Edge Controller Market - By Mount Type (DIN-rail mount, Panel mount), By Component (Software, Hardware (edge nodes/gateways, sensors/routers), DCS (Distributed Control System), Transistor), By Technology Type (IT (Information technology), PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller), GMC (General Motion Control), CNCs (Computer Numerical Control) & IPCs (Industrial PC), OT (Operating technology), Factory Automation & Others), By Application (IIoT (Industrial Internet of things), Manufacturing segment, Temperature monitoring, Energy measurement & balance application, Transportation, & Others), By End Users (Energy, Utility, Power, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Automotive, & Others), By Geography - Global Opportunity Analysis & Industry Forecast, 2024-2030.

The Edge Controller Market size is forecast to reach USD $4.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 33% from 2024 to 2030. The edge controller is an IoT which bridges Information technology with the manufacturing industry’s OT (Operational Technology) and Factory automation. It balances them which makes it the most advanced version of the traditional programmable logical controller. The edge controllers provide advantages in many applications where traditional industrial controllers have been used. It provides great performance gains for Industrial application with the use of Artificial Intelligence. The Edge Controller provides a programming environment and helps in the easy development of data collection/analysis, monitoring etc. Edge controller’s real time operating system has transformed the simple, user-programmable edge controller platform into a tool that speeds up the development of industry 4.0 edge products. Edge Controller also facilitates rapid adoption of IoT (Internet of Things) in the manufacturing industry which will further accelerate the Edge Controller industry. 

The Edge controller features multiple cores managed through carefully crafted VMs (Virtual Machines). 

The edge controllers stand out in their ability to support a wide variety of industrial networking, IIoT, and other advanced protocols, such as OPC UA, MQTT, PROFINET, and SRTP. Edge controllers are in huge demand in industries due to their capability to incorporate appropriate physical communication ports, modern industrial protocols, security features and most importantly delivering real-time deterministic control of equipment. The edge controllers are more efficient, secure and flexible. All these factors are boosting the market growth in the Edge Controller industry outlook. In July 2022, IndustriaItaliana stated that the PacSystems RX3i CPL410 Edge Controller made by Emerson can operate as either an IIoT- enabled PLC or an advanced supervisory controller. It is specifically made for the use of automation and industrial control solutions. The advantages provided by the PacSystems RX3i CPL410 Edge Controller are real-time deterministic control, data analysis and visualization at the machine level. It also provides connectivity at the IT and cloud levels. The edge controller can overcome the limits of traditional PLCs. This leading controller combines powerful PacSystem runtime, PacEdge IoT platform and MoviconWebHMI to deliver unmatched capability &possibilities for the users which will lead to the growth of the Edge Controller Market.

The report: “Edge Controller industry Outlook – Forecast (2024-2030)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments in the Edge Controller industry.

By Mount Type: DIN-rail mount, Panel mount

By Component: Software, Hardware (edge nodes/gateways, sensors/routers), DCS (Distributed Control System), Transistor

By Technology Type: IT (Information technology), PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller), GMC (General Motion Control), CNCs (Computer Numerical Control) and IPCs (Industrial PC), OT (Operating technology), Factory Automation and Others

By Application: IIoT (Industrial Internet of things), Manufacturing segment, Temperature monitoring, Energy measurement & balance application, Transportation, and Others 

By End Users: Energy, Utility, Power, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Automotive, and Others

By Geography: North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, U.K, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands and Others), APAC (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Others), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Others), RoW (Middle East, Africa).

• The hardware/software segment by component in the Edge Controller Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 40% during the forecast period 2024 to 2030. The hardware/software is capable of projecting IT (Information technology) functionality into the OT (Operational Technology) environment in a reliable manner, leading to the growth of the Edge Controller industry.

• Asia Pacific by region is expected to grow fastest, at a CAGR of 35% in the Edge Controller Market during the forecast period 2024-2030. The size of the Edge Controller Market is increasing as a result of the establishment of manufacturing plants in various industries, such as the chemical, food & beverages and automotive industries in Asian countries.

• The edge controllers have the unique ability to monitor & control industrial processing across a range of applications and industries. Rapid multi-system integration is a key attribute of modern control systems. The edge controller helps workers create advisory algorithms to assist newer teams with operating and maintaining a system. This is a key factor driving the Edge Controller Market growth. 

 

The Edge Controller Market by Component type can be segmented into Software, Hardware, DCS and transistor. The hardware/software segment by component is expected to grow fastest at CAGR of 40% in the forecast period 2024 to 2030. The hardware/software is capable of projecting IT (Information technology) functionality into the OT (Operational Technology) environment in a reliable manner. The hardware/software monitors & controls industrial processing across a range of applications and industries where efficiency and uptime are key drivers. The industrial use of IoT and IIoT devices is growing fast; the volume of data created by these devices is also increasing which is easily manageable by the advanced hardware and software technologies. All these factors are driving the market growth. In July 2022, Businesswire announced that Thunder Software Technology Co. Ltd and Qualcomm Technologies are partnering together for their new project ThunderX. Thundersoft is specialized in domain controller computing power platforms and is a subsidiary of Thunder Software Technology Co. Ltd. ThunderX project with the use of Thundersoft’s technical advantages in operating systems and real time software platform will build a flexible business model. It will build an open intelligent driving platform that provides software and hardware in domain controllers and integrated domain controllers. In the ThunderX project, the Qualcomm Venture is funding for R&D investment in autonomous driving core technologies, high-quality mass production and a talent training system. The ThunderX project will make full use of core technology such as intelligent driving which has broad applications and potential future growth. Qualcomm Venture is also funding the ThunderX project for R&D investment in autonomous driving core technologies, high-quality mass production and a talent training system. All these factors are driving the growth of the Edge Controller Market size.

The Edge Controller Market by technology can be segmented into IT (Information Technology), PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller), GMC (General Motion Control), CNCs (Computer Numerical Control) and IPCs (Industrial PC), OT (Operating Technology), Factory Automation, Others. Factory automation by technology in the Edge Controller Market accounted for the largest market share of 20%, in 2023. In factory automation, the edge controller enables integration with FA (Fire alarming) systems, manufacturing devices, PLC, flow computer, Safety Pressure, Temperature monitoring etc. The Edge controller collects and stores data from PLCs/PACs. The data is then processed by OT sensors and data sources. The processed & analysed data is then visualized or shared with higher-level IT systems like PC. 

The Edge Controller Marketby Geography is divided into North America, South America, Europe, APAC and RoW. Asia Pacific by region in the Edge Controller Market is expected to grow fastest at the CAGR of 35% during the forecast period 2024-2030. The establishment of manufacturing units in various industries such as chemical, automotive etc in this region is leading to the growth of the Edge Controller Market size. The growing labour charges, evolving manufacturing units and increased operational costs have made the companies shift towards automated IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as Edge Controller. The edge controller integrated into conjunction with multiple PLC-controlled machines provides the advantage of coordinating/synchronizing the individual assets while accessing the data and logic so users can also optimize line performance which is driving the market size in the Edge Controller industry outlook. In July 2022, CISION PR Newswire announced Li Auto, China’s leading energy vehicle manufacturer revealed details of its flagship model- Li L9, a six-seat full-size SUV. Li L9 is the first production model that deploys NXP's S32G automotive network processors on its flagship chassis system. It features the company’s self-developed smart driving system, Li AD Max and top-notch vehicle safety measures. The flagship chassis system with Artificial Intelligence combines advanced hardware and software to bring excellent drivability and manoeuvrability. Li Auto had been exploring and developing a central domain controller for its latest chassis system, especially a 'super gateway' to control and generate quick responses among four important vehicle units including the Range Extension System, Air-Conditioning System, Seat System &Thermal Management System. The above factors are driving the growth of the Edge Controller Market share.

The edge controller is an IoT (Internet of Things) where the information technology domain meets with the operating technology domain, unlike the traditional programmable logic controllers and the programmable automation controllers which are more focused on the Operating technology. The advantage of using an edge controller is it enables the use of modern programming languages and work in a developed IoT (Internet of Things) environment. The controller features an ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) Cortex-A9 quad-core processor. ARM processors are designed so that all of the processor's functionality is on a single chip. The edge controller can be used to carry out deterministic PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) applications in parallel with open applications. The controller uses WAGO’s e!COCKPIT engineering software. This is a real-time control environment for industrial control which supports Linux-based tools, including applications that run as Docker containers. The edge controller also features a CANopen port, two USB 2.0 ports, a USB-C port for configuration, a configurable RS232/485 serial port, a microSD card slot, an HDMI port, and two Ethernet 10/100 Mbits/s ports. This provides support for multiple Fieldbus protocols and IIoT protocols, including MODBUS, Ethernet/IP adapter etc which drives the growth of the Edge Controller Market size.

Rapid multi-system integration has become a key attribute of modern control systems. The edge controller helps workers create advisory algorithms to assist newer teams with operating and maintaining systems. This is a key factor driving the market growth in the Edge Controller industry outlook. In edge controller, the equipment configuration places a premium on a system that can integrate a large number of skid-mounted systems simply and effectively. The use of skid-mounted equipment with dedicated controls has grown in capital projects for many industries.

The Edge Controller allows the machine to proactively track cycles, alarms, quality rates, and more. By knowing the status of various components, the machine can actively compensate for wear or other issues without human intervention. It also allows the operator to directly access information and even view it on the local HMI along with the standard machine operating functions. The functions are provided in the form of control modules, which allow you to pick and choose the appropriate functionality for your application. The Edge Controller makes it easy to assess CPM (control loop performance). The CPM control module provides a variety of statistics that can be used to optimize the efficiency of manufacturing processes. Changes to certain parameters over time can indicate that a controller needs to be re-tuned. There are more than 30 parameters available, including some that are calculated conditionally, such as the percentage of time that a controller has been operated manually. This can provide insight into whether the controller is tuned properly or needs attention. This helps reduce maintenance costs and downtime due to failure. The edge controllers allow users to make a meaningful and cost-effective improvement to their smart manufacturing process or Industry 4.0 operating model which boosts the Edge Controller Market share.

Edge controllers, with their inherent connectivity and analytic capabilities, may raise security concerns for traditional control developers. Developers accustomed to air-gapped networks as a standard security strategy may not be comfortable dealing with more open networks. There is improvement required in product quality and increased system availability with minimized costs. Conventional maintenance strategies are severely limited in their ability to achieve this. In July 2022, Dark Reading stated the recent analysis of researchers from Dragos discovered that Rockwell Automation’s DirectLogic 06 PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Trusted Platform module has serious vulnerabilities while recovering the system password on command. They found one password cracking product which contains “Sality,” an old malware tool that makes the system infected by password cracking. The attackers can modify the automation process and potentially disrupt the industrial operation, can cause physical damage to factories or take other malicious actions. These factors are restricting the Edge Controller Market growth.

Many industries such as upstream oil and gas, water/wastewater, renewable energy and power distribution utilities—operate large numbers of remote sites. Modern sensors, automation systems and connectivity are vital for monitoring and controlling these widely dispersed assets. But many of these operations demand onsite inspections by personnel, in some cases at every site, daily. Connectivity to remote locations is expensive, limited in bandwidth and often intermittent which will delay the adoption of edge controllers. In March 2022, Controlglobe stated in Edge Controller Market report that Twins Eagle Solutions are trying to develop an edge controller that can conquer connectivity challenges in a remote area. The Twins Eagle solution said that remote sites typically don’t have fast, inexpensive or reliable upstream networking connections, so bandwidth usage must be carefully controlled. This means that local (edge) pre-processing is needed to evaluate video signals in near-real-time, Remote Monitoring and condense the data transferred upstream. Some industrial cameras with a certain level of intelligence are available, but another common need is to coordinate video information with other inputs from field sensors or smart devices such as analyzers. This is a challenge in the market growth.

Product launches, collaborations, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Edge Controller Market. The Edge Controller top 10 companies include:

1. Emerson Electric

2. Advantech Co. Ltd.

3. Omron

4. Contec ltd.

5. Red Lion

6. Brainboxes ltd.

7. Ifm Electronic

8. Beijer Electronics Group

9. WAGO

10. Intel Corporation

In July 2022, Hyundai Mobis in its Edge Controller Market report announced that it has developed an integrated controller with the use of Artificial Intelligence & Real time Operating system that analyses the driver’s vital signs such as posture, heartbeat and brainwaves. The Smart Cabin Controller is equipped with four sensors: a 3D camera that captures the posture of the occupant, an ear-set sensor to measure the brainwaves flowing around the ears and an HVAC sensor to measure the temperature/humidity and carbon dioxide level of the cabin. The Controller analyses the various vitals collected and helps in safe driving.

In May 2022, Io Techa introduced IoT. ON Edge Controller at Distributech. It is an end-to-end EV Charging Offering. It is designed to serve as a site controller that brings smart charging and grid integration functions to the edge of the power grid. It is an easy and affordable solution which provides easy orchestration of vehicle-to-grid integration and energy flow between power sources, bi-directional power flow & schedule optimization, Remote Monitoring etc which will help in growing the Edge Controller Market share.

In March 2022, Bosch Rexroth Corp one of the Edge Controller top 10 companies stated that the new edge controller (852-8303/800-002) with its Trusted Platform module lets the users run high-speed and complex applications with its quad-core processor as well as application Docker Containers with its Linus- based Real time Operating system.