The global smart manufacturing platform revenue will reach $32 billion by 2025, according to ABI Research.
As manufacturers integrate IT and OT, they rely on Industrial IoT (IIoT) platforms dedicated to smart manufacturing to manage their devices, connectivity, infrastructure, and data. These IIoT platforms also help manufacturers implement applications, derive insights, and deliver those insights to the correct stakeholders.
IIoT platforms come in a variety of flavors to meet a range of needs. The most suitable definition, however, is that of an Application Enablement Platform (AEP). More than US$32 billion will be spent on these solutions annually by 2025, forecasts global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.
AEPs provide a solution for importing data, but they often require partners to provide gateways. Some AEPs, such as Siemens MindSphere, Emerson Plantweb, and PTC ThingWorx, provide a “one-stop shop” that can take data from devices and work like an Operating System (OS) with an app store.
“Some one-stop shops focus more on extracting data and getting data to the cloud, while others focus more on delivering the data to other manufacturing and enterprise systems. If app development remains open, applications can be built by the AEP provider, from partners (which may also be called platforms), end users, or independent developers, much like smartphone app stores,” explains Ryan Martin, Industrial and Manufacturing Research Director at ABI Research.
Another Industrial and Manufacturing trend highlighted in the whitepaper: smart glasses will no longer be a novelty on the factory floor with the number of connections forecast to grow from 1.4 million in 2019 to 20.9 million in 2025 (at a CAGR of 57 percent).
