As per a recent analysis, smart factory investments can increase up to 205% by 2025 compared with 2020 across the “Big-5” cluster (US, China, India, Brazil, and the UK).

According to the UN, nearly 2.78 million people die yearly from workplace-related accidents and illnesses. The organization also says that, when it comes to unsafe workplace operations, the manufacturing sector is one of the biggest contributors to injuries and fatalities for workers.

Companies are more concerned than ever before about employee productivity, and rightly so!

Statistics show that less than 60% of working hours are spent productively. A company can increase profits by 21% if employees become optimally productive.

What started as a way of offering convenience to customers at their doorstep during the COVID-19 lockdown has now become a mainstay in the retail industry. 

A decade ago, manufacturers began fitting their vehicles with hi-tech gadgets and electronic sensors to help bring better driving as well as engagement experiences to the mix. In the initial days, the focus from manufacturers was to deliver entertainment and navigation options through infotainment screens and cockpit displays.

In 2022, Afraz Jaffri, Director Analyst at Gartner, said that the AI Hype Cycle is “full of innovations expected to drive high or even transformational benefits.” He stressed that enterprises need to “pay attention” to innovations, such as “decision intelligence and edge AI,” that will hit mainstream adoption soon.

In the realm of cutting-edge technologies, the convergence of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Computer Vision has captured the attention of researchers and industry experts alike. By harnessing the synergistic potential of these two fields, enterprises can unlock a plethora of benefits.

As AI technologies continue to become more sophisticated, we’re witnessing their pervasive use across industries. Consider the case of manufacturing; from using RPA to handle repetitive tasks to employing digital twins to drive the entire manufacturing lifecycle, AI is serving well to demonstrate its inherent versatility in various sectors today.

The world has already witnessed an industrial revolution in the form of Industry 4.0. As defined by the World Economic Forum, Industry 4.0 essentially is an integration of digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), work-related injuries in the manufacturing sector contributed to 5,190 fatalities in 2021. This marked a 9% increase from the 4,764 fatalities recorded in 2020. The fatal injury rate of 3.6 fatalities per 100,000 full-time workers in 2021 marked the highest increase since 2016.