The ever-evolving production landscape
Our second edition of the IndustyLab Future of enterprises report maintains focus on future trends, with new insights into the manufacturing market and the shifting roles of production employees, enhanced by the introduction of ICT-enabled tools.
Empowering the production employees of the future
The future of manufacturing production facilities of the future will encourage a symbiotic relationship between human and machine, with ICT-enabled tools and advanced wireless networks enhancing production employees’ capabilities and extending manufacturing beyond the traditional factory set-up. But is full automated manufacturing the end goal – or even a possibility – for most manufacturers? Will autonomous manufacturing replace the need for humans completely? And will advanced wireless connectivity such as 5G and Wi-Fi 6 become the standard to ensure a smooth transition to digital manufacturing?
To find out what ICT-enabled tools will have the most impact on the market, and the challenges and opportunities these present to manufacturers during the transformation to automated production, we spoke to 8,657 decision makers and production employees across 22 markets.
Key findings
Despite the pandemic, manufacturers are doing surprisingly well
Tough global competition means that almost 8 in 10 manufacturers are cutting costs, however they have navigated through COVID-19 so well that 69 percent say their financial performance is unchanged or has even improved.
Dull, dangerous and dirty work is still a reality, regardless of what decision makers might think
While only 2 percent of decision makers are unsatisfied with how their companies work to reduce dull, dangerous and dirty work, production employees still say that 71 percent of the work is at least one of these.
A swifter, smarter, safer production employee is emerging, assisted by ICT-enabled production tools
In the next 5 years, 7 in 10 manufacturers expect to have deployed at least 5 of these production tools. Three out of Four manufacturers say advanced wireless technology like 5G and Wi-Fi 6 is very important for these production tools.
Manufacturers using more ICT-enabled production tools than others are more successful in almost every dimension
Some 50 percent of tool frontrunners, using 3 or more of these tools, say they are very financially successful, which is 17 percentage points more than those with no tools at all.
Full automation is approaching but neither decision makers nor production employees fully grasp the consequences
While almost two-thirds of the surveyed manufacturers expect to be automated to at least 80 percent within 10 years, more than half of the production employees still believe more people will be needed in similar roles by 2030, and only 1 in 5 think fewer people will be needed.
Production is evolving beyond the traditional factory set-up
More than half of all manufacturers believe that manufacturing as-a-service and pop-up factories will be commonplace by 2030, powered by the need for flexibility and adaptability. Just as many agree that additive manufacturing/3D printing will be an important part of their production process.
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