After another challenging year, the industrial automation industry is set to close 2024 on a positive note, with 8.8% growth in Q3. There’s a lot to reflect - including significant milestones in technologies such as AI Assistants, Digital Twins, and Computer Vision. Meanwhile, uncertainties around policy changes and labor shortages are making real-time procurement more critical than ever. How will these trends shape manufacturing in 2025?
Read on for Vention’s analysis of the industrial automation trends set to gain momentum in the coming year.
Robotics Growth to Continue, Driven By Non-Automotive Businesses
The robotics industry is ending the year on a cautiously optimistic note, according to the Association for Advancing Automation’s report. Robotics and automation sales saw a “third-quarter comeback” in 2024, with an 8.8% growth compared to the same period in 2023, though they remain well below the 2022 peak. Non-automotive industries drove demand, accounting for 56% of orders, which highlights a greater adoption of automation across traditionally low-automation industries.
Looking ahead, Vention anticipates this growth trajectory to persist into 2025, driven by a surge in manufacturing demand, lower interest rates, and favorable macroeconomic conditions. Additionally, as the industry braces for continued labor shortages, exacerbated by changes in immigration policies, automation will emerge as a way out for manufacturing. This outlook suggests a promising future for the robotics industry, with non-automotive sectors playing an increasingly significant role in shaping its growth and innovation.
AI-powered Automation Assistants to Improve Access to Robotics
The adoption of AI for process automation is already widespread and growing rapidly. According to Deloitte’s 2025 Manufacturing Outlook, 72% of businesses have implemented AI to automate at least one process. This trend is not limited to large corporations; the 2024 SME Digitization OECD report reveals that one in five SMEs have already integrated some form of generative AI into their operations. We can expect this number to continue growing in 2025 along with new technologies and innovations.
As we approach 2025, the concept of ‘Citizen Developers’ is gaining traction. Forbes predicts that by 2025, 30% of solutions will be created by industry specialists rather than traditional software developers. This shift is enabled by AI-powered tools that simplify complex tasks, allowing professionals with domain expertise to create and implement automation solutions without extensive programming knowledge. For example, AI assistants can simplify the automated equipment design process by validating the compatibility of components, bringing it from the realm of specialist CAD knowledge into DIY territory.
Programming industrial automation or robots is another area where AI will emerge as a simplifying agent, helping anyone on the shop floor to onboard their new robotic colleague. Instead of hundreds of lines of code, it may only take a simple Co-pilot prompt to teach a welding robot how to perform the task. The result will be a robot-assisted shop floor with greater productivity.
Digital Twins To Get More Accessible and Reliable
McKinsey predicts significant growth ahead for digital twin technology. The global market for digital-twin technology is estimated to grow about 60% annually to reach $73.5 billion by 2027. However, in practice, it can be challenging to develop digital twins for manufacturing businesses.
The biggest roadblock comes from the exorbitant costs of creating a digital replica, which ironically prevents SMEs who could benefit the most from creating a digital twin. A 2024 report by National Institute of Standards and Technology concluded that high human capital required to collect data and the high costs of creating a digital twin are the biggest hurdles faced by manufacturers.
Synthetic data is helping solve this issue, by drastically reducing the data costs. It also makes it easy to emulate rare events and conditions that can be hard to capture in the real world. At the onset of 2025, synthetic data will continue to get more reliable, with an integration of physics-based AI models. Armed with these tools, a greater number of manufacturers will be able to prototype and integrate automation solutions more rapidly, ensuring they stay on course to meet their throughput targets while accelerating the adoption and optimization of automation in manufacturing.
Evolution of Vision-Based Models to Boost Robotics Adoption
2025 may well be the year when AI-based vision and motion control models go mainstream. Gartner recently updated the growth prediction for the enterprise computer vision market to reach $386 billion by 2031. After the launch of foundational AI vision models in 2024 - such as FoundationPose for 6D pose estimation and cuMotion for parallel processing, we are likely to see more platforming and consolidation in applying these models.
Two specific computer vision use cases for manufacturing in 2025—reference frame detection and point-to-point movement — can be worth tracking. Both of these applications will make it easier to work collaboratively and safely with a cobot on the floor, further reducing any anxieties related to automation and improving adoption rates for SMEs.
Real-time Procurement as a Counterweight for Supply Chain Disruptions
While 2024 streamlined the supply chain pressures to an extent, the start of 2025 may take the industry back to a period of uncertainty. The Q3 NAM 2024 outlook survey echoes anxieties around actual or potential tariffs as a primary business challenge for manufacturing.
When combined with the expected rise in demand and accentuated labor shortages, manufacturing businesses will need an efficient and responsive procurement strategy for automation. Pricing transparency and real-time availability of automation components will become crucial to stay competitive.
Robotics in 2025: Towards the Mainstreet of Manufacturing
In 2025, we will see robotics and automation move out from the alley, into the mainstreet of manufacturing - as AI lowers barriers to adoption. The democratization of robotics in manufacturing will accelerate as AI continues to lower adoption barriers. However, ongoing supply chain disruptions and escalating labor shortages may constrain productivity and introduce uncertainty. For manufacturing SMEs, staying competitive will require a careful balance between investing in automation and building redundancies to mitigate risks.