A new survey of more than 600 senior decision-makers and maintenance professionals in the U.S., the UK and Germany from Fluke Reliability and conducted by Censuswide has found that artificial intelligence (AI) implementation is expected to play a crucial role in manufacturing operations in the next wave of industrial revolution, also known as Industry 5.0.

AI will be a high business priority for companies over the next 12 months according to 93% of survey respondents. This sentiment is echoed at an organizational level, with 9 in 10 senior decision makers agreeing AI is the priority and more than 4 in 5 maintenance managers saying the same. 

Regarding the role of AI in predictive maintenance, only 8% of those surveyed are currently operating a predictive maintenance strategy. However, 76.5% want to shift to predictive/proactive maintenance in the future, and AI implementation is viewed as a tool to achieve that goal.

Manufacturers are already turning their intentions into action, on average respondents said they intend to invest 44% of their technology budgets on AI in 2024 alone. In fact, (30%) of those surveyed plan to invest 51-75% of their technology budget on AI this year. 

While only 9% of manufacturers agree that they have completed their Industry 5.0 goals to date, the majority (61%) expect to achieve their AI goals in just 11 months. 

“Predictive maintenance is becoming a need, not a want, especially as skilled labor is hard to come by and retain,” says Ankush Malhotra, president, Fluke Reliability. “AI offers a clear pathway and there is a strong belief within the industry that manufacturers who don’t adapt to the benefits are likely to be left behind. The results of this survey show that while many industries are talking about AI implementation, manufacturers are walking the talk.”  

Of those looking to invest in the next 12 months, the need for adoption was largely driven by the benefits of AI implementation including:

• The ability to develop new products and services (35%)
• Provide a new way to address data processing and analysis requirements (35%)
• A means to address the call for improvements to customer service (35%) 
• The demand for improved efficiency and productivity (34%)
• Ways to compensate for the skilled labor shortage (31%) 

“It’s no surprise that manufacturers are bullish in their adoption of AI,” says Aaron Merkin, chief technology officer, Fluke Reliability. “We know it works and have customers who have seen value in as little as three months.”