Despite an IT slump, the market for collaborative production management solutions, or CPM, is still showing robust growth, according to a new study by Greg Gorbach, director of e-manufacturing at ARC Advisory Group (www.arcweb.com). CPM is a new term coined by ARC for the expanded capabilities of today's manufacturing execution systems (MES).

Gorbach estimates the CPM market will double from $400 million this year to nearly $1 billion by 2005, for a cumulative annual growth rate of almost 20%.

Driving that growth is the need for real-time production visibility, production execution, and data collection from the shop floor. The semiconductor market will remain the largest user of CPM solutions, says Gorbach, but automotive, electronics, and aerospace & defense will also see increased growth.