December/January 2019

| INTERVIEWS & REPORTS | www.smartmachinesandfactories.com December/January 2020 | 47 | A new study from the Capgemini Research Institute has found that smart factories could add at least $1.5 trillion to the global economy through productivity gains, improvements in quality and market share, along with customer services. However two-thirds of this overall value is still to be realised: efficiency by design and operational excellence through closed- loop operations will make equal contributions. According to the new research, China, Germany and Japan are the top three countries in smart factory adoption, closely followed by South Korea, United States and France. The report entitled, “Smart Factories @ Scale”, identified the two main challenges to scaling up: the IT-OT[3] convergence and the range of skills and capabilities required to drive the transformation including cross- functional capabilities and soft skills in addition to digital talent. The report also highlights how the technology led- disruption, towards an ‘Intelligent Industry’, is an opportunity for manufacturers striving to find new ways to create business value, optimise their operations and innovate for a sustainable future. Key findings of the study, which surveyed over 1000 industrial company executives across 13 countries, include: Organisations are showing an increasing appetite and aptitude for smart factories: compared to two years ago, more organisations are progressing with their smart initiatives today and one-third of factories have already been transformed into smart facilities. Manufacturers now plan to create 40% more smart factories in the next five years and increase their annual investments by 1.7x compared to the last three years. The potential value add from smart factories is bigger than ever: based on this potential for growth, Capgemini estimates that smart factories can add anywhere between $1.5 trillion to $2.2 trillion to the global economy over the next five years. In 2017 Capgemini found that 43% of organisations had ongoing smart factory projects; which has shown a promising increase to 68% in two years. 5G is set to become a key enabler as its features would A new study from the Capgemini Research Institute has found that smart factories could add at least $1.5 trillion to the global economy through productivity gains, improvements in quality and market share, along with customer services. Smart Machines & Factories reports. An increased appetite for smart factories