Ericsson: Widespread manufacturing transformation by 2030
Releasing its latest ‘Future of Enterprises’ report, the leading telecommunications company has predicted widespread transformation among manufacturing enterprises by 2030.
Ericsson’s first report of this kind was published in February 2021 titled: ‘Future of Enterprises report - The Dematerialization Path to Profitability and Sustainability’.
Future of Enterprises report: The Rise of the Smarter, Swifter, Safer Production Employee
Ericsson’s latest report - the second in the series - looks at the rise in ICT-enabled production tools such as augmented reality, (AR) exoskeletons and remote control, as well as forecasting new factory setups such as manufacturing-as-a-service and pop-up factories.
In the report, Ericsson discovered that most manufacturers expect to be at least 80% automated in the next 10 years, and see at least a two-fold rise in the use of ICT-enabled tools - AI Software, video recognition, AR, virtual reality (VR), automotive guided vehicles (AGVs) and exoskeletons - in the next five years.
The report also found that most enterprises have emerged from the worst effects of the pandemic mostly unharmed, 69% reported ‘unchanged’ or ‘improved’ financial performance since the start of the global lockdowns.
However, eight in 10 enterprises report that they are operating under cost-cutting targets as a result of tough global competition and pressures to increase productivity and efficiency. As a result, manufacturers are looking to deploy five or more production tools enabled by advanced wireless networks in the next five years (seven in 10).
“It’s exciting to see wireless connectivity mature and becoming an enabler for businesses to put advanced system support in the hands of the people in the frontline, on the factory floor, in the mine and along the supply chain. As reflected in the report, with automation increasing manufacturers will be able to create more safe and efficient work environments, something we have also seen in our own factories including Ericsson 5G smart factories in the US, Tallinn and Nanjing, which are all equipped with private networks,” said Sebastian Elmgren, Smart Manufacturing Portfolio Manager, Ericsson.
“We were amazed to see that tool frontrunners were progressive in almost every aspect, not only more financially successful but also that they enjoyed higher overall employee satisfaction and are leading in sustainability actions,” added Rowan Högman, Research Leader 5G Industry Collaborations and one of the report authors.
To read the full report, click here.
Ericsson’s latest report gathered insights from 145mn production employees from 22 markets.
