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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread use of the thermal scanners throughout several public areas. Thermal scanners can provide a more accurate, secure, and reliable means of detecting individuals with virus-specific testing. Thermal scanning equipment is used by hospitals, including transportation departments, manufacturers, companies, and government facilities, as part of Employee Health and Screening (EH&S) and an Elevated Body Temperature (EBT) detection process. The immediate necessity has generated the unbalance in demand and supply, triggering a rise in mass manufacturing including the higher commodity prices. Main players namely FLIR Systems, Inc. and Seek Thermal Inc. are expected to meet the grown demand by changing their emphasis from industrial to commercial thermal scanning devices that target hospitals and healthcare systems.

High adoption of the fixed thermal scanner in the industrial and healthcare sector has led to over 60% revenue share of the global thermal scanner market in 2019. Fixed thermal scanners provide a flexible, precise, and effective scanning solution in the ceramics, steel, and other manufacturing industries for constant temperature measurement applications. Fixed thermal scanners decrease human interaction and can be integrated with established systems such as a security gateway or biometric entry.

Thermal Scanners in Public Area

Factoring the global impacts of COVID-19 automatic temperature monitoring is expected to become normal practice in public places. Those are the fixed systems that provide accurate and real-time measurement of temperature for large crowds. Handheld thermal scanners are expected to experience rapid growth due to fast commercial adoption. The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in a substantial need for handheld scanners across various community places such as airports, metro stations, warehouses, and commercial buildings. It also helps the social distancing intent as it helps the user to take temperature readings from a safe distance.

Thermal Scanners in Aerospace

Aerospace and Defense sector has accounted for revenue by around 21% in 2019. Thermal scanning is a bonus for defense applications due to the potential to operate in all weather conditions. The technology is commonly used in aircraft avoidance and guidance systems for ship accidents, border control, law enforcement, and structural safety monitoring. Thermal cameras have been more integrated with other technologies including radar to enhance reliability, warning monitoring, and long-range monitoring for airports and other large areas. Long-width Infrared (LWIR) has played a vital role in the defense market over the decades as it can identify artifacts independent of ambient lighting. LWIR provides many advantages such as low strength, weight, and scale, and has accounted for a revenue of around 70% by wavelength segment for the global thermal scanner market in 2019.

Thermal Scanners in Automotive Industry

The use of thermal scanners in the automotive industry has seen growth. The technology was available in a limited number of high-end automotive models, due to the high cost initially. Risky driving factors such as haze, fog, animal crossing at night, and densely populated areas, can be minimized with the aid of thermal scanners thus simultaneously increasing highway safety and driver consciousness. Such scanners can be conveniently incorporated with existing automotive systems making the application easier to implement at a market-leading price range.

Benefits of thermal Scanners

Application low cost has created a whole new opportunity for thermal imaging systems in mainstream applications. Thermal scanning technology is not only restricted to the application of defense and security but is also used for predictive maintenance across multiple platforms in the industry. Manufacturing plants, refineries, and substations use thermal scanners to monitor the machinery remotely, detect components that are at risk of overheating, and respond before a failure occurs. Industries such as food processing and the production of carpets where heat is used for manufacturing will benefit from the technology to improve and automate fire and safety regulation.

Thermal Scanners Market

North America is expected to see substantial growth due to its advanced defense industry. The active participation of industry leaders such as FLIR Systems, Inc.; Fluke Corporation; and L3Harris Technologies, Inc. is fueling demand in the US market. The rising growth in Canada's industrial applications is also expected to drive the regional market. British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. (BC Ferries) recently mounted thermal scanners to track endangered marine mammals in August 2019.

The growth of the thermal scanner market in China is due to numerous vendors providing low-cost solutions which are expected to fuel demand in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in effect. The outbreak in China has contributed to the increasing demand for thermal scanners that have driven companies to mass production. Research and development efforts are being brought into the area to tackle the outbreak. As a result, Wuhan Guide Infrared Co., Ltd. announced that a thermal scanner device powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) facial recognition technology would be deployed in Chinese public transportation infrastructure.

Considering that many businesses are on the verge of reopening amid lockdown, precautionary steps are being taken using thermal scanners to track workers. Governments in many areas have also mandated the use of these systems in residential and business complexes. This rising demand is expected to rapidly fuel business growth over the next few years. Scanners are strategically positioned near building entrances through which workers, tourists, contractors, or customers will move. Based on the user's choice when a higher than normal temperature is detected an audio or visual warning is activated. A warning is sent to the appointed supervisor via a cell phone or computer device saving the expense of making an employee manually test temperatures.

The e-commerce giant Amazon has started the use of thermal scanning systems in its warehouses to track their employees. The business exports critical products worldwide and has also set up thermal scanners outside of Los Angeles and Seattle in at least six warehouses. The U.S. based international supermarket chain ‘Whole Foods Market Inc.’ has already begun using these tools in their shops. General Motors Company and Wynn Resorts Ltd. announced that thermal scanners have been used for screening purposes. Tyson Foods Inc. and Intel Corp. are other companies that are experimenting with the use of the after-pandemic thermal scanning solution.

Market Research forecasting is the process of arriving at an expected future market value through a combination of qualitative and quantitative inputs. Knowing the future by predicting the same helps businesses attune their budgets, resources and efforts to derive the best outcomes, and this in turn help in achieving the organization’s goals. That said, forecasting may not be as easy as it sounds. It requires in-depth knowledge of the industry, extensive knowledge of the financial metrics involved and a profound understanding of the economic shifts that could lead market fluctuations. It is absolutely important for analysts to keep all these factors in mind while forecasting and moreover, employ the accurate forecasting model. 

Forecasting administers selection. Forecasting helps organizations to predict the market size during the forecast period. Market forecasting help organizations to plan and allocate or redistribute their budgets and resources to make the most out of the business environments during the forecast period.

Let’s discuss a few points to get forecasting right.

Source: Global Market Database

Market Dynamics: It is imperative to understand the key dynamics that would affect the market. These could be the overall market trends, drivers, restraints and challenge of a market or it could also be the outcome of tools like PESTLE or Porter’s Five Forces. 

Historic Data: As the term suggests, forecasting is meant to predict the future. However, analysts should also be mindful of including yesteryears in their forecasts, in order to be heedful of the peaks and valleys the market may have experienced. This helps in adjusting all the parameters such as growth rate and plausible expectations required to ensure successful forecasting. 

Current Competitive Analysis: It is always a great idea to keep a close watch on the supplier’s raw material market trajectory, as this directly impacts procurement and influences the overall market size. The technology developments and the flexibility of the supplier to adapt to change in technology is also an important consideration.

New entrants and substitutes will influence market forces going forward: The new technology or new product introducers are market leaders for a specific duration of time. However, over time if the company failed to adapt with shifting consumer requirements, the risk of it not able to cope up to competition is high. 

Forecasting is complex. If not done right, it could have serious implications on an organization’s performance in the long run. So why invest so much of time and effort into it, when all the forecasting data you need is just a click away? 

B2B Market Research

Market research is the method employed to critically analyze target markets and their customers. It provides a strategic analysis based on the market data obtained for a sample of stakeholders for the concerned market. Participants of this study are inclusive of the entire spectrum of end-users for a concerned sector. The customer base can be broadly classified into current customers, potential customers, prospective consumers, missed opportunities (consumers who opted for a market substitute for the product), and marketers.  

Organizations make use of this study to gain further perspective about their existing consumer base. Moreover, these reports help companies with the identification of grey areas in terms of their product sales. A better purview concerning the consumer needs in a product or service can be obtained with the help of a study. Market Research also helps companies broaden their current customer potential by identifying areas for expansion. Business to Business (B2B) Market Analysis allows companies to obtain useful insights with regards to economic changes, competition, emerging industry dynamics, new prospects, and consumer insights. 

Market Research is dependent on the data obtained through both primary and secondary research. The strategic analysis of this data can be performed in two ways, i.e. qualitative and quantitative methods.

Figure 1: Overall Market Research Process

As mentioned earlier, market research can be classified into two sections namely primary and secondary research. Primary research involves the direct collection of data. Researchers interact directly with customers to understand the market from their perspective. Feedback based on company services and other market aspects is also analyzed through this method. Secondary research on the other hand depends upon indirect sources of information. These information outlets help the analyst with understanding the current market scenario based on the shifting dynamics. 

How to understand Market Trends and Market Dynamics 

The critical analysis for a market with respect to its trends can be provided using both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative research provides unparalleled depth concerning the information gained. It allows the analyst to ask open-ended questions that may help explore new inquiry lines, as opportunities emerge within the concerned market. These open-ended questions are based on the gap of information that is available in secondary data and the intended level of information requirement of the market analyst or the researcher. The data gathering step for a qualitative analysis can take place through different forms of media, including electronic polls, email, and mobile surveys, telephonic calls, personal interviews, etc. The analyst is expected to understand the key trends and the market dynamics at the end of the interview phase.

Quantitative research on the other hand is the process of collecting and analyzing numerical data. The data obtained can be used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test causal relationships, and generalize results to wider populations. 

How to do Market Sizing and Market Forecast

Market sizing helps estimate how much revenue that specific market would generate in the next few years. It also aids decision-makers and top management staff with performing a strategic analysis before making an investment in an upcoming business. The approach to recruitment can also be optimized by companies since they could manage their fund flow better with the help of this section. Market sizing essentially begins with a quantitative estimate for the market defined and its market penetration rate. The market volume helps identify the potential size of the market. The market size obtained goes through scenario analysis that helps factor in the risks of change. Over time, the accuracy of the initial assumption is monitored to check for changes.

The market forecast is the most challenging task in the stages of market report preparation. It requires at least 5 years of deep industry understanding to ensure that basic assumptions are allocated correctly. Alternatively, the best website which can be referred for a readymade market forecast across 600+ markets is Global Market Database.

In the recent past, the end-users and analysts of market research reports are shifting towards tools like Global Market Database for B2B market inputs. The key advantage is that the market forecast is readily available, and these are used by both market analysts and OEMs for their planning purposes. The data in Global Market Database is also updated periodically, organically and there is an additional update in case of COVID like situation. The registration is free and helps analysts, OEMs, and other users like Investment Bankers.

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