The united kingdom factory automation and industrial control systems market size is expected to grow from USD 16.19 billion in 2025 to USD 17.87 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach USD 29.23 billion by 2031 at 10.35% CAGR over 2026-2031. This report is Segmented by Type (Industrial Control Systems and Field Devices), End-User Industry (Automotive and Transportation, Food and Beverage, and More), Component (Automation Hardware, Automation Software, and Services), and Industrial Communication Network (Industrial Ethernet, Fieldbus, and More). The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).
The United Kingdom factory automation and industrial control systems market benefits from hybrid control designs in which PLCs execute deterministic logic locally while cloud analytics tune parameters for energy or quality optimization. Augmented-reality human-machine interfaces now project live KPIs onto safety goggles, enabling line operators to diagnose variances without losing focus on their production tasks. Manufacturing execution systems (MES)aree heavilyutilized in highly regulated domain,s such asthe pharmaceutical industrys, where serialized batch records and electronic signatures are mandatory. The University of Sheffield’s AMRC recently demonstrated vision-guided robotic disassembly cells co-developed with Siemens that recognize product geometry and dynamically sequence toolpaths. These successes validate the swing toward perception-driven robotics that minimizes fixture complexity and adapts to variant-rich product families.
Automotive and transportation retained 28.33% revenue share in 2025 on the strength of long-running robotic welding, paint, and drivetrain assembly lines. Yet pharmaceutical and life sciences now set the growth pace at a 13.77% CAGR to 2031, buoyed by post-pandemic investments in sterile fill-finish, vaccine, and cell-therapy facilities. Clean-room automation demands closed-environment robots, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for materials transfer, and granular MES capable of regulatory batch release. The forthcoming Somerset battery gigafactory, budgeted at USD 4 billion, demonstrates how adjacent sectors, such as electric mobility, feed into life-sciences-grade quality protocols.
Food and beverage processors are expanding the use of robotic palletizing and hygienic conveyance to offset high turnover in manual roles, while chemical and petrochemical sites are targeting advanced process control to reduce energy intensity. Oil and gas producers leverage remote supervisory systems for hazardous offshore platforms, integrating real-time vibration analytics to avert unplanned downtime. Power utilities deploy distributed control systems to stabilize grids saturated with renewable inputs, further bolstering software-defined automation. Electronics, metals, and aerospace producers round out the demand profile, each seeking flexible manufacturing systems that permit high-mix, low-volume production with minimal retooling.
United Kingdom Factory Automation And Industrial Control Systems Market Trends and Insights
Government incentives via United Kingdom “Made Smarter” programme
Made Smarter has evolved from a regional pilot into a national policy instrument that lowers adoption risk for small and mid-sized manufacturers. The program delivered USD 242 million in net economic value in the North West alone and now supports more than 5,500 SMEs under the widened Industrial Strategy framework. Regional “technology translation” hubs diffuse best practices, helping firms trial digital twins, collaborative robots, and advanced analytics before committing significant capital. Peer-to-peer case studies published by hub leads shorten due-diligence cycles, while new procurement rules favor suppliers that demonstrate verifiable productivity or decarbonization gains. Together, these mechanisms compress payback periods and extend automation beyond large OEMs into the broader supply chain.Labor-shortage-led automation demand
A persistent vacancy rate across British manufacturing has shifted board-level priorities toward immediate throughput improvements. Employers faced 55,000 unfilled shop-floor roles in 2025, prompting many to substitute hard-to-source labor with robotic welding, smart conveyors, and automated storage systems. Robot imports rose 72% post-Brexit as firms hedged against restricted EU labor flows. Apprenticeship starts in advanced manufacturing climbed 41% at Make United Kingdom member companies, signaling parallel investment in human capital. Yet the scarcity of certified automation engineers prolongs deployment cycles, driving demand for turnkey systems-integration services.High CAPEX and ROI uncertainty for SMEs
Many small manufacturers still hesitate to finance multi-year automation programs, especially amid elevated interest rates that tighten working-capital buffers. Although the British Business Bank has expanded lending facilities for Industrial Strategy sectors, risk-averse owner-managers remain wary of staking limited collateral on technologies with unfamiliar payback metrics. Fragmented supplier ecosystems and inconsistent performance benchmarks complicate procurement, leaving some firms locked in prolonged pilot phases. Made Smarter’s “test before invest” offering alleviates part of this friction, yet the reluctance persists until stronger evidence links automation to order-book growth rather than incremental cost savings.Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:
- Industrial IoT and Industry 4.0 uptake
- Energy-efficiency and decarbonization goals
- Automation-skills gap
Segment Analysis
Industrial control systems accounted for 58.15% of total revenue in 2025, underscoring their centrality in orchestrating, ensuring safety, and facilitating regulatory traceability across both discrete and process plants. Replacement cycles are accelerating as operators retire legacy programmable logic controllers (PLCs), vulnerable to cyber intrusion and incompatible with unified namespace architectures. Manufacturers that replace aging supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) servers with modern, edge-ready units report double-digit reductions in scrap rates and shorter downtime. Field devices, namely articulated robots, machine-vision stations, and smart sensors, deliver the fastest momentum at an 11.87% CAGR, driven by demand for autonomous bin-picking, inline defect detection, and flexible packaging.The United Kingdom factory automation and industrial control systems market benefits from hybrid control designs in which PLCs execute deterministic logic locally while cloud analytics tune parameters for energy or quality optimization. Augmented-reality human-machine interfaces now project live KPIs onto safety goggles, enabling line operators to diagnose variances without losing focus on their production tasks. Manufacturing execution systems (MES)aree heavilyutilized in highly regulated domain,s such asthe pharmaceutical industrys, where serialized batch records and electronic signatures are mandatory. The University of Sheffield’s AMRC recently demonstrated vision-guided robotic disassembly cells co-developed with Siemens that recognize product geometry and dynamically sequence toolpaths. These successes validate the swing toward perception-driven robotics that minimizes fixture complexity and adapts to variant-rich product families.
Automotive and transportation retained 28.33% revenue share in 2025 on the strength of long-running robotic welding, paint, and drivetrain assembly lines. Yet pharmaceutical and life sciences now set the growth pace at a 13.77% CAGR to 2031, buoyed by post-pandemic investments in sterile fill-finish, vaccine, and cell-therapy facilities. Clean-room automation demands closed-environment robots, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for materials transfer, and granular MES capable of regulatory batch release. The forthcoming Somerset battery gigafactory, budgeted at USD 4 billion, demonstrates how adjacent sectors, such as electric mobility, feed into life-sciences-grade quality protocols.
Food and beverage processors are expanding the use of robotic palletizing and hygienic conveyance to offset high turnover in manual roles, while chemical and petrochemical sites are targeting advanced process control to reduce energy intensity. Oil and gas producers leverage remote supervisory systems for hazardous offshore platforms, integrating real-time vibration analytics to avert unplanned downtime. Power utilities deploy distributed control systems to stabilize grids saturated with renewable inputs, further bolstering software-defined automation. Electronics, metals, and aerospace producers round out the demand profile, each seeking flexible manufacturing systems that permit high-mix, low-volume production with minimal retooling.
Complete Report Scope:
- By Type
- Industrial Control Systems
- Distributed Control System (DCS)
- Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
- Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
- Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
- Human-Machine Interface (HMI)
- Field Devices
- Industrial Robotics
- Machine Vision
- Motors and Drives
- Safety Systems
- Sensors and Transmitters
- Industrial Control Systems
- By End-user Industry
- Automotive and Transportation
- Food and Beverage
- Pharmaceutical and Life-Sciences
- Oil and Gas
- Chemical and Petro-chemical
- Power and Utilities
- Other End-user Industries
- By Component
- Automation Hardware
- Automation Software
- Services (Integration, Maintenance, Consulting)
- By Industrial Communication Network
- Industrial Ethernet
- Fieldbus
- Wireless (Wi-Fi, ISA100, WirelessHART)
- Private 5G / LTE
List of Companies Covered in this Report:
- ABB Ltd.
- Advantech Co., Ltd.
- Beckhoff Automation GmbH and Co. KG
- Bosch Rexroth AG
- Emerson Electric Company
- Endress+Hauser Group Services AG
- FANUC Corporation
- HMS Networks AB
- Honeywell International Inc.
- IFM Electronic GmbH
- KUKA Aktiengesellschaft
- Lenze SE
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- National Instruments Corporation (NI)
- Omron Corporation
- Pepperl+Fuchs SE
- Phoenix Contact GmbH and Co. KG
- Rockwell Automation, Inc.
- Schneider Electric SE
- SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH and Co KG
- Sick AG
- Siemens AG
- Yokogawa Electric Corporation
Additional Benefits:
- The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
- 3 months of analyst support
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
4 MARKET LANDSCAPE
5 MARKET SIZE AND GROWTH FORECASTS (VALUE)
6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE OUTLOOK
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- ABB Ltd.
- Advantech Co., Ltd.
- Beckhoff Automation GmbH and Co. KG
- Bosch Rexroth AG
- Emerson Electric Company
- Endress+Hauser Group Services AG
- FANUC Corporation
- HMS Networks AB
- Honeywell International Inc.
- IFM Electronic GmbH
- KUKA Aktiengesellschaft
- Lenze SE
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- National Instruments Corporation (NI)
- Omron Corporation
- Pepperl+Fuchs SE
- Phoenix Contact GmbH and Co. KG
- Rockwell Automation, Inc.
- Schneider Electric SE
- SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH and Co KG
- Sick AG
- Siemens AG
- Yokogawa Electric Corporation
