Consolidated from several surveys, SYSPRO's findings revealed that 15 per cent of respondents said that outdated systems are creating manufacturing inefficiencies, with a further 15 per cent suffering from limited scalability to meet future needs.
As such, a significant number of manufacturers are working to overcome barriers of high upfront costs and internal resistance to change, to adopt technologies such as automation and robotics (37 per cent), AI and machine learning (19 per cent) and industrial internet of things, or IIOT, (18 per cent) technologies.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, AI and automation (40 per cent) lead in their digital transformation priorities, followed by enhancing digital integration and real-time insights (29 per cent) and managing costs while adopting new technologies (24 per cent).
Adopting AI
40 per cent of respondents said that implementing AI and automation was their 'top priority' when it comes to digital transformation, and a further 80 per cent are either currently devoting resources to AI implementation or are making near-term plans to do so. 12 per cent have already deployed AI (differentiated from machine learning) or are actively in the process of doing so, almost six in ten (57 per cent) are actively researching use cases, and another 11 per cent plan to deploy AI within the next year.
SYSPRO’s findings mirror those of a Manufacturing Leadership Council survey, which found that 78% of manufacturers say their AI initiatives within manufacturing operations are part of their company’s larger digital transformation and business strategies.
Barriers to adoption
When manufacturers were asked about the biggest challenges they expect to face in the future, the number one response was their ability to attract and retain a skilled workforce (30 per cent), followed by supply chain disruptions (23 per cent) and cybersecurity (12 per cent). These findings concur with a survey from the National Association of Manufacturers which found that 71 per cent of manufacturing companies struggled to attract and retain employees.
The inability to obtain real-time data to enable firms to make quick, data-driven decisions (40 per cent) was also noted as a key challenge. Despite analytics providing a solution to this problem, only 23 per cent have made implementing analytics a key technology priority for the coming year. Additionally, almost one-quarter (24 per cent) are not using any kind of analytics at all.
“Our research shows the appetite for smart technology amongst manufacturers is high, enabling the industry to harness advanced technologies to overcome a plethora of demands, from workforce shortages and supply chain disruptions, to effective, data-driven decision making. However, the research also shows that adoption and deployment remains a challenge,” Kelly Kucera, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at SYSPRO Americas, said in a statement.
“We understand the urgent need to address this problematic gap between desire and adoption, which is why we’ve designed our ERP solutions to simplify this transition, and provide the flexibility and integration needed for real-world manufacturing environments of the future.”
The full Frost & Sullivan Research Report can be downloaded and read in full here.
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