Despite pandemic-driven budget pressures and many industry challenges to operationalize smart manufacturing use cases at scale, manufacturing executives globally are bullish on the role of smart factory initiatives for company competitiveness, according to new research from Deloitte and Manufacturers Alliance. But they recognize their companies cannot go it alone. 

The collaborative study expands on the 2019 Deloitte and Manufacturers Alliance Smart Factory Study, which identified an ecosystem approach as one of the hallmarks of Trailblazers, a cohort of high-performing manufacturers making great strides in adopting Industry 4.0 technologies. In the new research, nearly 9 in 10 manufacturing executives surveyed globally indicate that these production ecosystems are important or extremely important to the future competitiveness of their business. 

However, smart factory ecosystems are not simply a collection of vendors supporting smart initiatives, which are very common across the industry. Far fewer executives rate their companies mature on 5 defining characteristics of a vibrant ecosystem, the kind formed when entities come together in meaningful ways to solve shared challenges and meet shared objectives.

It is this ecosystem approach (wherein greater contributions originate through partnerships than through in-house development) that enables a cumulative “network effect” and creates value greater than the sum of parts. Substantial ecosystem benefits are observed in speed to market, capacity for innovation, digital maturity, and operating efficiency.

Despite its intuitive appeal and potential ROI, the ecosystem approach remains challenging, requiring complex coordination, data protection, IP security, and skills and capabilities across the factory footprint. But there is a pathway to developing a strong ecosystem, from defining the enterprise roadmap to upgrading in-house capabilities. Discover new insights in this report to advance your production ecosystem and apply proven tactics in our “playbook” to go further, faster in your smart manufacturing journey.

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