturing,” Tsay said.
Increasing uptake of wireless technologies such as narrow-band Internet of Things and long-range wide area networks facilitate the deployment of smart cities because of broader Internet coverage, he added.
Advantech offers a total solution for industrial automation, including hardware and software for data collection and big data analysis, he added.
A new cloud-enabled platform, dubbed WISE-PaaS, will allow customers to monitor and manage production lines from a remote “war room,” Advantech said.
By offering tailor-made services for diverse sectors, Advantech expects the number of its WISE-PaaS partners to rise to 400 within the next three years, compared with the current 57, Tsay said.
WISE-PaaS can be adapted for factory environment surveillance, such as monitoring energy consumption, wastewater or air pollution at different facilities, he said.
Advantech reported revenue of NT$3.82 billion (US$127.07 million) for last month, up 11.17 percent monthly and 6.8 percent annually. Cumulative revenue in the first eight months totaled NT$28.68 billion, up 3.7 percent annually.
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