Yokogawa Survey Finds Two-Thirds of Process Industry Companies Are Anticipating Fully Autonomous Operations by 2030
16.9.2020 10:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6841) today revealed the results of a global end-user survey on the outlook for industrial autonomy*, which shows that 64% of respondents from companies in process industries are anticipating fully autonomous operations by 2030. The survey provides an in-depth view of future trends in automation and autonomy, business priorities, and technologies being deployed in key process industries including oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, petrochemicals, and power generation.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200916005058/en/
Technology investment over next 3 years (Graphic: Yokogawa Electric Corporation)
Key Insights
Companies are moving to fully autonomous operations by 2030, and will invest in technologies that aid decision-making
Sixty-four percent of respondents stated that they expect to reach autonomous operations in their primary operations by 2030. Eighty-nine percent said their companies currently have plans to increase the level of autonomy in their operations. Regarding their current status, 64% said that they are conducting or are piloting semi-autonomous or autonomous operations, while 67% expect significant automation of most decision-making processes in plant operations by 2023.
Cyber security (51%), cloud, analytics, and big data (47%), and artificial intelligence (42%) are three key areas in which companies are planning significant investment over the next three years. These will enable organizations to make better decisions across a greater span of control.
COVID-19 has put the brakes on economic growth in 2020 but will be a catalyst for the medium- to long-term growth of industrial autonomy.
COVID-19 has arguably presented a great impetus for industrial autonomy moving forward. A higher priority is now being placed on the ability to continue running operations without workers needing to be present. A majority of respondents are expecting to increase their investment in autonomous operations as a direct result of COVID-19.
Respondents were also asked to rank the top four applications in which they were directing investment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unsurprisingly, remote operations and remote servicing came out as two of the key applications for which priorities have increased, with a respective 36% and 30% of participants selecting them. The ability to conduct work without the need for workers to be present in a hazardous environment provides significant safety and cost benefits.
The survey also uncovered significant differences across industries in post-COVID-19 investment priorities. For example, compared with other industries, conventional power generation and chemical/petrochemical participants placed a greater focus on investments in worker safety.
Regional trends
The survey revealed regional differences in investment in new technologies and the push to industrial autonomy. Relative to other regions, Asia-Pacific is the most engaged in the shift to industrial autonomy. The survey found that the proportion of companies in Asia-Pacific that are prioritizing investment in autonomous systems for operations is 18% to 27% higher than other regions. This is a key statistic and shows that funding is being directed into autonomous operations in the region. Seventy-one percent of respondents in Asia-Pacific felt that they would attain fully autonomous operations in ten years' time, compared with just 58% in North America and 56% in Western Europe.
“From this research study, we have confirmed our perception that the shift from industrial automation to industrial autonomy, which we call IA2IA, is going to gain momentum over the next decade. As COVID-19 will accelerate this trend, and companies' interest in introducing related technologies continues to be strong, Yokogawa can support customers in strengthening their competitiveness step by step based upon our roadmap to autonomous operations,” said Tsuyoshi Abe, senior vice president and head of the Marketing Headquarters at Yokogawa.
Yokogawa believes the digital transformation of companies’ manufacturing and production operations will lead towards autonomous operations; the results of the survey demonstrate that companies are prioritizing and investing in the technologies of tomorrow in order to make this a reality.
The survey highlight report can be downloaded from the following website.
https://www.yokogawa.com/special/ia2ia/outlook/
* The “Global End-user Survey on the Outlook for Industrial Autonomy” was conducted on behalf of Yokogawa by research company Omdia among 504 decision-makers in process industry companies between June and July 2020.
About Yokogawa
Founded in 1915, Yokogawa engages in broad-ranging activities in the areas of measurement, control, and information. The industrial automation business provides vital products, services, and solutions to a diverse range of process industries including oil, chemicals, natural gas, power, iron and steel, and pulp and paper. With the life innovation business, the company aims to radically improve productivity across the pharmaceutical and food industry value chains. The test & measurement, aviation, and other businesses continue to provide essential instruments and equipment with industry-leading precision and reliability. Yokogawa co-innovates with its customers through a global network of 114 companies spanning 62 countries, generating US$3.7 billion in sales in FY2019. For more information, please visit www.yokogawa.com.
The names of corporations, organizations, products, services and logos herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Yokogawa Electric Corporation or their respective holders.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200916005058/en/
Contact information
Public Relations
Integrated Communications Center
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
Yokogawa-pr@cs.jp.yokogawa.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Enginzyme Raises SEK 75 Million to Advance Its Commercial Biomanufacturing Strategy23.9.2026 15:07:00 EEST | Press release
Enginzyme AB has closed a new equity round raising SEK 75 million. The round marks a key milestone in the company's shift from R&D to a commercially driven strategy. "With our growth strategy established, closing this new investment round was a priority for enginzyme," said Aymeric de Gantes, enginzyme's CEO. "We are also very excited to welcome new shareholders with complementary expertise, who will all contribute to our mission to deliver biomanufacturing solutions for the personal care, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Our technology enables lower cost in use for higher-quality ingredients, obtained through more sustainable manufacturing processes." Lotus One Investment Pte. Ltd. and Valquest Partners Europe are joining the company as new shareholders and members of the Board of Directors. Sofinnova Partners, Stiftelsen Industrifonden, Navigare Ventures AB and Almi Invest GreenTech were key participants, combined with several other new and existing shareholders. On Thursday, Sep
SLB Awarded Major Contract by OQEP for Integrated Facility Expansion in Oman23.9.2026 15:04:00 EEST | Press release
SLB (NYSE: SLB) has been awarded a contract by OQ Exploration & Production (OQEP) to deliver the Bisat-B Expansion Production Facility in Oman. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260922635677/en/ SLB has been awarded a contract by OQ Exploration & Production (OQEP) to deliver the Bisat-B Expansion Production Facility in Oman. Under the contract, SLB will provide design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services for the facility, along with four years of operations and maintenance support. Under the contract, SLB will provide design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services for the facility, along with four years of operations and maintenance support. The expansion will increase the facility’s gross fluids handling capacity to 548,000 barrels per day. The project is scheduled for completion within 19 months. The award marks the next phase of development for the Bisa
Datavault AI Announces Rights Offering to Shareholders23.9.2026 15:03:00 EEST | Press release
Datavault AI Inc. (Nasdaq: DVLT) (“Datavault AI” or the “Company”), an Artificial Intelligence Platform (“AIP”) company providing data monetization, credentialing and tokenization technologies, today announced that its board of directors (the “Board”) has approved a rights offering to holders of its common stock (“Common Stock”) and certain other Datavault AI securities. Moody Capital Solutions, Inc. (“Moody Capital”) will act as dealer manager for the rights offering. The Rights Offering to include investors in a process usually reserved exclusively for banks Under the rights offering, the Company will distribute, at no charge, transferable subscription rights to holders of record of Common Stock and certain other Company securities with a contractual right to participate in the distribution. The Company has set a record date of October 9, 2026 for such offering (the “Record Date”). Such holders will receive one subscription right for a Common Unit for each share of Common Stock owned
Copeland Completes Acquisition of Dickson, Advancing Cold Chain Intelligence for Healthcare and Life Sciences23.9.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Copeland, a global leader in compression technologies and controls solutions, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Dickson, a Chicago-based provider of environmental monitoring and compliance technology solutions for highly regulated life sciences and healthcare environments. Increasing regulatory demands across the pharmaceutical and life sciences cold chain require continuous visibility from production through final delivery. Together, Dickson’s cloud-native monitoring platform and Copeland’s controls, monitoring and enterprise software solutions will enable a more connected, intelligent and compliant cold chain. “We are pleased to welcome our new colleagues from Dickson into Copeland,” said Ross B. Shuster, CEO of Copeland. “The acquisition of Dickson further strengthens our ability to serve customers across every stage of the healthcare and life sciences cold chain, from pharmaceutical manufacturing through distribution and patient care.” Enabling a Smarter, More Con
Sitetracker and 5x5 Break the Price Barrier for Portfolio-Scale Digital Twins and Asset Intelligence23.9.2026 13:11:00 EEST | Press release
Sitetracker and 5x5 Technologies today introduced a data-to-twin workflow that gives wireless infrastructure owners a practical, affordable path to digitizing an entire tower portfolio. The Sitetracker platform now integrates 5x5 Synthetic Twin technology, providing scalable asset intelligence at a price up to 85% less than traditional site modeling methods. Synthetic Twins leverage Sitetracker’s leading tower portfolio and operational data to create interactive 3D models of towers, rooftops and ground compounds providing tower operators with a baseline of their portfolio that can be progressively enriched as the site conditions evolve. This data when combined with Scout, Sitetracker’s Agentic AI platform, opens the opportunity for digitized workflows and unparalleled understanding of the asset portfolio. Why it matters AI-driven data demand, more spectrum deployments, and denser infrastructure are raising the bar for tower operations. Towercos need precise knowledge of each site: what
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom