The new trends to watch in industry in 2020

2020 will or won’t be a digital year in industry!

All the signs are pointing towards digitally enabled factories. All the innovations hitting the industrial B2B market are designed to simplify processes, ramp up safety and pre-empt any problems.

According to a Forrester survey entitled «The Top 10 Technology Trends to Watch: 2018 to 2020″, organizations need to adopt these new technologies to ensure their survival.

According to consultancy Deloitte, only 20% of manufacturers believe that they are wholly ready to face the new business models generated by the fourth industrial revolution. 

1st trend: IoT

Manufacturers are making increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT), which involves interconnecting standalone devices within an existing Internet infrastructure.

IoT plays an instrumental role in achieving various objectives, such as lowering costs, improving efficiency, bolstering safety and addressing product conformity and innovation requirements.

Forbes predicts that spending on IoT technologies, apps and solutions will reach $267 billion by 2020. This explosion in spending should be driven by the manufacturing industry, which will transform and digitally connect its business processes. You can expect to see greater connectivity in everything, from workshops through to supply chains, with the aim of helping manufacturers raise the bar on efficiency and productivity.

2nd trend: Collaborative robots

The fact that the use of robotic systems is soaring in industry can be explained by the need to prevent people from carrying out repetitive and sometimes dangerous tasks.

In 2020, people will be talking about smart robots, rather than just simple robots!

Production lines are being enhanced with new machines capable of collaborating with human operators and stepping in when it comes to certain ergonomically challenging activities that can cause a host of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

These cobots play an essential part in minimizing difficult working conditions and increasing performance.

However, the collaborative robot revolution requires a large array of technologies to ensure safety, modularity and productivity.

3rd trend: AI, AR and VR

AI (artificial intelligence), AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) are other trending technologies that will shake up the manufacturing industry in 2020.

In addition to adopting IoT technologies, manufacturers are setting their sights on smart technologies and artificial intelligence in a bid to gain a competitive advantage.

Machine learning and smart manufacturing are already helping manufacturing companies to automate their processes and improve their efficiency, such as in terms of quality control and maintenance.  

For example, VR can be used to make quick tweaks and additions to products during the design phase.

Meanwhile, devices specifically designed to reproduce effects, such as safety eyewear and helmets, can insert computer-generated graphics into workers’ field of vision, which delivers real-time assistance when they are performing their tasks.

These new technologies are still in their teething stages when it comes to the manufacturing industry, but they are growing fast and could have a major impact in 2020.

4th solution: Keep your eyes open

The manufacturing industry is constantly innovating, which is why it is so important to be attentive and anticipate any changes shaping the industry of tomorrow.

To discover the other future trends for 2020, download the infographic entitled The new trends to watch in industry in 2020