The laboratory automation market accounts for approximately 7% of the analytical and life science instrumentation market. It consists of five technology categories: liquid handling systems, microplate readers, management informatics, multiplex and high-throughput ELISA systems, and lab robotics. The general goal of these techniques is to automate repetitive laboratory procedures to increase the speed, efficiency and accuracy of lab work. Labs with large workloads can capitalize on the required investment. These tools help organize and govern the workflow for increased overall productivity.

Compared to other analytical instrument and lab product technology sectors, the laboratory automation market depends strongly on initial-system sales of hardware, which make up the majority of the market. Service is also important, as uptime is critical to labs and makes up 20% of total demand. Aftermarket revenue represents the remaining quarter of total demand. For 2015, the market was valued at $3.5 billion, and it is forecast to grow 3.6% for 2016.

Drug discovery applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are the most significant market for lab automation technologies, as lab automation allows researchers to rapidly evaluate large quantities of candidate drugs. Continued outsourcing trends should produce growth in lab automation demand from the CRO end-user segment. Other important markets include hospitals and environmental testing labs.

The largest laboratory automation product segment is liquid handling, which includes both automated workstations and manual pipetting solutions. This technology segment accounts for 37.4% of the total laboratory automation market but is forecast to grow just 2.5% this year. Automated liquid handling systems demand should advance somewhat faster, while manual pipetting is not likely to produce much sales growth at all in the year. Tecan and PerkinElmer are the leaders in the automated liquid handling market, while Eppendorf and Mettler-Toledo dominate the pipette market.

Multiplex and high-throughput ELISA systems are forecast to achieve the fastest growth among laboratory automation techniques for 2016, with demand estimated to rise 5.3%. The trend to replace traditional ELISAs with newer technologies that provide fast and reliable results is making this an active area of product and technology development. Luminex and Meso Scale Discovery are the leading companies in this market.

The microplate reader market, including high-throughput screening, multimode and single-detection systems, as well as microplate washers, account for about 22% of the market. Molecular Devices (Danaher) and PerkinElmer are the leaders in this product segment, which is forecast to grow 4.2% in 2016.

Demand for robotic systems for laboratories, including automated workcells and platforms, sample-storage systems, and arms and stackers, will lag other product segments in terms of growth, with market demand slated to advance just 2.4% in 2016. While biobanking is promoting sample-storage products, the general market for simpler arms and stackers is expected to be flat this year.

The remaining lab automation product segment, management informatics software, includes laboratory information management systems (LIMS), electronic lab notebooks (ELN), laboratory execution systems (LES) and scientific data management systems (SDMS). This market continues to evolve and grow, with an estimated increase in demand of 4.5% for the year.

The top six lab automation companies account for about half of total market share. Tecan and PerkinElmer have the largest shares, followed by Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is particularly strong in the laboratory informatics market. Other notable companies include Brooks Automation and Agilent Technologies for robotics, and LabWare, which is the largest informatics vendor.