The report points to advances in IoT, big data and automation as the primary drivers of this growth, while the use of AI and cloud computing is expected to become highly lucrative in terms of software development.
The report also suggests that the global smart manufacturing market will generate revenues of $830 billion from today through to 2031 and suggests that it will be the US that will be the biggest beneficiary of the trend.
According to the research, Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Siemens, Fujitsu, IBM and Rockwell will see accelerated growth and are expected to cement their positions as market leaders.
Post covid there’s been a significant shift to automation across several industries, which has been driven by staff shortages and increased labour costs. Smart manufacturing technologies are seen as more cost-effective, providing more sustainable operations, and delivering greater levels of efficiency and are becoming more popular in sectors such as food, agriculture, and aerospace.
While the report suggests a period of strong growth over the next 8 years it does say that despite the benefits associated with smart technology, the high cost of deployment and the associated cultural shift that will be needed to ensure its wide-scale deployment could prove problematic.
