Global Digital Transformation Market in Manufacturing to 2023

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Digital transformation has been one of the key trends driving the global industrial sector since the last decade. The move towards realizing industry 4.0 has driven investments in digital transformation, pushing the adoption of technologies in the manufacturing sector.

The manufacturing sector is expected to witness rapid transformation, owing to the increasing penetration of additive manufacturing technologies. Increasing availability of technology and reducing costs are enabling the deployment of advanced manufacturing solutions in small- and medium-scale industries. Further, the proliferation of wireless technologies and entrance of tech companies in the industrial landscape have been major supporting factors for the digital transformation market, while increased awareness among the end-users, further pushed the adoption of the technologies. 

Growing Adoption of Automation to Drive the Market for Robotics

Industrial robots play a crucial role in industry automation, with many core operations in industries being managed by robots. The market has been witnessing huge demand over the past decade, owing to the rising consumption advantages of smart factory systems. Growing penetration of the IoT and investments in robotics have been the major contributors to the growth of the market. Innovations in technology have enabled industries to use robots to streamline many processes, increase efficiency, and also eliminate errors. Some of the major factors driving the market include, rising demand for high-quality products (which need proper end-to-end visibility in the manufacturing process), for energy conservation and growing focus on workplace safety. Incremental advancements in technology, coupled with sustained increase in the development of manufacturing facilities, are also expected to drive the market studied in the near future. 

North America to Hold the Largest Share of the Market

The manufacturing sector is a key aspect of a country's GDP, indicating economic health. The market for digital transformation is undergoing major changes with the penetration of IoT, in North America. The rise of wireless networking technology is enabling revolutionary developments (including the increasing number of flexible factories) while also spurring the use of consumer mobile devices to monitor and manage industrial processes. According to Robotic Industries Association (RIA), a total of 23,985 robots were ordered from various North American countries with a value of USD 1.3 billion in the first nine months of 2016. Though North America being a mature market concerning the technology adoption, the Industrial 4.0 initiative, need to improve employment rate, and productivity in the United States, the market for digital transformation in manufacturing is expected to grow substantially.

Key Developments in the Market

- November 2017 - IBM acquired Agile 3 Solutions, a San Francisco-based company that develops software used by the C-Suite and senior executives to better visualize, understand and manage risks associated with the protection of sensitive data. The acquisition is aimed at complementing the company's security solutions across the cloud and IoT platforms

- June 2017 - GE launched New Solutions Purpose Built For Industrial Assets. GE Digital launched an integrated solution to deliver the industrial service model of the future that combines the power of ServiceMax, which is company's cloud-based field service management solution, with its intelligent Asset Performance Management portfolio to develop service operations, reduce cost, and eliminate unplanned downtime

- March 2017- Siemens acquired Mentor Graphics, which is now part of Siemens' product lifecycle management (PLM) software business, making the combined organization the world's leading supplier of industrial software used for product design, simulation, verification, testing, and manufacturing