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The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Industry 4.0: At the intersection of readiness and responsibility

This is the first time views from Industrial Products leaders across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa who participated in Deloitte’s global third annual survey of C-suite executives are being published.

We found that as companies face new realities, leaders are seeking the right approach to four key areas critical to Industry 4.0: strategy, societal impact, talent, and technology. The survey data suggests businesses with comprehensive Industry 4.0 strategies are far more successful across the board. They’re innovating and growing faster, and doing a better job of attracting and training the people they’ll need in the future.

Major trends and insights:

When strategy leads, success follows: Two-thirds of CXOs said their companies either have no formal Industry 4.0 strategy or are taking ad hoc approaches. Conversely, only 10 per cent of CXOs said they have longer-range strategies to leverage new technologies that reach across their organisations.
Recognition of business’s social responsibility: There’s ample evidence most businesses are beginning to try to find a balance between profit and purpose, thanks largely to increased pressure from customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Nearly all business leaders we surveyed fear that the effects of climate change could negatively affect their organisation, and half cite tackling climate change as their generation’s top priority.
Commitment to training and development: Organisations continue to struggle to ensure that their workforces possess the skills needed to succeed in an Industry 4.0 environment. Only one-fifth of executives completely agreed that their organisations are currently ready, and just 10 per cent said they are making a great deal of progress identifying, attracting, and retaining the right talent. More than 80 per cent of respondents said they either have created or are creating a corporate culture of lifelong learning, with another 17 per cent planning to do so.
A retreat from disruption: While Industry 4.0 technologies have the potential to disrupt and transform many different areas of business for the better, executives do not appear to be leveraging them as broadly across their organisations as they could. Only 17 per cent of CXOs say making effective Industry 4.0 technology investments is a priority, ranking lowest among 12 investment priorities. And while leaders seem to understand the merits of taking a connected, integrated approach to implementing Industry 4.0 technologies, only five per cent indicate significant progress in this area.
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