Industry report roundup: Perspectives on AI adoption, legacy tech challenges, and reshoring priorities
If you’re looking for an accurate analysis of the state of the manufacturing industry, then go straight to the source: the workers. Reputable research conducted by industry organizations is invaluable when you’re trying to make decisions for your plant or your business. In this roundup, we’ll highlight the latest surveys, reports, studies, and research that delves into the trends, topics, and technologies that are affecting the manufacturing sector.
Rockwell Automation, Inc. has released its 10th annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report, based on a March 2025 survey of more than 1,500 manufacturers across 17 leading industrial countries. The report reveals that 81% of manufacturers are accelerating digital transformation, with cloud/SaaS, AI, cybersecurity, and quality management identified as top investment priorities. Additionally, 95% of respondents have invested in or plan to invest in AI/ML over the next five years, and 50% intend to apply these technologies to support product quality in 2025. Cybersecurity remains a significant concern, with 49% planning to use AI to address cyber risks. The report also shows that smart manufacturing is reshaping the workforce, with 48% of companies planning to repurpose or hire workers and 41% using automation to close skills gaps.
In a recent quote, Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO, Rockwell Automation, said, “Today's technology advancements are unlocking new opportunities where the combined potential of people and technology will shape our collective future. As this year’s report shows, manufacturers around the world are using smart manufacturing to navigate disruption and create new opportunities for speed and agility. At Rockwell, we believe innovation and resilience go hand in hand. With the right technology and right people, we can simplify complexity and lead with confidence during times of dynamic change.”
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Integris has released its 2025 U.S. Manufacturing Technology Readiness Report, revealing that outdated systems are threatening the momentum of renewed consumer interest in American-made goods. The report, based on surveys of 700 consumers and over 300 manufacturing employees, found that 75% of consumers prefer U.S.-made products, but 91% are concerned about cybersecurity risks, and 51% of employees believe domestic factories are falling behind global competitors in tech and automation. Cost remains a major barrier, with 57% of manufacturing leaders citing it as the top obstacle to IT modernization and cybersecurity upgrades. The findings also show that outdated technology is impacting retention, with one in five employees witnessing colleagues leave because of legacy systems.
In a recent quote, Joe Fetter, Director of Sales at Integris, said, “We’re not in the business of prescribing how manufacturers should build their products, but we hear from clients every day who are acutely aware that their technology isn’t keeping pace. This survey confirms their concerns: legacy systems are hampering output, compromising security, and impacting retention. The stakes are real—this is about staying competitive in the present moment.”
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A new industry report from the Reshoring Initiative and Regions Recruiting surveyed over 500 respondents to examine the challenges and opportunities tied to accelerating U.S. manufacturing reshoring. The report stands out for quantifying how President Trump’s reindustrialization policies—such as tariffs, taxes, and regulations—would impact reshoring efforts, with an available and skilled workforce ranked as the top priority. It also ranks the key reasons OEMs have reshored and highlights overlooked factors they should prioritize more, including geopolitical risk and use of total cost of ownership (TCO). For the first time, U.S. contract manufacturers were surveyed, revealing that faster delivery and stronger partnerships with OEMs could help them win more domestic orders. Conducted between February and April 2025, the report offers timely insights as manufacturers navigate policy shifts, cost pressures, and workforce challenges. Below is an excerpt from the report's introduction.
"The U.S. manufacturing sector is at a critical inflection point. The 2020 global pandemic and its associated aftershocks were a wake-up call, exposing vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain due to our $1.2T goods trade deficit. U.S. manufacturers have begun looking beyond low-cost country sources, planning for supply chain risks that could cause long- term disruptions worse than those experienced during the pandemic. We will see from the survey results; many manufacturers are considering the collaborative power of locating manufacturing near engineering and are placing a high value on the quick delivery which is only available from local sources."
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Honeywell's 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Report reveals a 46% increase in ransomware attacks targeting the industrial sector from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. The report identified a 3,000% surge in the W32.Worm.Ramnit trojan, which accounted for 37% of blocked files, and 2,472 potential ransomware attacks in Q1 2025 alone—40% of 2024’s total. Honeywell also detected 1,826 unique USB threats during the same period, including 124 previously unseen, highlighting ongoing risks from external devices. The findings are based on an analysis of over 250 billion logs, 79 million files, and 4,600 incident events, underscoring the escalating cyber threats facing industrial operations.
In a recent quote, Paul Smith, director of Honeywell Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity Engineering, said, “Industrial operations across critical sectors like energy and manufacturing must avoid unplanned downtime as much as possible – which is precisely why they are such attractive ransomware targets. These attackers are evolving fast, leveraging ransomware-as-a-service kits to compromise the industrial operations that keep our economy moving.”
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Manufacturers’ confidence in the United States as a growth market for exports has dropped significantly, with the US falling to fourth place behind Asia/Oceania and the Middle East, according to the Make UK/BDO Q2 Manufacturing Outlook survey. The survey also highlights that 60% of companies expect export volumes to the US to decline due to tariffs, and 30% are reassessing their supply chains. Manufacturing growth forecasts for 2026 have been cut from +1% to -0.5%, while growth this year is expected to be negative (-0.2%), signaling a troubling downward trend.
In a recent quote, Seamus Nevin, Chief Economist at Make UK, said, “While at first glance the headline numbers may not look too bad, manufacturers are facing a gathering storm of huge uncertainty in one of their major markets, a skills crisis and eye watering energy costs which are providing a harsh reality for many. In response, it’s absolutely essential that the forthcoming industrial strategy takes bold measures to bring down the cost of energy and takes equally radical action to ensure companies can access the people they need to take advantage of a more competitive landscape. If these two issues are not addressed, then we will face the serious prospect of the UK accelerating into de-industrialisation.”
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