Hannover Messe 2018 Report Details How Industrial Market Is Ripe for Digitization

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The industrial market is ripe for digitization, and the impetus for aggressive pursuit is present, announced ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies. 

ABI Research had several analysts from its Industrial research group on-site at the Hannover Messe 2018 conference in Hannover, Germany between April 23-27, 2018, and their observations have been compiled into eight brief reads: “Digital Transformation & Industry 4.0: Hannover Messe 2018 Report.” 

The impact of technology and the pursuit of digitization was evident in full at the Hannover Messe conference. Some noteworthy findings from the whitepaper include: 

• The industrial market is ripe for digitization, and the impetus for aggressive pursuit is present. Rather than market-based pain being the driving force, dwindling capacity headroom and a fear of losing competitive edge to a rival are forcing manufacturers to actively pursue a different model for driving profitability and growth.
• There is a clear timeline for applications and market segments that look set to form the vanguard of digitization. These are led by car makers and consumer electronics manufacturers.
• The manufacturing base is faced with several confusing decisions, and the supplier base is adding to the confusion, centered primarily around architecture and approach to digitization
• Platform proliferation is a problem. However, all platforms are not created equal. Very few are truly end-to-end, and many do not integrate easily with one another. Consequently, manufacturers must continue customizing and optimizing solutions to provide a truly integrated end-to-end solution.
• There is real concern over data ownership, management, and location from the manufacturer community, and still a massive desire to hold sensitive data on-premises and in closed-loop environments.
• The debate between edge and cloud computing is almost religious in its fervor. Successful technology providers will find the way to balance these approaches in the most optimized way for their clients.

In the report, “Digital Transformation & Industry 4.0: Hannover Messe 2018,” the following compelling transformative technologies impacting Industry 4.0 are highlighted: 

• AR & Mixed Reality
• Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technologies
• Digital Security
• Intelligent Transportation & eFreight
• M2M (Machine to Machine), IoT (Internet of Things) & IoE (Internet of Everything)
• Robotics, Automation & Intelligent Systems
• Smart Manufacturing
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth & Wireless Connectivity

About ABI Research

ABI Research provides strategic guidance for visionaries needing market foresight on the most compelling transformative technologies, which reshape workforces, identify holes in a market, create new business models and drive new revenue streams. ABI’s own research visionaries take stances early on those technologies, publishing groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms. ABI analysts deliver their conclusions and recommendations in easily and quickly absorbed formats to ensure proper context. Our analysts strategically guide visionaries to take action now and inspire their business to realize a bigger picture.