New research from analysts ThoughtSpark has revealed that between 25% and 30% of European and North American manufacturers have now reached ‘significant’ adoption levels of digitalised technologies. This provides a realistic benchmark of digital adoption across all sizes of manufacturer, in contrast with other studies that focus on adoption rates in larger, pioneering manufacturing companies.
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Research was conducted among over 1,200 manufacturing companies and tracked respondent views on ‘significant’ adoption of digital technologies – defined as implementing digital capabilities in at least half of a manufacturer’s production environment.
Moderately good levels of return on investment are being experienced from digital investments, according to the research – in terms of performance, value, savings and sustainability gains. Nevertheless, there remains significant headroom for these to be improved.
Many studies of digitalisation in manufacturing to date have focused on large pioneer corporations, sometimes giving the misleading impression that adoption rates are higher than is truly the case. However, the findings of this ThoughtSpark study should give encouragement to SME manufacturers. They still have time to invest in digital and gain concomitant commercial and competitive benefits – although the clock is ticking.
Similarly for digital solutions providers, there remains much headroom for sales growth across the rest of the decade. To accelerate adoption – particularly among SME manufacturers – the authors of this paper suggest that the good foundations already set by government and trade associations be amplified and extended, particularly:
· Enhanced government policy incentives
· Closer alignment between digitalisation and sustainability goals
· Greater (anonymised) experience sharing – probably facilitated by trade bodies
· More access to flexible financing solutions to encourage investment
Interested parties can obtain their own copy of the ThoughtSpark report here.