Digital factory market to grow at 33%

2nd Quarter 2019 News & events

The digital factory market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33% to reach $673 billion in 2026. According to a new report published by ABI Research, these sales include the actual hardware revenues for entire industrial robots, collaborative robots, connected PLCs, intelligent industrial battery management systems, electric motors, pumps, tank management systems and smart glasses.

“Currently, most manufacturing equipment still communicates in proprietary protocols and connecting it in a cost-efficient way without too much custom code often requires the expertise of IIoT integration specialists,” says principal analyst Pierce Owen. “For new factories, we have started to see how telcos and network infrastructure vendors can deploy private LTE, but so far it only works if the plant owner has the negotiating power to demand cellular connected equipment from all its suppliers.”

The automotive industry leads the way in the adoption of most digital factory technologies and represents the largest opportunity globally with $139 billion in digital factory revenues forecast for 2030.

“The automotive industry has demonstrated a willingness to scale transformative technologies ranging from generative design and additive manufacturing to IIoT connectivity and robotics of all kinds more than any other industry, but other industries will start to catch up over the next decade. The companies that first follow the automotive OEMs’ lead and scale technologies with proven value will gain a competitive advantage,” Owen concludes.

For more information contact Deborah Petrara, ABI Research, +1 516 624 2558, [email protected], www.abiresearch.com

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