Most manufacturing companies are making slow progress with adoption of innovative smart technologies, but remain interested in the concept. This was one of the findings of new research from Information Services Group (ISG), a research and advisory firm.
The 2022 ISG Global Smart Manufacturing Pulse Survey found nearly three-quarters of respondents (73 percent) have less than two years of ongoing smart manufacturing experience. And 70 percent say they are making slow to minimal progress on their smart manufacturing roadmap.
Despite the overall lack of experience with smart manufacturing and slow adoption rate, there is widespread interest in the ideea, with 69 percent of respondents saying their organization has a dedicated structure to operate and coordinate smart manufacturing initiatives.
“Smart manufacturing, while still a relatively new concept, is a top enterprise priority,” said Prashant Kelker, partner, ISG Digital Strategy and Solutions. “Many large companies are targeting new revenue streams from smart manufacturing, which in turn is driving spending on optimizing operations.”
Kelker described smart manufacturing as the practice of leveraging technology and data in a continuous loop to connect product development, design, manufacturing, supply chain and post-sale activity to increase revenue and improve manufacturing outcomes.
More than half the enterprises surveyed state that direct cost savings (64 percent) or indirect cost savings through waste reduction and sustainability measures (57 percent) are the top objectives for their smart manufacturing initiatives, followed by improvements in customer experience (39 percent). Growth objectives such as reduced time to market (34 percent) and increased revenue (29 percent) were lower on the list of enterprise priorities.
Survey respondents identified organizational resistance to change as a top challenge for smart manufacturing initiatives (57 percent), followed by integrating IT with operational technology (34 percent) and technical debt and legacy equipment (30 percent).
Responses