Strategic Intelligence: Deep Dive into Dark Factories

Dark factories (or lights-out factories) are manufacturing facilities that operate with full automation and no human presence on the production floor. In many regards, fully automated factories are the logical endpoint of an automation journey that has been centuries in the making.

Key Highlights

• Advanced technologies are enabling dark factories. A convergence of technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital twins, is driving interest in the dark factory concept. AI now gives machines the capability of adaptive decision-making, whilst advanced robotics means that robots can undertake increasingly complex tasks and move autonomously.
• Demographics and geopolitics are driving automation. Skilled labor shortages and safety considerations are driving greater automation in markets such as Japan, China, South Korea, and parts of Europe. In addition, geopolitical instability is driving the onshoring of manufacturing, where cost pressures similarly require more efficient production to remain cost-competitive.

Scope

• This report analyzes the evolution of dark factories and examines their place within the broader theme of industrial automation.
• It identifies the leading geographic markets for dark factory adoption, including China, Europe, North America, and East and Southeast Asia.
• It also looks at the leading sectors for dark factory adoption, including electronics and semiconductors, industrial machinery, automotive, and pharmaceutials.
• The report evaluates the benefits and challenges of dark factories and highlights start-ups to watch in this emerging theme.

Reasons to Buy

• The manufacturing landscape is undergoing fundamental changes driven by rapid progress in key technologies, demographic pressures, and geopolitical tensions, which are spurring onshoring and the reconfiguration of supply chains.
• Factory automation will continue to increase because of these factors.
• This report offers an invaluable overview of dark factories, whih represent the logical endpoint of the ongoing automation of factories over the last 30 years.