The industrial cartridge filter market generates revenues of more than $15 billion per year. This global number is useful to determine whether the market is large or small. But it would be a mistake to attempt a top-down segmentation. In fact, this number is an aggregation of $15 million sub niches which in turn can be split and aggregated into many millions of forecasts.
The niche creation is similar to LEGO® where 1,000 pieces can be used to create a billion unique objects.
Management is not accustomed to acting on this level of detail in forecasting, but, on the other hand, insists that it is insufficient to predict the total cost of paint and it is necessary to determine how much will be spent for each product.
The equipment supplier needs at least 28,000 forecasts by country, cartridge type and application for at least five years going forward as well as the last five years. Period. There should be analyses of the various processes in each major industry and the facts and factors surrounding cartridge selection.
Each salesman will be interested in a different combination of these 28,000 sub-niches. In the case of large industries, such as food, there will be the need to segment by state. California is a larger market for food cartridges than all but a few countries.
The forecasts include only filter elements. Separate forecasts are needed for housings and media, fibers and resins. There is no reliable outside source for any of this data. So, iteration is important. Forecasts for resins, media, filters and housings provide this iteration.
Pharmaceutical is the largest segment with 2022 cartridge revenues of over $5 billion – $1.2 billion is in the U.S.
Forecasts by country are particularly important for the major countries and are needed by regions.
The analysis by trading zone is quite important. Most trade takes place in a 3,000-mile radius. Europe and Asia have very successfully traded in their zones while the Americas has a relatively low amount of trading activity.
The largest cartridge suppliers for industrial applications are also the largest in the pharmaceutical segment. The substantial investment to meet the high-performance requirements compared to costs of doing business internationally has resulted in the high technology companies becoming global and achieving substantial size. Pall, Millipore, and Sartorius have nearly a quarter of the total market and nearly 50% of the pharmaceutical segment.
The top three suppliers are averaging annual revenues for industrial cartridges in excess of $1 billion each. Suppliers three to 10 are averaging $300 million. Suppliers 11-20 are averaging $100 million.
The market can be divided into high and general performance. Small companies account for 40% of the total market but only 13% of the high-performance segment. These companies are offering general performance cartridges to the local market. Liquid cartridges are manufactured along with bag filters and dust collector cartridges. Customers can be end-users, system suppliers or filter suppliers of whom purchase custom made filters.
Sales forecasting has not been as detailed as cost accounting because of the cost and difficulty of making accurate forecasts. However, a holistic approach distributes the costs over many subjects. Most of the facts and factors are relevant to many forecasts.
The organized approach needed for detailed forecasting can be extended broadly. Ultimately markets are greatly affected by voter choices. Voter life quality goals can be made using the same approach which has been labeled the Internet of Wisdom (IOW). An industrial version (IIOW) has steadily been expanded over the last decade. The predictions for artificial intelligence to change life and business is likely to be achieved when incorporated in the Industrial Internet of Wisdom.
