The manufacturing industry outlook has changed significantly in the last 24 months resulting in accelerated investment in advanced technologies and process optimization to improve operational resiliency and agility. Manufacturing organizations have been investing in technologies that enable remote operations, automation, integration, and collaboration that support data-driven decision-making. Labour uncertainty and constraints have placed emphasis on the need for hardware and software automation to augment the shopfloor workforce, as well as prioritizing remote capabilities to scale asset maintenance and optimization.

APEJ Implications to identify the top 10 predictions for remote-first, collaboration-driven ecosystems in 2022 and beyond, providing organizations with context and underlying drivers for IT investments supporting autonomous and data-driven manufacturing.

“Manufacturing organizations felt an acute need to launch and accelerate digital transformation projects to address the increasing value chain disruptions and volatility,” said Sampath Kumar Venkataswamy, senior research manager, Manufacturing Insights at IDC. “Focus has been around technology-led interventions that enable real-time data capture, which allows organizations to minimize their operational risks. Investments around digital commerce channels have shown an uptick which invariably increases the fulfilment pressures requiring manufacturers to rely on agile frameworks”, he added.

IDC’s manufacturing top 10 predictions provide guidance to business leaders on the technology trends and the required investments to create an agile, coordinated, and resilient organization.
Remote-First Processes: By 2024, 33 per cent of A2000 companies will develop all new processes as remote-first designs, compared with the very limited number of remote-first processes in 2020.

AI Forecasting: By 2024, 40 per cent of APeJ-based supply chain forecasts will be automated using artificial intelligence, improving accuracy by 5 percentage points.

Servitization Offerings: By the end of 2024, 50 pwer cent of A2000 OEMs will offer flexible service products going beyond standard contracts and consumables to achieve 90 per cent + customer retention and increase service margins by 5 per cent.

Vision as a Sensor: By 2027, 25 per cent of APEJ-based organizations will utilize vision analytics in operations, moving beyond quality inspection and security use cases to those focused on performance, experience, and safety.

Data Ecosystems: By 2025, 25 per cent of APEJ-based manufacturers will share data in their ecosystems (partners, customers, suppliers), thereby improving OEE of their factory operations on average by 10 per cent.

B2B Digital Commerce: By 2024, driven by the global pandemic, 60 per cent of APEJ-based industrial manufacturing organizations will have invested in B2B digital commerce, thereby improving sales and marketing effectiveness by 15 per cent.

Application Ecosystems: By 2024, 25 per cent of APEJ-based manufacturers will share applications with industry ecosystem partners to improve visibility and operational efficiency and ensure safety, security, and quality.

Low-code Platforms: By 2026, over 40 per cent of APEJ-based organizations will rely on low-code platforms and tools to build smart custom applications that can support connected manufacturing needs while reducing deployment efforts by 33 per cent.

API-Led Integration: By 2023, 40 per cent of A2000 manufacturers will adopt an API-led integration strategy to link applications as a single platform to improve agility and visibility across organizations.

Traceability Technologies: Driven by increased demand for environmental accountability in manufacturing ecosystems, by 2025, 40 per cent of A2000 manufacturers will use traceability technologies to mitigate risk and boost transparency.

Tags: IDCTechnology