Manufacturers planning to invest in IIoT technology, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity may fail to harness the technologies’ maximum capabilities, according to a new report from Accenture.
Titled, Machine Dreams: Making the most of the Connected Industrial Workforce, the report highlights several factors driving rapid changes in manufacturing and production processes.
Along with advanced automation, new mobile, safety and tracking technologies are being utilized with analytics to connect industrial workers with their facilities and select processes for IIoT applications. These new technologies create the “connected industrial workforce.”
A significant number of manufacturers surveyed for the report believe that their companies could spend up to one-quarter of their R&D expenditure over the next five years on connected-industrial-workforce technologies. This amount is estimated to reach up to USD$205 billion (€181 billion) for automotive companies and USD$44 billion (€39 billion) for industrial equipment companies.
Research in the report reveals that the companies making these investments could fail to maximize the competitive advantage these technologies could bring.
22 percent of respondents believe their companies have implemented measures to realize the potential of a connected industrial workforce, but 85 percent describe their companies as “digital followers, rather than leaders.”
“Those leading manufacturers investing in digital technologies are spending almost twice as much as laggards and will continue to raise the bar over the next five years,” said Eric Schaeffer, head of Accenture’s Industrial practice. “We also see laggards lacking the confidence to implement the technologies that underpin a successful connected industrial workforce and this may threaten their competitiveness.”
One cause of a lack of confidence could be due to security issues inherent to IIoT and other online systems. 76 percent of respondents believe their data vulnerability is a high risk. 70 percent consider the shortage of skilled workers to manage and maintain their systems and data as a high risk.
IIoT and the Connected Industrial Workforce in 2020
Accenture estimates that by 2020, automotive manufacturers with a combined annual revenue of USD$56 billion employing a connected industrial workforce could unlock as much as ten times that amount in additional profitability.
Respondents in the report’s survey note their highest interest lie in technologies including collaborative robots, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and augmented reality devices.
“As cobots take on more and more specialized tasks, leading manufacturers that are investing in digital tech to harness competitive advantage are moving rapidly toward human-machine-centric manufacturing,” Schaeffer said.
Accenture interviewed 512 factory directors, engineering and R&D heads, operations and HR managers and C-suite executives at companies across China, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. All respondents were involved in their company’s development of connected industrial workforces and IIoT applications.
For more information, viewers can gain access to the report at www.accenture.com.