Plastic Media Blasting For Applications Other Than Aircraft Part 6
VI. OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Initial Applications Slow to Develop
Due to the initiative and leadership of the U.S. military in fostering the PMB technology through experimentation, “real world” application and the awarding of study contracts to independent consulting and research firms, the age of Plastic Media Blasting is upon us: and it is our opinion that the ultimate worldwide market for the PMB technology in terms of equipment, accessories, plastic media, masking supplies and services will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Although there are many who are still skeptical and cautious, the major economic and environmental rewards of the technology far outweigh its few shortcomings for most applications.
In certain cases, our research indicates that many negative reactions to the PMB process were occasioned by the witnessing of improper applications of the technology by untrained personnel or by the inappropriate application of PMB to substrates not amenable to the process, such as very thin aluminum and magnesium surfaces.
At the beginning of the exploration of the PMB technology, the few progressive and pioneering vendors and service firms addressing the marketplace had tunnel vision on aircraft airframe applications. To a great extent, this is still the case; and the technology continues to be relatively unknown in the private sector.
Both the military and general aviation market have been slow to develop for several reasons.
1. The initial caution of the military, the aircraft manufacturers and FAA over the application of a new technology to multi-million dollar weapons and aircraft systems.
2. The initial concern of these same parties over the application of a new process to products where there could be a potential for loss of life and limb; and
3. The concern of both equipment vendors and service firms over possible product liability exposure.
As a consequence, U.S. vendors, not yet recognizing the ultimate potential of the PMB technology, have been reluctant to expend thousands of dollars in advancing the state-of-the-art. This seems to be especially true with respect to the manufacturers of media blasting vessels and dust control equipment, who operate in a highly-fragmented market and, by most standards, are relatively small companies. Also, at the high end of the spectrum may be found the suppliers of requisite compressed air systems. Many of these firms are divisions of large multi-national concerns which, indeed, do have the resources to modify their equipment to accommodate the high CFM, low PSI demands of PMB. To date, however, they have not seriously addressed the market.
To some extent, the attitude of many vendors who could participate in this emerging industry has been a “wait and see” or “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. This is very unfortunate, since as has been the case in the past for U.S. industry, there will be offshore companies which may step in and capture a significant share of this new industry. Let’s all hope that this will not be the case.