The new research, Industrial IoT: Future Market Outlook, Technology Analysis & Key Players 2020-2025, predicted that 5G and LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) networks will play pivotal roles in creating attractive service offerings to the manufacturing industry, and enabling the realisation of the ‘smart factory’ concept, in which real-time data transmission and high connection densities allow highly-autonomous operations for manufacturers.

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The report identified private 5G services as crucial to maximising the value of a smart factory to service users, by leveraging the technology to enable superior levels of autonomy amongst operations. It found that private 5G networks will prove most valuable when used for the transmission of large amounts of data in environments with a high density of connections, and where significant levels of data are generated. In turn, this will enable large-scale manufacturers to reduce operational spend through efficiency gains.

The research forecasts that over 80% of global Industrial IoT market value will be attributable to software spend by 2025; reaching $216 billion. Software tools leveraging machine learning for enhanced data analysis and the identification of network vulnerabilities are now essential to connected manufacturing operations.

Research author Scarlett Woodford noted: ‘Manufacturers must exercise caution when implementing IoT technology; resisting the temptation to introduce connectivity to all aspects of operations. Instead, manufacturers must focus on the collection of data on the most valuable areas to drive efficiency gains.’