The defect detection market, with a 7.48% CAGR, is projected to increase from USD 3.447 billion in 2025 to USD 4.943 billion in 2030.
Defect detection refers to the assurance process and quality control technique employed in the manufacturing and packaging processes of the automotive, semiconductors, pharmaceutical, and other industrial sectors. A few common technologies and methods opted for defect-detecting processes are ultrasonic testing, computer vision, pulse magnetoresistance, X-ray, filter combinations, and acoustic emissions. Defect detection methods help in the optimization of costs and lowering quality degradation risks associated with the products manufactured. The automation of mass manufacturing procedures and the demand for more consumer goods across different sectors will fuel the expansion of the defect detection market over the forecast period.
The increasing adoption of AI-assisted software in defect detection techniques in recent times has expanded its expansion scope across several industries. For instance, a Taiwanese AI startup company named Profet AI helps companies in electronics, chemical, semiconductor, and other manufacturing sectors to detect damaged goods in the manufacturing process as soon as such damage occurs. Owing to its accuracy and time-saving characteristics, AI-based quality inspection applications have been increasingly adopted in the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, textile, automotive, and other manufacturing industries.
The adoption of defect detection equipment in the manufacturing processes of an enterprise helps in the early detection of defects that could result in faulty production of final products. This helps the enterprises to save additional expenses and waste generation as a result of damaged goods. For instance, Toyota Company incurred a recent loss of $1.3 billion as a result of manufacturing defects. Often, when a damaged component goes undetected, it is used in the process of manufacturing the final product. This results in a rise in the operating expenses for the manufacturing company and leads to defective goods being not sold in the market. In certain circumstances, the application of defect detection technology helps in spotting the root cause of repetitive faulty production and assists the company in estimating the normal and abnormal wastage ratio. The estimation of the normal wastage ratio helps the companies in better managing their inventory levels and effective determination of input to output ratio. Therefore, the growing adoption of AI-based defect detection software and the economic advantages of early defect detection to companies are two key factors that are driving the demand for the defect detection market and enhancing its growth opportunities.
The defect detection applications use visual input and other technological components such as computer vision AI and machine learning methods to detect faulty goods based on the vision. Therefore, they are not capable of detecting defective goods in other quality measures such as taste and smell. A large number of factories in the manufacturing sector are involved in the production of edible and fragrance products such as food and beverage manufacture and perfume manufacture. The defect detection equipment and software are beneficial in detecting the vision quality of the outer packaging of the product however, they lack the capacity to detect the smell and taste variations in the manufacturing process. This could limit the expansion of the defect detection market into a few manufacturing processes which are heavily based on the taste and smell quality of their products.
The gradual progression in North America’s production and packaging activities over the recent years has resulted in greater demand for defect detection technologies and tools. The food and beverage sector is one among the several industrial sectors utilizing defect detection and quality assurance tools to enhance their operating efficiency and product quality. According to the US Government, approximately 5.4% of its gross GDP was accounted for by food and beverage-related activities. In addition to this, the electronic report by IPC stated that the electronics sector accounted for $308 billion of the US GDP. Therefore, the increase in the market size of these industries is accompanied by the increase in their manufacturing processes. As a result of their increasing production activities, leading companies across different sectors are investing in improved defect detection technology to enhance their productivity and accuracy. The presence of defect detection equipment and software manufacturing companies in the USA such as Avizo, AVR Global, Cognex, and the emergence of new AI-based defect detection startups in the US demonstrate the market growth opportunities for the North American defect detection market over the forecast period.
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