1. The latest Ericsson IndustryLab Future of Enterprises report predicts widespread transformation of manufacturing enterprises in the coming years, including a rapid rise in ICT-enabled production tools such as augmented reality, exoskeletons and remote control.
2. The series of reports also predicts dematerialized enterprises expect to leverage cloud and mobile technology to become more productive and sustainable by 2030.
1. Quantitative data was collected from 22 global markets, through 8,657 online interviews held with respondents aged 18 and older between June and September 2021
2. The countries covered were: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Germany, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, the USA and Vietnam.
3. Qualitative insights were gathered through 32 telepresence interviews with decision makers, production employees, subject matter experts and academic researchers in the US, China, Colombia and Sweden. The interviews were conducted between November 2020 and March 2021.
4. The 145 million representativity figure relates to production employees only. There is representativity datapoint for decision makers.
5. The latest Ericsson IndustryLab Future of Enterprises report predicts widespread transformation of manufacturing enterprises in the coming years, including a rapid rise in ICT-enabled production tools such as augmented reality, exoskeletons and remote control.
6. The report (Rise of the Smarter, Swifter, Safer Production Employee) marks the second edition of the Ericsson IndustryLab Future of Enterprises report series.
7. According to the report research, most manufacturing enterprises expect to be at least 80 percent automated within ten years, with many expecting to see at least a two-fold rise in the use of ICT-enabled tools within the next five years.
8. Such tools include: AI software, video recognition, augmented and virtual reality, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and exoskeletons.
9. The report finds that most manufacturing enterprises have emerged largely unharmed from the worst effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with 69 percent reporting an unchanged, or even improved, financial performance since lockdowns began.
10. However, in response to tough global competition and constant pressures to increase productivity and efficiency, as many as eight-in-10 manufacturing enterprises say they currently operate under cost-cutting targets.
11. To handle this demanding environment and enable production employees to be smarter, swifter and safer, manufacturers are introducing ICT production tools.
12. As many as seven-in-10 manufacturing enterprises say that they plan to deploy five or more production tools enabled by advanced wireless networks, such as 5G, within five years.
13. As reflected in the report, with automation increasing manufacturers will be able to create more safe and efficient work environments.
14. Manufacturers that currently use three or more ICT-enabled production tools, defined in the report as tool frontrunners, enjoyed significantly improved financial performance compared to those who use no tools at all.
ENTERPRISES DEMATERIALIZATION
1. Ericsson IndustryLab asked white-collar workers and ICT decision makers online about the future of their enterprises.
2. The report is based on 5,000 responses from 11 markets, representing about 175 million employees globally.
3. Ericsson Consumer & IndustryLab reports that dematerialized enterprises expect to leverage cloud and mobile technology to become more productive and sustainable by 2030.
4. Today, almost 7 in 10 of the surveyed enterprises have reached halfway or beyond in their dematerialization journey. Instead of office-based, 6 in 10 businesses expect to move to extended reality (XR), more specifically, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) devices, cloud and mobile technology.
5. With this shift, cellular connectivity will be a key enabler for the transition to remote working and increased profitability. Besides the savings on office maintenance, enterprises can easily set up new branches, contract personnel overseas, or run a worldwide cloud-based e-commerce business with cloud solutions.
6. Less commuting and decrease in CO2 emissions is also a likely result of the shift towards remote working, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. But most enterprises strive to do more than this to increase their sustainability. One approach to reduce the environmental impact, including CO2 emissions, is to decrease material usage through dematerialization.
7. ICT solutions have the potential to lessen the need for material by substituting physical products with services and digital products. To achieve a net-zero carbon operation, more than half of the surveyed enterprises already use renewable energy for most of their energy needs. Additionally, 8 in 10 decision makers expect to make significant energy saving through the move toward cloud solutions.
8. Digitalization represents an enormous opportunity to increase enterprise productivity and sustainability. Indeed, digital technology is a key enabler for tackling big challenges such as CO2 emissions and material usage.
9. The surveyed ICT decision makers also agree that ICT solutions such as 5G, XR and cloud implementations will be key in their continued journey towards greater sustainability and higher profitability. “
Source:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2021/11/ericsson-industrylab-predicts-manufacturing-transformation
https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2021/2/dematerialization-report
