The latest Rockwell Automation “smart” manufacturing report concludes that digital transformation at industrial organizations is “gaining momentum,” with more than half of respondents—56%—saying they are piloting “smart” manufacturing, another 20% reporting they are running Industry 4.0 technologies at scale and 20% saying they are planning future investments.
See also: Industry 4.0 isn’t quite so sexy anymore
And of the respondents not adopting smart manufacturing at present, 69% said their companies plan to invest in the next 12 months.
Also a healthy majority of manufacturers (81%) in the survey said the obstacles they face, both within their own organizations and externally, are accelerating their digital transformations.
See also: Epidemic of corporate caution gridlocks digital transformation
All in all, Rockwell’s 2025 State of Manufacturing Report strikes a positive tone about technology progress in the Industry 4.0 era, but it does note that “the skills gap and labor shortages remain primary business challenges.”
But “the shift towards smart manufacturing solutions is not correlated with reduced hiring. Respondents instead asserted their organizations’ plan to hire more people with technology skill sets and to retrain current employees,” the 2025 report’s executive summary states.
The report surveyed 1,560 manufacturing leaders worldwide, decision-makers from 17 of the top manufacturing countries (30% in the Americas, 42% in the EMEA, and 27% in the Asia-Pacific region). More than half of those respondents (58%) work for companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
See also: Why Industry 4.0 can’t succeed without operational efficiency
“AI offers a solution … and remains a challenge,” the 2025 report adds, nothing that respondents saw artificial intelligence technology as “a potential solution to labor shortages, skills gaps, quality control and managing external pressures. People recognize the promise of AI and have successfully deployed it for quality assurance but continue to look for ways to alleviate pressures like the labor shortage and skills gap.”
Report focuses on tech, cutting skills gaps, reducing labor shortages
The Rockwell Automation report has a focus on technology as a means to reduce skills gaps and alleviate labor shortages, noting that 41% of respondents have introduced AI and machine learning combined with an increase in automation to counter the skills gap and less available labor.
As external obstacles to growth for their companies, 34% from the Rockwell report name inflation and economic growth while 83% identify analytical thinking and communication and teamwork as the most critical factors in recruiting the next-generation workforce.
See also: Ready to reshore? Surveys show hurdles to returning more manufacturing to U.S.
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