A few days ago, IDC released "IDC FutureScape: Global Manufacturing 2018 Forecast-China's Enlightenment". The report describes the top ten forecasts for IT in China's manufacturing industry in 2018. The report provides executives of manufacturing companies with the business development trends supported by manufacturing IT and IT in the next 12 to 36 months.

In 2017, the competition in China's manufacturing industry has become increasingly fierce. Increased production cost pressures and economic downturns have forced the polarization of Chinese manufacturing companies to become more serious. From the overall situation, the main component of China's manufacturing industry is small and medium-sized enterprises. For these enterprises, increasing investment in digital transformation to embrace emerging technologies is the current focus, and the development of intelligent production processes and product innovation And flexibility, improve production efficiency and product quality, establish your own brand, and avoid being eliminated in the fierce competition.

However, as labor, materials, and various production costs have risen sharply, digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises is still facing challenges, and even conflicts with enterprises' investment in emerging technologies. On the other hand, the Chinese government has issued a series of policies and strategies for the development of intelligent manufacturing, encouraging Chinese manufacturing companies to integrate with the concept of "Internet +", develop innovative manufacturing processes, promote product service-oriented transformation, and enhance the role of Chinese manufacturing in the global value chain. Status. These factors are driving the development of China's manufacturing industry.

IDC's top ten forecasts for the manufacturing industry in 2018 are as follows:

1. By 2020, 50% of China's top 2000 manufacturing companies will rely on digital platforms to increase their investment in ecosystems and experiences, and support 30% of their total revenue.

2. By 2021, 15% of China's top 2000 manufacturing companies will rely on embedded intelligent security backbone networks, using the Internet of Things, blockchain and cognitive technologies to achieve large-scale process automation and reduce execution time by up to 25 %.

3. By 2020, 60% of manufacturing companies will participate in industry cloud computing, although only a quarter of these manufacturing companies will be profitable through data.

4. By 2020, due to the need of the Internet of Things to combine operational technology (OT) and information technology, more than 30% of IT and OT technicians will have direct project experience in these two fields.

5. By 2020, 35% of manufacturing companies will use cloud crowdsourcing, virtual reality and product virtualization to directly cooperate with customers and consumers on new products and improved product designs, increasing the product success rate by 25%.

6. In 2020, starting from the manufacturing of durable consumer goods and electronic products, augmented reality and mobile devices will promote the transformation of the service industry to a gig economy, and at the same time "expert hire" will replace 10% of full-time and on-site service staff.

7. By the end of 2020, 25% of manufacturing supply chains will use analytics-driven cognitive capabilities, resulting in a 10% increase in cost efficiency and a 5% increase in service performance.

8. By 2019, 75% of supply chain interactions will occur on cloud-based business networks, greatly improving the flexibility of participants and reducing the impact of supply disruptions by a third.

9. By 2020, 15% of manufacturers in specific manufacturing sub-sectors will achieve balanced production in accordance with the pace of demand, and obtain a greater degree of customized products through smart and flexible assets.

10. By 2020, 15% of manufacturers that manage data-intensive production and supply chain processes will use cloud execution models that rely on edge analytics to achieve real-time visibility and enhance operational flexibility.