The share of industrial manufacturers operating highly automated production processes will more than double within five years, according to PwC's Global Industrial Manufacturing Sector Outlook released in February 2026 - a finding with direct implications for capital allocation, workforce planning, and supply chain strategy across metalworking and fabrication sectors.
Background
PwC's study surveyed 443 senior executives across 24 territories, finding that the global $16 trillion industrial manufacturing industry has reached a historic inflection point. AI, advanced technologies, automation, and industry convergence are accelerating opportunities for growth and productivity. The report covers manufacturers across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, capturing the broadest cross-section of industrial decision-makers to date on automation readiness.
Manufacturers expect tech enablement and automation levels to more than double by 2030, even as blind spots in skills, data infrastructure, and other areas threaten progress. For fabrication and metalworking operations - where automation investment decisions carry multi-year payback horizons - the findings hold particular weight for plant managers and engineering leads evaluating capital expenditure plans.
Details
The median share of industrial manufacturers with highly automated processes is expected to more than double, rising from 18% to 50%. Companies already leading are expected to pull further ahead, with their share of highly automated processes climbing from 29% to 65%.
Respondents project that advanced technology adoption throughout their operations will increase from 26% to 68% over five years. Adoption of highly automated processes in business support functions - including finance and human resources - is projected to nearly quadruple by 2030, according to PwC.
The report draws a sharp distinction between technology leaders and laggards. A widening gap separates "future-fit" companies from those held back by poor data quality, skills gaps, or fragmented systems - and that gap is expected to grow as technology and capability advantages compound.
While the goals behind this investment boom vary by technology, they center on growth and productivity. AI is expected to deliver both nearly equally - 47% for growth and 46% for productivity - while robotics skews heavily toward productivity at 78%, with only 13% citing growth.
Workforce readiness emerged as a critical constraint. When leaders express confidence in digital transformation but frontline teams do not feel safe or supported in learning new skills, adoption slows. To bridge the gap, manufacturers must communicate clearly how roles will change, invest in upskilling, and create environments that encourage experimentation. Ryan Hawk, PwC's global industrials and services leader and author of the report, stated: "Companies that treat workforce readiness as a core pillar of their automation strategy will be far better positioned to turn technology ambition into measurable performance gains."
On business model evolution, more than two-fifths - 44% - of total revenue is projected to come from outside the manufacturing of industrial and consumer products by 2030. The survey finds manufacturers shifting toward bundled offerings that combine equipment, know-how, and services, such as intelligent and connected solutions, flexible equipment, extended services, and electrical and data center equipment.
On integration, Hawk emphasized: "The question is no longer whether companies will adopt new technologies, but how fast they can integrate them. As automation becomes ubiquitous, the advantage shifts from who has tools to who can orchestrate them across the enterprise."
Outlook
Companies that deploy advanced tools in isolation - robotics in production, analytics in supply chain, AI pilots in engineering - should expect limited gains. Without shared data models and synchronized workflows, these investments risk becoming technology silos where robotics cells do not communicate with planning systems and engineering insights never reach commercial decisions. For metalworking and fabrication firms, this points toward prioritizing interoperable, software-defined automation architectures as a prerequisite for capturing the productivity and growth gains PwC projects through the end of the decade.
