Geopolitical instability, supply chain volatility, and labor shortages have made it clear that manufacturers need to ramp up their digital transformation initiatives. Companies that fail to leverage Industry 4.0 technologies risk being unable to evolve and keep pace with competitors.
Manufacturers generate more data than ever, while also facing a pressing need to simplify access to that data. However, data accessibility and contextualization continue to remain a major challenge. As factories become more connected, the need for next-generation data architecture is critical. Many plants are still grappling with fragmented systems that limit visibility and stall decision-making.
Digital twin software has evolved rapidly in recent years, thanks to innovative technology vendors like Siemens. The next generation of digital twins in manufacturing—comprehensive digital twins—provides benefits far beyond legacy solutions. They support technological capabilities like Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI), closed-loop feedback, and full-stack software integration. The contextual awareness a comprehensive digital twin provides is unprecedented. It can be used by manufacturers to build more realistic simulation environments, enhance collaboration, and solve specific business challenges across multiple domains.
Only a select few technology companies can truly claim that innovation is embedded in their corporate DNA. Many others follow the trail blazed by industry giants, striving to replicate their success. In today’s hyper-competitive and rapidly evolving digital world, identifying the most innovative technology companies is crucial for both solution providers looking to benchmark performance and organizations seeking strategic partners.
The ability to lead in innovation not only reflects a company’s technical prowess, but also signals future-readiness, market leadership, and customer-centricity. ABI Research’s Competitive Rankings for 2025 provide an unbiased lens into these innovation leaders, offering a nuanced perspective on transformative capabilities across 12 technology segments.
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From tariff impacts on the supply chain to advanced satellite innovations, ABI Research’s latest whitepapers shed light on the transformative forces shaping the global technology landscape in 2025. This blog highlights 10 must-read publications this year, each offering unique insights and strategic guidance across manufacturing, connectivity, smart infrastructure, and more.
Measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is now essential for manufacturers striving to enhance productivity and streamline operations. As digital transformation continues to reshape the manufacturing landscape, demand for advanced data analytics solutions that provide real-time insights into machine performance and production bottlenecks has grown exponentially.
ABI Research has observed manufacturers increasingly investing in purpose-built OEE software solutions, rather than relying on metrics embedded within Manufacturing Execution Systems (MESs) or Quality Management Systems (QMSs).
This trend reflects the industry's pivot toward descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics capabilities, which are areas where traditional MES or QMS platforms fall short. Up-and-comers like Litmus Automation, MachineMetrics, and Augury have stepped up to fill this market gap for OEE tools.
Robots are a cornerstone of a smart factory, automating a wide range of manufacturing tasks that are monotonous, physically straining, or even hazardous. However, real-world robotics deployments have not lived up to the revolutionary potential the industrial sector originally envisioned. Robot implementations are typically confined to specific applications, carry high costs, and are time-consuming. A recent ABI Research Industrial and Manufacturing Survey of 458 decision makers indicates that skill shortages and time constraints hinder roughly 9 in 10 manufacturers’ ability to implement and scale new technologies. These challenges serve as the impetus for industrial organizations to seek digital tools that simplify the creation of automation workflows.
New import tariffs introduced by the United States are shaking the pillars of a longstanding status quo in international trade. All countries will have to pay a 10% tariff on goods shipped to the United States, with rates going higher for countries with larger deficits. Not only is China in this latter group, but nearby Southeast Asian countries—critical to offshoring from China—are also impacted. A notable example is Vietnam’s 46% tariff rate, which will potentially disrupt Apple’s diversification strategy. Needless to say, the global supply chains that manufacturers have been accustomed to for decades are being uprooted, at least for the short term.