More than three-fourths (83%) of industrial leaders are investing more in artificial intelligence (AI) in 2024, up from 63% in 2023, according to Augury, and results show a 300% increase YoY in the number of respondents citing no roadblocks to AI adoption.
“Our 2024 findings paint a positive outlook for the industrial sector and technology adoption, as almost all (96%) leaders feel optimistic about manufacturing’s future,” says Saar Yoskovitz, Augury’s CEO and co-founder. “Manufacturers’ trust in the value of AI is rapidly growing as they enhance their organizations’ AI skills and achieve higher returns. While measuring AI’s influence on vital business objectives remains challenging for some, many industrial leaders have found their footing in 12 short months. This group of innovators will pull ahead as industry leaders and provide a blueprint for achieving the Industry 4.0 ideal.”
Key takeaways:
- Since 2023, there has been a lot of success capitalizing on AI for production health use cases. Now, twice as many respondents say they can quantify benefits for machine health/downtime (36% vs. 16%), and three times as many report impact to process health/maximizing yield and capacity (40% vs. 13%).
- Nine in 10 (90%) of manufacturers anticipate more frequent supply chain disruptions over the next 12 months. While manufacturers rank the supply chain as the top production obstacle (cited by 25% of respondents) and a significant AI use case (43%), it remains industrial leaders’ lowest-ranked objective for leveraging AI. This discrepancy may indicate that manufacturers believe their existing investments in the supply chain are effective.
- Most (91%) industrial leaders worry that retiring veterans exacerbate the knowledge gap in manufacturing. Luckily, the findings indicate that AI technologies have provided welcome relief in addressing the aging workforce and skilled-talent gap.
“Though AI has started proving its effectiveness, nine out of 10 industrial leaders say that just 11-50% of their AI pilots have reached scale,” Yoskovitz adds. “To bridge this gap, manufacturers are increasing AI spending. It will be critical to target investments specifically around production health solutions to better visualize and act on data that connects machines, processes, and operations. Those who do will be better positioned to meet production goals while addressing today’s key challenges for manufacturers.”
