Business Trends: The acceleration of industrial autonomy and its impact on sustainable manufacturing
In 2020, the author’s company published the results of a survey that highlighted a significant shift to industrial autonomy, with as many as 89% of companies planning to increase the level of autonomy in their operations.
In 2020, the author’s company published the results of a survey that highlighted a significant shift to industrial autonomy, with as many as 89% of companies planning to increase the level of autonomy in their operations.
Building on the valuable insights of this research, the author’s company commissioned a further study in 2021 to gain an in-depth industry perspective on how major manufacturing companies are implementing industrial autonomy. This article summarizes the key findings and insights from that survey.
Survey scope
The survey Global End-user Survey on the Implementation of Industrial Autonomy was conducted in September 2021. The survey received 534 respondents from 390 companies across seven global markets and seven different industry sectors. A total of 20 questions examined insights in the following areas:
- The impact of industrial autonomy
- Levels of deployment
- Readiness of technologies
- Decision-making
- The impact on employment
- Challenges.
Respondents were all in management roles within different areas of companies, including corporate; operations, project and plant levels; and information technology (IT). Of the resondents, 62% were manufacturers or process operations, 20% were systems integrators and 18% were original equipment manufacturers. Company sizes ranged from medium to large, with workforces ranging from 1,000 to more than 100,000. A breakdown on industry sectors of the respondents included the following:
- Chemicals and petrochemicals—15%
- Pharmaceuticals and biopharma—20%
- Oil and gas—39%
- Power generation (traditional/fossil fuel)—12%
- Renewable energy—14%.
Key findings
The 2021 survey shed light on several findings that have changed since the 2020 survey. As expected, industrial autonomy deployment has accelerated. The biggest surprise was that environmental sustainability has emerged as an area in which industrial autonomy is expected to make a significant positive impact.
The 2020 survey revealed that 30% of process industry companies had implemented autonomous operations and 30% planned to begin them in the next 3 yr. This trend appears to be accelerating, with 51% of manufacturers surveyed in the 2021 study now scaling deployment of industrial autonomy across multiple facilities and business functions, and another 19% having deployed it in at least one facility or business function.
Further confirmation of this acceleration can be seen in the companies that are not engaging in industrial autonomy. In the 2020 survey, 7% reported that they had no plans to implement autonomous or semi-autonomous operations, whereas all the manufacturing companies surveyed in 2021 are now actively considering industrial autonomy of some kind (FIG. 1).
FIG. 1. Companies are starting to deliver on their intentions to deploy industrial autonomy, driving an increase in adoption and implementation, although considerable scope remains for broader deployment.
Aligned with a global focus on the greening of industry and a drive towards more sustainable manufacturing processes and operations, the survey revealed that 45% of respondents expect industrial autonomy to have a significant impact on environmental sustainability improvements in the plant. Only 6% expect industrial autonomy to have no impact on environmental sustainability.
When asked specifically about sustainability, respondents indicated that high levels of positive impact are expected across energy management, worker safety, greenhouse gas reduction and waste reduction.
These findings reveal the developing industry recognition of industrial autonomy as a way to achieve environmental impact reductions and sustainability goals.
Due to the expected positive impacts of industrial autonomy, more than a third (37%) of respondents have already implemented multisite industrial autonomy projects, and 31% have implemented single-site projects, specifically for environmental sustainability, encompassing dynamic energy optimization, water management and emissions reduction.
Return on investment
Productivity improvements in production/manufacturing processes are expected to deliver the highest return of investment (ROI) resulting from investments in digital transformation over the next 3 yr, with 31% of respondents ranking this first and a further 20% ranking it second (FIG. 2).
FIG. 2. Improvements in manufacturing and production processes represent the primary area for ROI from investments in digital transformation, but there is a rising significance of ROI related to HSE benefits.
However, health, safety and environment (HSE) is emerging as another area of significant ROI, with 26% ranking it first (13%) or second (13%) as the area for greatest ROI resulting from investment in digital transformation in the next 3 yr.
Is the technology ready?
Technology readiness is a critical factor in successful industrial autonomy deployments. The survey revealed that the cloud is ranked as the technology area most ready to support industrial autonomy, with 36% of respondents citing that the cloud is mature enough to support large-scale deployment and 34% quoting it as a mature technology ready for certain use cases of industrial autonomy (FIG. 3).
FIG. 3. Technologies are generally ready for industrial autonomy, with cloud leading the way.
Other technologies such as distributed ledger/block chain, edge devices, AI, robotics, and digital twins are most commonly cited as being mature enough for certain use cases.
Remote operations capability is a catalyst, but what is the impact of COVID-19?
Increasing the level of remote operations in manufacturing processes represents an important factor in industrial autonomy. The 2020 survey showed that as a direct result of COVID-19, more companies were looking to invest in remote operations. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to continue to drive the adoption of remote working and autonomous operations.
One-third of manufacturers are deploying single-site remote operations and 31% are implementing it across multiple sites in connection to industrial autonomy. Furthermore, 41% of manufacturers expect industrial autonomy to have a significant impact on their remote operations capabilities (FIG. 4).
FIG. 4. A greater necessity for remote operations in a post-COVID manufacturing environment is integral to the introduction of industrial autonomy.
What are the effects on the workforce?
The general assumption that increased industrial autonomy, with self-governing systems and higher levels of autonomous operations, will lead to the loss of jobs is challenged by the findings of the survey. According to the respondents, there will be a greater emphasis on industrial autonomy to create new opportunities for the evolution of roles.
Across eight key roles in a manufacturing plant, an average of 40% will require some retraining, and an average of 28% will require extensive retraining as a result of industrial autonomy implementations. More than 26% will see minimal impact from industrial autonomy or remain unchanged, whereas only 6% of these roles will be eliminated.
The survey also showed that 58% of respondents see industrial autonomy/autonomous operations as systems that augment human tasks, provide decision-making assistance and adapt to changing conditions.
Who are the key decision-makers?
The survey underscored the importance of the C-suite in industrial autonomy decision-making. It showed that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) plays a key role when it comes to implementing plant level autonomy, with 38% of respondents ranking the CEO as most influential in decision-making. The Chief Technology Officer (34%) and Chief Information Officer (31%) are also seen as key decision-makers, demonstrating the prevalence of C-suite involvement.
Senior-level technical professionals provide important support to these decisions, with 43% saying the Chief Digital Officer has a significant influence on plant-level autonomy decisions.
Industrial autonomy deployments are significant capital investments that fundamentally change working processes. It is clear that decisions are made in the boardroom and are influenced by senior-level technology professionals. HP
The Author
Finnan, K. - Yokogawa, Hartford, Connecticut
Kevin Finnan is a Market Intelligence and Strategy Advisor at Yokogawa. He was previously an independent consultant, Vice President of Marketing for CSE-Semaphore and Director of Marketing at Bristol Babcock. He has more than 30 yr of experience in a variety of vertical markets and has launched more than 40 products in automation and measurement technologies.
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