Increasing productivity, sales and profitability with industry 4.0

Companies in the manufacturing industry are increasingly recognizing the competitive advantages associated with industry 4.0. This is the finding of a study by the MPI Group. However, many managers also report difficulties in putting their industry 4.0 initiatives into practice. Only one-fifth of companies fully achieve the strategic goals they set as part of their industry 4.0 initiatives. In addition, many manufacturing companies are having difficulty implementing projects on time and on budget.

Set the stage for industry 4.0 now

Significant impact on own business

Industry 4.0 plays a crucial role in the manufacturing industry – there is consensus on this in the industrial sector. 57% of respondents rate industry 4.0 as extremely important and 35% as very important. Two-thirds of companies believe that industry 4.0 will have a significant impact on the manufacturing industry as a whole and on their own business in particular over the next five years. While 61% already attest to the potential of industry 4.0 to be a key differentiator from the competition, 37% see industry 4.0 in this role in the future.

More and more companies are using industry 4.0

The proportion of companies that have already developed and implemented strategies to apply technologies from the industry 4.0 environment to their processes or incorporate them into their products has risen from 47% to 58% and from 37% to 47%, respectively, since the previous survey from 2020. The technologies most frequently considered as components of industry 4.0 are factory automation (61%), artificial intelligence (58%) and IoT platforms (55%).

Optimizing quality, production and costs

As far as the use cases for industry 4.0 are concerned, a very multi-faceted picture emerges. Most frequently, industry 4.0 is used for asset management and performance management of machinery and equipment. The main benefits associated with industry 4.0 include improving quality, increasing production capacity and reducing operating costs. The use of industry 4.0 in plants, processes and supply chains has a noticeable impact on productivity and profitability. 63% of companies report profitability increases of more than 5% in the past year alone.

Conclusion: Digitized production brings competitive advantages

The ability to design and implement efficient industry 4.0 strategies is increasingly becoming a decisive competitive factor for manufacturing companies to hold their own against global competitors. With the help of digitalization of production, they are able to optimize their processes, reduce their costs and generate higher revenues through industry 4.0-enabled processes and products.