The Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) services usually comprise testing, verification, auditing, and certification, which are done either in-house or outsourced to third party service providers. The TIC market comprises companies that are specifically engaged in testing, inspection, and certification services; the purpose of these services is to help in improving the productivity; help manufacturers to meet the global standards; and enhance the quality of the products. These services can be applied to any product, service, or company independent of the sector it is operating in. The aim of these services is to assure the end-users and consumers that the manufacturer has followed national and international regulations and industry standards, which ensure quality, public health, and safety.
Currently, the industry is fragmented and the top players operating in this eco-system have been in the acquisition spree to expand its services in opportunistic market sector of emerging economies, namely, China, India, and Brazil. Growing consumer awareness about the importance of the certified products is increasing the demand for third party certification. There are several private third party certification companies operating locally, for instance, in 2011, Hong Kong witnessed more than 700 establishments engaged in certificate testing services.
Asia-Pacific is witnessed to have the largest growth among all the regions, owing to the government’s stringent legislations to ensure health and safety; rising disposable income and overall industrial growth is further contributing to the growth for certificate testing market. Asia-Pacific is home to many electronics manufacturing companies, and is observed to have continuous developments, which is further increasing demand for electrical and electronics certificate testing services. Automotive sector in this region is one of the fastest growing sector, for instance, China is the largest manufacturer of vehicles globally. Also, India and the South East Asian countries are observed to have an increased production capacity for automobiles, which lead to an increased demand for automotive certificate testing.
Thus, the certificate testing market has a huge potential in emerging markets, fuelled by acquisitions by the major players, which will consolidate the industry further, leading to internationally accepted standards.
