Results from the 2022 McKinsey Global Industrial Robotics Survey reveal that industrial companies are set to spend heavily on robotics and automation. However, many will need help to complete the journey.
Across the industrial world, companies are betting big on robotics and automation. For many, automated systems will account for 25 percent of capital spending over the next five years, results from the 2022 McKinsey Global Industrial Robotics Survey show.1 Industrial-company executives expect to see benefits in output quality, efficiency, and uptime. However, many remain wary of the challenge, with the cost of hardware and a lack of internal experience at the top of their list of concerns.
Among the industrial sectors surveyed, the biggest spender on automation over the next five years is set to be retail and consumer goods, with 23 percent of respondents from that sector planning to spend more than $500 million. That compares with 15 percent in food and beverage and 8 percent in automotive. For logistics and fulfillment players, automation will represent 30 percent or more of their capital spending in the next five years—the highest share among industrial segments surveyed.