Industrial Metaverse Will ‘Transform’ Manufacturing, Deloitte Report

A new report from Deloitte found the manufacturing industry will be “fundamentally transformed” by the industrial metaverse.

The survey included responses from more than 350 senior executives in the U.S. manufacturing industry. The survey was conducted in May with follow-up interviews in June.

According to its findings, a majority of manufacturing companies are already leveraging the industrial metaverse, with 92% of those surveyed saying they are experimenting or implementing at least one metaverse use case. Most said they were deploying six or more use cases.

The applications for the industrial metaverse span four key industrial ecosystems: production (34%), customer interaction (21%), supply chain design (21%) and talent (17%). 

Industry sentiment on the future of the tech also appears strong. The report found nearly two-thirds of respondents believe the industrial metaverse will “fundamentally transform how organizations do business, interact, collaborate or have value-added virtual experiences” over the next five years. 

“The manufacturing industry is positioned to springboard into the industrial metaverse,” said John Coykendall, vice chair of Deloitte LLP. “The exponential growth of smart manufacturing in recent years has created a strong foundation for implementation and understanding of the value that metaverse-enabling technologies can bring. 

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“Companies who innovate with tech-forward strategies, and remain agile and adaptable to implement them, could set themselves apart to unlock future growth and opportunity.” 

In the short term, the industrial metaverse is expected to help attract talent and build supply chain transparency, while in the long term, it could help transform the development of new tech, and enable new product strategies.

Challenges remain to the industrial metaverse’s widespread uptake, as cybersecurity, cost of implementation and interoperability are the key concerns identified in the report. 

According to the findings, 72% of respondents said they were concerned with cybersecurity risks associated with implementing metaverse-enabling technologies, while 51% highlighted implementation cost, 50% said lack of workforce knowledge and 45% pointed to interoperability. 

Despite these concerns, the study concluded that manufacturers believe the value of the industrial metaverse outweighs the risk, especially as mitigation strategies continue to be developed. 

“We are at a crossroads of digital transformation as new technology and existing industrial applications converge,” said David R. Brousell, manufacturing leadership council executive director. “These leading-edge applications are set to transform the manufacturing industry amid labor shortages and supply chain disruption. Metaverse-enabled technology presents an opportunity for manufacturers to address these challenges through immersive experiences and advanced analytics to drive innovation.”