The vast majority (85%) of manufacturers say they must modernise their day-to-day operations to remain competitive, a new report has revealed.
According to Salesforce’s Trends in Manufacturing report, which is based on a survey of more than 800 manufacturing industry decision makers, manufacturers are under pressure to evolve after years of supply chain disruptions, economic uncertainty and heightened geopolitical tensions. Couple this with the existential technology revolution that is happening, with game-changing innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and augmented reality (AR) proliferating, and the need to stay ahead of the curve is amplified further.
In fact, technology disruptions are seen by manufacturers as one of the top growth opportunities, second only to new product or service offerings. This highlights how much emphasis many manufacturing organisations are putting on their digital transformation aspirations.
However, technology disruption also brings challenges. With an aging employee base and difficulty attracting the next generation of talent, manufacturers are at risk of not having the digital skills needed to take full advantage of disruptive, innovative technologies.
Nevertheless, manufacturers are optimisitic about digital, with 68% saying they expect their technology budgets to increase over the next year. This is followed closely by capital budgets (63%) and operational budgets (61%).
Achyut Jajoo, SVP & GM of Manufacturing & Automotive, said: “In the face of macroeconomic challenges like heightening global tensions, supply chain instability, economic uncertainty, and an aging workforce, the manufacturing industry has to become more agile, connected, and intelligent. To get there, manufacturers must be able to leverage all of their data to power new tools and AI capabilities, including autonomous agents through solutions like Agentforce, that can help them drive operational efficiency and open new service and aftermarket revenue streams.”
Download Salesforce’s full Trends in Manufacturing report for more insights.
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