Fully connected factories expected to rise dramatically over the next five years

Zebra Technologies Corporation, the market leader in mobile computers, scanners and barcode printers enhanced with software and services to enable real-time enterprise visibility solutions, has revealed the results of their 2017 Manufacturing Vision Study, a body of research analysing the emerging trends shaping the future of industrial manufacturing. The global study revealed manufacturers are adopting the IIoT to enhance visibility and improve quality.

Driven by globalisation, intensifying competition and rising customer demand for more options and higher quality products, a connected plant floor has become a necessity. Zebra’s survey shows the number of organisations achieving a fully connected factory is expected to rise dramatically over the next five years.

Key survey findings

• Manufacturers will continue to adopt Industry 4.0 and the smart factory. Workers will use a combination of radio frequency identification (RFID), wearables, automated systems and other emerging technologies to monitor the physical processes of the plant and enable companies to make decentralised decisions. By 2022, 64% of manufacturers expect to be fully connected compared to just 43% today.

• One-half of manufacturers plan to adopt wearable technologies by 2022. And 55% of current wearable users expect to expand their level of usage in the next five years.

• Manual processes are expected to dramatically decline. Today, 62% use pen and paper to track vital manufacturing steps; this is expected to drop to one in five by 2022. The use of pen and paper to track work in progress (WIP) is highly inefficient and susceptible to error.

• Executives across all regions cited achieving quality assurance as their top priority over the next five years. Forward-looking manufacturers are embracing a quality-minded philosophy to drive growth, throughput and profitability. By 2022, only 34% expect to rate this as a top concern – signalling that improvements made by both suppliers and manufacturers will ultimately improve the quality of finished goods.

• Manufacturers stated investments in visibility will support growth across their operation. 63% cited tracking as a core focus with a blend of technology (i.e. barcode scanning, RFID and real-time location systems [RTLS]) expected to be deployed to achieve the desired visibility.

• 51% of companies are planning to expand the use of voice technology in the next five years. The most dramatic growth for voice technology will be in the largest companies (>$1 billion) with a reported use growing to 55% by 2022.

Jeff Schmitz, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Zebra said: “Manufacturers are entering a new era in which producing high-quality products is paramount to retaining and acquiring customers as well as capturing significant cost savings that impact the bottom line. The results of Zebra’s 2017 Manufacturing Vision Study prove that IIoT has crossed the chasm, and savvy manufacturers are investing aggressively in technologies that will create a smarter, more connected plant floor to achieve greater operational visibility and enhance quality.”