LONDON—Manufacturers in a wide variety of industries are investing in smart manufacturing technologies, such as additive manufacturing, augmented reality and collaborative robots. But, automakers and Tier One suppliers are leading the charge, according to a recently study conducted by ABI Research.
“The automotive industry has been a pioneer in adopting many transformative technologies because it has more of a need and a demand to increase flexibility and agility,” says Pierce Owen, principal analyst at ABI Research. “Some of the leading automotive OEMs, including BMW, Daimler, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen, have piloted and, in some cases, have scaled these technologies.