[Report] Industry 4.0: Maturity of Adoption and Its Impact on Sustainability and ESG

[Report] Industry 4.0: Maturity of Adoption and Its Impact on Sustainability and ESG | SPONSORED

This report examines the data from a survey of more than 600 companies conducted by 451 Research and commissioned by Hitachi Vantara on the application of Industry 4.0 approaches in manufacturing, transportation and energy, to explore the maturity of digital transformation in those industries.

451 asked participants about new technology adoption, such as internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and digital twins, as well as perceived attitudes toward adoption of these technologies among peer companies. The survey provides an indication of which industry sectors are leading the way and the path that the remaining industries will take.

Key Findings

• Of the three industries covered in the survey, manufacturing is the most digitally mature – i.e., the furthest along with digital transformation – followed by energy and transportation.

• Among surveyed companies that are already engaged in digital transformation, 57% said IT and OT are actively cooperating, suggesting there is still much room for improvement for true IT/OT data convergence synergies.

• The adoption of digital twins, while still in the early stages of development, is emerging as a significant indicator of digital maturity by which to compare industry sectors.

• Use cases with the greatest expected growth in the next two years vary by industry. Manufacturing respondents most often cited assembly line creation and optimization, while transportation respondents chose predictive maintenance and energy respondents selected smart metering.

• Shortage of skilled labor is a source of widespread worry. Companies are uniformly concerned about acquiring skills related to data science, IoT and emerging areas such as robotics.

• While security remains a key concern, respondents don’t regard engineers with security skills as being in short supply. This could be partly due to increased use of AI/ML tools to assist staff, as 46% of respondents cited digital/data security as a top AI use case.

• ESG outcomes from digital transformation do not appear to be extensively driven by regulation; companies are seeking to achieve efficiency and sustainability primarily as a competitive necessity.

Table of contents

• Key findings

• Assessing Digital Maturity – Peer-to-Peer Comparison

• AI/ML – a Digital Maturity Enabler

• Digital Twins/Digital Threads

• Where IT Meets OT

• Sector-Specific Use-Case Growth: Manufacturing Use Cases, Transportation Use Cases, Energy Use Cases

• Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Regulatory Impact

• Conclusions

Sponsored by Hitachi Vantara