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Digital Engineering & Manufacturing Services

Accenture ranked #1 Industry 4.0 service provider

September 1, 2022 5-MINUTE READ

RESEARCH REPORT

In brief

  • HFS assessed 14 providers across four categories for Industry 4.0 services.
  • Accenture ranked #1 due to its capabilities in addressing the entire value chain of services, including strategy, implementation, and managed services.
  • According to the report, COVID-19 was a wake-up call for firms that had not yet implemented digital engineering and manufacturing initiatives.

Accenture has been named the overall winner in a new report from HFS “Top 10: Industry 4.0 Service Providers, 2022”. The report examines the role that service providers play in the evolving Industry 4.0 landscape, and HFS assessed and rated the Industry 4.0 service capabilities of 14 service providers across a defined series of innovation, execution, voice of the customer, and OneOfficeTM criteria (HFS’ vision for actionable digital transformation that breaks down legacy siloes by combining emerging technologies with people, process and data innovations). 

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 is a term commonly known as the fourth industrial revolution and HFS refers to it as the emerging impact of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the internet of things, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). Industry 4.0, when adopted effectively, increases manufacturing productivity, reduces costs, accelerates the go-to-market timeline, and facilitates mass personalization.

This report focuses on Industry 4.0 capabilities across industries, as defined in HFS’ “Industry 4.0 value chain”. This value chain defines the boundary of the people, processes and technology needed to form the backbone of successful Industry 4.0 implementations for manufacturers.

"Accenture ranked #1 in our HFS Top 10: Industry 4.0 study due to its expertise in capabilities addressing the entire value chain of services, including strategy, implementation, and managed services."

— Mayank Madhur, Associate Practice Leader

Accenture’s differentiated strengths

  • According to HFS, Accenture Industry X has the largest digital engineering and manufacturing practice among the service providers included in this study. 
  • Accenture’s offerings and solutions provide value propositions through a combination of operational efficiency and new revenue and business models. 
  • Accenture also completed 20+ acquisitions in the Industry 4.0 domain, including umlaut, to acquire niche capabilities and expand the practice.

Our top 5 takeaways from the report

Artificial intelligence

Applications of artificial intelligence are on the rise in use cases like condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Industrial robotics

The adoption of cobots has been increasing. Service providers collaborate closely with industrial robotics manufacturers for new and emerging applications.

Digital twins

Firms have been investing heavily in digital twins, simulations, and digital threads.

Resilience

Shifting focus from only cost advantages to resilience to enable “production on demand”.

Sustainability

Strategic focus on sustainability: Industry 4.0 adoption has encouraged organizations’ internal and external sustainability practices.

The path to value

According to HFS, COVID-19 was a wake-up call for firms that had not yet implemented Industry 4.0, and it emerged as a key driver in helping companies survive the pandemic.

Manufacturing operations can no longer operate in siloes, and leaders must now focus on the end-to-end processes across the entire engineering & manufacturing value chain, starting from research and development (R&D), design, production, operations, after-market and support services.

The necessity of a workforce with digital mindsets is also crucial for the successful deployment of Industry 4.0. As the number of emerging technology components and their usage increases in manufacturing, the enterprise must focus on building a smart workforce. Given the newness of Industry 4.0, training and skill development for the existing workforce is a crucial aspect.

"We support our clients by applying the latest technical innovations strategically and pragmatically, helping them to become more resilient, productive, sustainable, and relevant in a continually disrupted market."

— Sef Tuma, Accenture Industry X

Related capabilities

Digital engineering and manufacturing services

Digitize what you make. Revolutionize how you make it.

Production and operations

Creating connected factories and plants across multiple sites for enhanced management and efficiencies.

Sustainable value chain

Customers increasingly demand sustainable products and services—and a responsible approach to business practices across the entire value chain.