Dark Factories Global Market Report 2025

The dark factories market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $49.52 billion in 2024 to $54.64 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3%. The growth during the historic period can be attributed to the demand for continuous 24/7 production, labor shortages, the need to boost efficiency, increased focus on workplace safety, pressure to reduce operational costs, and advancements in supply chain automation.

The dark factories market size is expected to see rapid growth in the next few years. It will grow to $80.19 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.1%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to the rising demand for customized products, the need for sustainable and energy-efficient manufacturing, government initiatives promoting automation, labor shortages and increasing labor costs, expansion in the automotive and electronics industries, and the implementation of greenfield projects for optimized infrastructure. Key trends expected during this period include the integration of artificial intelligence, collaborative robotics (cobots), the industrial Internet of Things, autonomous mobile robots, digital twins, edge computing, and sustainable automation technologies.

The growing implementation of industrial robotics is expected to accelerate the expansion of the dark factories market in the coming years. Industrial robotics involves the use of programmable, automated machines designed to execute manufacturing tasks with high precision and efficiency. This increasing adoption is driven by robots’ ability to deliver consistent quality and reduce human error in production processes. By enabling fully automated operations without human presence, industrial robotics significantly enhances dark factories, ensuring precision, consistency, and continuous 24/7 manufacturing. This results in improved operational efficiency and lower costs. For example, in September 2023, the International Federation of Robotics, a Germany-based non-profit, reported that industrial robot installations in factories reached 553,052 units in 2022, up from 526,000 units in 2021. Thus, the rising use of industrial robotics is propelling the growth of the dark factories market.

Leading companies in the dark factories market are developing cutting-edge technologies such as hyper-intelligent manufacturing platforms (HyperIMP) to achieve fully autonomous, continuous production with superior precision, efficiency, and minimal human intervention. A hyper-intelligent manufacturing platform is an advanced AI-driven system that combines automation, machine learning, and real-time data analytics to optimize, control, and autonomously manage manufacturing processes end-to-end. For instance, in August 2024, Xiaomi Corporation, a China-based electronics manufacturer, launched a next-generation smart factory in Changping. This facility operates around the clock without human workers or lighting by leveraging the HyperIMP platform. It integrates AI, IoT, and real-time analytics to enable self-monitoring, autonomous decision-making, and predictive maintenance, along with micron-level dust control and intelligent quality assurance systems to ensure high-precision, defect-free production.

In October 2024, Mpac Group plc, a UK-based packaging automation firm, acquired CSi Palletising for $60 million (€56 million). This acquisition boosts Mpac’s end-of-line automation capabilities, expanding its portfolio of efficient robotic palletizing solutions across multiple industries. CSi Palletising, based in the Netherlands, specializes in industrial automation and robotic palletizing with extensive experience in dark factory environments.

Major players in the dark factories market are Siemens AG, Schneider Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Honeywell International, ABB Ltd, Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions, Bosch Rexroth, Rockwell Automation, Omron Corporation, Keyence Corporation, FANUC Corporation, Dassault Systèmes, Autodesk, Yaskawa Electric Corporation, KUKA AG, Teradyne, Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp, Staubli Robotics, Beckhoff Automation, Universal Robots, Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), and Denso Wave.

North America was the largest region in the dark factories market in 2024. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in dark factories report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.

The countries covered in the dark factories market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

Dark factories are fully automated manufacturing facilities that function without human involvement and often in total darkness. These facilities depend entirely on robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and automated systems to carry out production processes. Their main objective is to enhance efficiency, lower labor costs, and support continuous, around-the-clock production with minimal interruptions.

The main types of dark factories include industrial robotics, additive manufacturing, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). Industrial robotics involves the use of automated, programmable machines to carry out tasks within manufacturing settings. These technologies are implemented in both greenfield and brownfield projects and serve end-users across various industries, including automotive, pharmaceutical, aerospace, electronics, and others.

The dark factories market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides dark factories market statistics, including the dark factories industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with the dark factories market share, detailed dark factories market segments, market trends, and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the dark factories industry. This dark factories market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.

The dark factories market consists of revenues earned by entities by providing services such as continuous production, real-time quality control, predictive maintenance, inventory management, and automated packaging. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. The dark factories market also includes sales of machine vision systems, digital twin platforms, remote monitoring systems, industrial sensors, and actuators. Values in this market are ‘factory gate’ values, that is the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers) or directly to end customers. The value of goods in this market includes related services sold by the creators of the goods.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD, unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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