Singapore Manufacturing Sector Leads IoT Readiness in APEJ

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Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) IoT spend in (APeJ) is expected to reach US $ 455.6 billion by 2021. Manufacturing will account for US $130.9 billion in that year according to the IDC IoT Spending guide. While APeJ has an eclectic mix of economic climates, technology preparedness and ease of doing business, it also has significant focus on IoT deployment in the manufacturing sector across mature and emerging countries of the region. Singapore spearheads the manufacturing industry IoT readiness index because of its strong government thrust and robust FDI investment to drive technology and digital transformation initiatives. There is strong focus on integration of sensors with machines and products to improve customer service, optimize asset utilization and conduct predictive maintenance – driving forward Singapore’s IoT technologies and initiatives.

After the hugely successful models by IDC’s global and regional teams to evaluate the IoT readiness of the G20 nations in G20 Nations and the IoT: A Comparative Assessment (US41866816) and countries in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) in APeJ Nations and the IoT: A Comparative Assessment (AP42881317), IDC has embarked on a vertical deep dive study to develop industry readiness indices in APeJ, starting with manufacturing, followed up by retail, banking and healthcare. According to the manufacturing IoT readiness index among 13 countries in the region, Singapore, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia have been identified as the top 5 IoT prepared countries in the manufacturing vertical.

"Singapore leads the APeJ nations for their IoT readiness in the manufacturing sector. Singapore’s ease of doing business, cloud infrastructure, IoT and IT spends, labor force productivity and use of robotics and automation in manufacturing processes contributes to its leading position," says Hugh Ujhazy, Associate Vice President for the Internet of Things research, IDC Asia Pacific. "Knowing where a country stands in the manufacturing loT index will help global and local IT vendors know what opportunities lie ahead of them, challenges faced and optimum vendor partnerships worth considering for end user organizations."

"IDC's assessment of the manufacturing vertical across APEJ nations also evaluates the top use cases being trialed in the region," adds Shaily Shah, Research Manager for the Internet of Things research, IDC Asia Pacific. "Amongst end user organizations in the manufacturing sector, key use cases that have emerged are manufacturing plant security, inventory tracking, payment systems, environmental monitoring and asset performance management. These are in various phases of research, pilot and production in the region as identified by IDC’s 2017 Annual End user IoT survey."

For technology buyers to address opportunities and evaluate country and industry readiness with respect to technology and innovation, this report focuses on the following:

This composite index ranks 13 APeJ nations (mix of developed and developing) across 15 critical parameters, comprising a mix of country level metrics (such as economic stability, innovation potential, regulatory and government environment) and industry level metrics (such as purchasing manager’s index, industrial GDP and technology spend on manufacturing).

While at a country readiness level South Korea led the region; in the manufacturing sector, the top three countries are Singapore, New Zealand and South Korea. These have the most efficiencies for nation-wide manufacturing related IoT adoption across the board.

This study is coupled with the IDC Global IoT Decision Maker survey results for the manufacturing sector that identifies key use cases, strategic partnerships, benefits and challenges and essential vendor guidance for technology leaders looking to build their manufacturing IoT roadmaps of the future.

IDC's Global IoT Decision Maker Survey represents the latest results of a five-year study of the IOT market. It was conducted between July and August 2017 and includes over 4,500 respondents from more than 25 countries worldwide, spanning a wide array of industries (including manufacturing, retail, utilities, government, health, and finance). This study presents a regional analysis of the results includes 460 manufacturing respondents in Asia Pacific across 13 countries in total. The purpose of the survey is to gain insights from enterprise IT and business decision makers about their perception of IoT as well as their early deployments or plans for deployment of IoT solutions. Topics covered in the survey include: levels of enterprise awareness of IoT; deployment plans; IoT adoption drivers and inhibitors; perceptions of IoT vendors and vendor selection criteria; organizational factors; and security, cloud, and analytics requirements.

IDC’S IoT Readiness Index comparative assessment was conducted in July 2017 as an extension of the G20 study conducted by the global team based on in-house data on IoT and IT spends and cloud infrastructure investments and secondary research of parameters such as GDP, global innovation, ease of business, government and regulatory effectiveness, etc. The deep dive into different verticals was conducted in March 2018 as an update to this study with industry specific metrics to evaluate the readiness for IoT in manufacturing, retail, banking and healthcare.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, data, and marketing services company.