Non-Destructive Testing and Inspection Market Generated Revenue Worth ~$9 Billion in 2020

The stringent government regulations regarding product quality and public safety and growing construction sector are boosting non-destructive testing (NDT) and inspection activities. Owing to such factors, the market generated revenue of ~$9 billion in 2020 and is expected to showcase a significant growth during the forecast period.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global NDT and inspection market suffered multiple lockdowns, affected import and export, stoppage in the functioning of manufacturing facilities, reduced workforces, and other factors. Sales of NDT and inspection equipment and services to key verticals, such as oil & gas and aerospace, declined by 10–15% in 2020. The decline in the number of oil & gas exploration projects, temporary shutdown of production facilities, and reduction of oil prices have affected the growth of the market.

Services Category Held Larger Market Share in 2020

The NDT and inspection market has been categorized into equipment and services, based on offering. Of these, the services category held the larger market share in 2020 owing to the rising requirement for highly skilled workers, coupled with the high initial setup costs of NDT equipment, which forces end users to outsource these processes to third parties.

The market is categorized into oil & gas, manufacturing, aerospace & defense, construction, automotive, and others, based on industry. Among these, the manufacturing category is projected to dominate the market during the forecast period. This can be mainly ascribed to the rapid automation of manufacturing practices using modern, smart technology.

Globally, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is set to witness the highest CAGR in the NDT and inspection market during the forecast period. This will mainly be due to the large-scale infrastructure development in emerging economies, including India and China. Moreover, the expanding oil & gas and aerospace & defense sectors require these testing methods to guarantee employee safety and the efficiency of the systems being used at the site. NDT techniques help secure hardware and staff, as well as help organizations follow the government guidelines in place.

Development of New Solutions Is Most-Effective Strategic Measure Taken by Market Players

Players in the NDT and inspection market are involved in product launches to meet the consumer demand and gain a significant position. For instance, in October 2020, Nikon Corporation announced the launch of Accurate Precision Distance Scanning (APDIS) laser radar, which offers accurate measurements to enhance the quality and efficiency of the products being manufactured in a range of industries. The new product range includes four models, of which two have a measuring range of 30 meters and the other two have a range of 50 meters.

Similarly, in June 2019, Olympus Corporation launched the DSX1000 digital microscope, which improves the inspection workflow of users and enables the analysis of a wide variety of samples with a single tool. The product’s magnification range of 20x to 7000x is useful in applications such as metallurgy, for the efficient inspection of macro and microstructures.

Major players operating in the NDT and inspection market are General Electric Company, Olympus Corporation, Ashtead Technology, SGS S.A, YXLON International, Sonatest, Zetec Inc., T.D. Williamson Inc., Bosello High Technology srl, Eddyfi NDT Inc. (Eddyfi), Magnaflux Corporation, Fischer Technology Inc., Cygnus Instruments Ltd., MISTRAS Group, Nikon Corporation, and NDT Global GmbH.