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INTRODUCTION
STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Advanced protective clothing and associated gear is an industry sector that has a critical role in the protection of firefighters, police officers, military personnel, and industrial workers. Concerns for general worker safety, including protection from death and disabling injuries and illnesses, as well as protection from the specific threats of chemicals, biological agents, fire, bullets, and fragmentation particles, result in an entire industry devoted to personal protective equipment and gear. This equipment includes everything from chemical protective garments and suits to firefighters’ turnout gear, to industrial fire retardant garments, to bullet-resistant vests, to respirators. Military armor for vehicles and to a greater extent for personnel has become another advanced industry segment.
While this type of protective gear and armor industry has seen a few new standards and regulations, there have been significant revisions and additions to the existing standards for worker protective clothing in the areas of chemical protection, fire protection, and bullet-resistant garments. Knowing what is available to the military, first responders seek to upgrade the protective gear that they do have.
This BCC Research market research report provides an overview of major trends within the personal protective equipment industry and market analyses for each end-use segment focusing on the advanced materials in use. Historical data, as well as 5-year forecasts for the years 2010 to 2015 are provided to express market sizes, changes, and dynamics.
REASONS FOR DOINGTHIS STUDY
Protective apparel and associated gear are undergoing growth in many sectors as a result of terrorist activities and related geopolitical events. Tracking and predicting growth related to these events, as well as examining offsetting growth factors, are major reasons for doing this study. Terrorism is unlikely to disappear within the 5-year horizon of this report or in the twenty-first century. Concentrations of individuals in ever more complex urban situations will continue and within this, setting fires, either structural or wildlands will continue. The numbers and types of toxic materials in the workplace will continue or increase. Greater protection is deemed necessary for our armed forces, first responders, and industrial workers.
Revisions made to existing standards have compelled manufacturers to change some materials used in the production of some forms of personal protection equipment. Failure of some of the older materials to perform over the long term has initiated withdrawal from the market. There is a constant balancing of mobility vs. protection. While there is growth in many segments of the personal protective clothing market, the number of players in some segments of the industry is decreasing as a result of acquisitions.
Examining the situation in the marketplace and reviewing the technological advances expected as a result of numerous parameters are additional reasons why this study is important.
This study provides a timely and as accurate a view as possible of the protective gear and armor industry, its major participants, advanced materials and future growth potential, as well as the technologies and standards crucial to the understanding of the industry. Excluded are sports equipment and gear related to recreational activities.
Common causes of setting afire industrial apparel include ignition of flammable liquids and/or other flammable materials spilled on the garment, contact with or close proximity to molten metals, sparks and slag from flame cutting or welding, or any contact with open flames. Other dangerous fire situations include high energy electrical discharges or other electric arc events, the explosion of vapors from volatile liquids or from flammable gases, and the ignition of combustible dusts. FireThe fighters, either structural, proximity, wildlands, or other first responders require a higher level of thermal protection and fire resistant garments.
INTENDED AUDIENCE AND CONTRIBUTION OF STUDY
This business opportunity report provides an analysis of the advanced protective clothing and equipment market for the U.S., by application, through the year 2015 with some speculative analysis for the years beyond. Under applications, the technologies, materials, standards, market participants, anticipated expansions, and growth factors are included.
The structure of each industry is explained, and company profiles of major industry participants are provided. The report is directed to decision makers in the industrial, commercial, fire service, and law enforcement sectors whose personnel are engaged in processes and operations involving the potential hazards associated with chemicals, fire, and bullets.
This report is designed to provide an assessment of the advanced personal protective clothing industry for those companies currently involved in the industry, or for those that are considering entering the fray. This includes protective clothing producers and distributors, textile and textile-related manufacturers, material suppliers, and fabric mills. Companies with large numbers of personnel who are routinely exposed to workplace situations involving potential heat, flame, chemical, and personal protection risks associated with bullets and other projectiles, will also find this report to be of use when identifying and comparing products and manufacturers and sifting through the massive amount of personal protective industry regulations and standards.
This study should serve as an analytical and informational business tool with the purpose of examining the growth in the marketplace that is related to both a vision of Utopia and the reality of terror, combined with the increased hazards facing first responders. There are numerous changes affecting the regulations associated with the forms of personal protective clothing. These areas are covered in terms of applications and end use. There is a distinction between estimates, projections, and facts or statistical data. When possible, sources are identified.
SCOPE OF REPORT
The protective clothing, gear, and armor markets are a fragmented industry. There are significant and specific segments of protective clothing, gear, and armor industry. Within each of these segments are a variety of players, including government organizations that create, develop, and enforce regulations and standards, raw material suppliers, fiber and fabric manufacturers, mills and fabric producers, finished goods manufacturers, and suppliers and distributors. The supply chain may be complex and at times difficult to understand. Our focus is on the major material types and the designers of the products rather than on the distributors of the products. To emphasize the complexity, it may be that one large corporation through many of its parts can be involved in all the sectors of the supply chain. This study of the advanced protective gear and armor markets focuses on the following major sectors in the U.S. market:
Each of these areas of the personal protective clothing/equipment industry is discussed. Within each segment—chemical/biological, fire, and projectiles/ explosives—the regulations, raw materials, technologies, market size, and anticipated growth are covered. Manufacturers are evaluated and listed at the conclusion of each of the appropriate sections.
Although there are frequent mentions in military documents and in the popular press concerning nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC or NBCR) equipment, this is excluded from our discussion. There is no truly protective clothing for severe nuclear threats such as battlefield nuclear explosions or a Chernobyl-level nuclear accident. When gamma rays are present in force and quantity, the effective absorbers might be lead or the misnomer "depleted" uranium. Respirators and clothing do help, but the best solution is situational awareness. The NBC misnomer continues; details of implied NBC are not included in this report.
The geographic scope of this report is the U.S. market.
METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES
A structured approach is based on optimal use of BCC Research’s own databases and proprietary information, as well as primary and secondary research techniques and methodologies. The material researched and presented in this technical market report is based on information gathered from personal contacts within government agencies, individuals involved in materials and manufacturing, industry consultants, and to some degree, on the author’s personal experience in speaking with industry sources knowledgeable in the subject material.
Additional data was obtained from reviews of secondary sources, such as trade publications, trade-associated company literature, government documents, and patents. This was done in an effort to supplement the application, market, and trend data gathered from primary sources. All monetary projections presented in this report are reported in constant U.S. dollars. A targeted and selective analysis of recent patents was encompassed in the document.
ANALYST’s CREDENTIALS
Anna Welch Crull, a chemist and experienced private consultant, is qualified in electrochemistry, polymers, membrane materials, and advanced materials. Ms. Crull has worked with BCC, Inc. (now BCC Research) for 30 years and has authored more than 112 technical/marketing reports, helped establish 10 technical newsletters, and assisted in numerous special consulting studies and conferences for more than 35 corporations and intelligence for U.S. government entities. She has worked for the U.S. Army Materials Command on rocket technology, propellants, and explosives. Ms. Crull is a graduate of the School of Engineering, University of Mississippi and holds a Masters Degree in Chemistry from the University of Missouri.
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DISCLAIMER
The information developed in this report is intended to be as reliable as possible at the time of publication and of a professional nature. This information does not constitute managerial, legal, or accounting advice; nor should it serve as a corporate policy guide, laboratory manual, or an endorsement of any product, as much of the information is speculative in nature. The authors assume no responsibility for any loss or damage that might result from reliance on the reported information or its use.
