Precision Gearbox Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Parallel, Right Angle, Planetary), By Application (Machine Tools, Robotics, Packaging), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global precision gearbox market size was valued at USD 1.6 billion in 2018 and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.4% over the forecast period. Rising product demand from several application industries, especially packaging, robotics, and military, is anticipated to propel market growth. Increasing demand for automation in manufacturing facilities to improve energy efficiency, productivity, and lower labor costs is expected to fuel the demand for precision gearboxes in the future.

Precision gearboxes are specially designed for applications wherein extreme precision and accuracy is essential. Moreover, they are machined to high tolerances and offer high efficiencies up to 90% or greater. In addition, they are more compact and are characterized by low noise operation as compared to conventional gearboxes. They are therefore widely used in robots, machine tools, material handling, packaging, and food processing machines.

The U.S. accounted for the largest market share in North America in 2018. The planetary precision gearbox product segment held the largest revenue share in the U.S. market and is projected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. The right angle precision gearbox product segment is likely to register the highest growth rate from 2019 to 2025.

Automation minimizes the degree of manual operation required, thereby increasing the throughput rates as well as ensuring minimum human intervention. Growing focus on automating several manufacturing processes is likely to augment the demand for precision gearboxes over the forecast period. In addition, growing implementation of robots across several industries is expected to propel market growth.

Machinery and equipment manufacturers in several application industries such as packaging, materials handling, and machine tools are focused on enhancing the efficiency of their machines. They are also trying to reducing the overall manufacturing costs, owing to which there is a greater requirement for precision, flexibility, speed, and repeatability. Thus, there is an increasing demand for precision gearboxes that offer high level of accuracy, reliability, and performance.

However, direct drive systems can act as a substitute to gear drives and, in turn, precision gearboxes. These systems are able to transmit power to the application directly without the use of mechanical components such as gears, chains, belts, and pulleys. Direct drive systems offer benefits such as energy savings, high efficiency, and quiet operation, thereby threatening the market.

Product Insights

In terms of product, the market has been classified into parallel, right angle, and planetary. The parallel precision gearbox segment is likely to report the highest CAGR over the forecast period from 2019 to 2025. As the name suggests, the input and the output shafts of these gearboxes are parallel. Parallel precision gearboxes are easy to mount and are typically used in material handling applications.

The right angle precision gearbox product segment accounted for the second largest revenue share in 2018. Such gearboxes have their input and output shaft perpendicular to each other. They are generally used for applications wherein the installation space is limited. These gearboxes have a compact design and can also be combined with other gearbox types.

The planetary precision gearbox product segment dominated the market in 2018 and is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period. Planetary gearboxes consist of a planet carrier, a sun gear, several planet gears, and a ring gear. The sun gear drives the surrounding planetary gears which, in turn, ride within the ring gear. This ring gear, in turn, rotates the output shaft of the planetary gearbox.

Planetary precision gearboxes have a compact design and are highly efficient owing to the rolling power. Moreover, the load can be distributed among the planet gears. Furthermore, these planetary gearboxes have a high torque to weight ratio and also produce low backlash. Planetary precision gearboxes are most commonly used in applications where precise positioning is extremely essential, such as pick and place robots.

Application Insights

In terms of application, the market has been segmented into military and aerospace, machine tools, food, beverage and tobacco, robotics, materials handling, packaging, medical, and others. The military and aerospace application segment is likely to expand at a CAGR of 9.2% over the forecast period. Growing passenger air travel is likely to augment demand for commercial aircrafts, which in turn, is expected to have a positive impact on the precision gearbox market.

Moreover, rising geopolitical tensions across the globe are expected to increase the defense budgets of several countries including the U.S., China, Russia, and India. This, in turn, is anticipated to intensify the demand for military equipment and other associated equipment. All these factors are likely to spur the demand for precision gearboxes in the military and aerospace sector.

The robotics segment dominated the market in 2018 and is likely to continue its dominance over the forecast period. This is attributed to increasing utilization of robots in several industries, including metal, electrical and electronics, and automotive. The use of robots offers several benefits such as low labor costs, increased efficiency and speed, less scrap and waste, and automation of several repetitive tasks.

The packaging segment is likely to report the highest CAGR over the forecast period. Packaging machines are utilized in almost every industry. Precision gearboxes are used in various primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging machines. These machines require a high degree of precision and heavy-duty power transmission, which is likely to augment the demand for precision gearboxes.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific dominated the global market with a revenue share of 35.5% in 2018. The region comprises several emerging economies like China and India. Increasing investments in automation, coupled with growing manufacturing sector are likely to increase the demand for various equipment such as packaging machines, material handling machines, and machine tools. This factor is propelling the demand for precision gearboxes.

North America is likely to have a register a CAGR of 6.1% over the forecast period. Several factors such as presence of major aerospace manufacturing, food and food processing, and medical companies are driving regional growth. In addition, huge spending on military and defense by countries such as U.S. is stimulating segment’s growth. Increasing use of robotics in automotive as well as non-automotive sectors is also expected to propel the demand for precision gearboxes over the forecast period.

Europe occupied a strong position in the global market in 2018. The region is characterized by the presence of several packaging, aerospace, as well as automobile companies. Growing demand from these companies is likely to augment the demand for precision gearboxes through 2025. The automotive industry is extremely vital in Europe as it represents a large portion of the region’s export. Machine tools are utilized in manufacturing several automotive components that require extreme precision. Thus, growth in the automotive sector is likely to increase the demand for machine tools, thereby propelling the demand for precision gearboxes.

Precision Gearbox Market Share Insights

Key vendors in the market include Bonfiglioli Riduttori S.p.A, WITTENSTEIN SE, Neugart GmbH, Siemens AG, ABB Ltd., and SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG. Other prominent vendors include Rexnord Corporation, Gudel Group AG, Dana Incorporated, and The Timken Company. Companies engaged in manufacturing precision gearboxes offer standard as well as customized products in line with the consumer requirements.

In addition, companies are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, new product development, expansion of their sales and distribution networks, and establishment and expansion of their manufacturing facilities in emerging economies. For instance, in September 2018, Bonfiglioli Transmissions Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Bonfiglioli Riduttori S.p.A., opened a new manufacturing facility in Chennai, India. The facility was aimed at catering to the growing product demand in the region.

Report Scope

Segments Covered in the Report:

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global precision gearbox market report on the basis of product, application, and region:

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Parallel

  • Right Angle

  • Planetary

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Military & Aerospace

  • Food, Beverage, & Tobacco

  • Machine Tools

  • Material Handling

  • Packaging

  • Robotics

  • Medical

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • The U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • The U.K.

    • France

    • Italy

    • Russia

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

    • South Korea

    • Australia

  • Central & South America

    • Brazil

    • Argentina

  • Middle East and Africa

    • Saudi Arabia

    • UAE