Decoding the Fifth Industrial Revolution

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Most executives agree that their readiness pertaining to Industry 5.0 capabilities relevant for their customers, workforce, supply chains, business models, and ESG commitments would help enhance their revenues by 6.42% on an average over the next one to two years.

Executives from the chemicals, cement, and textiles and clothing sector believe that their sectors would, on adoption of Industry 5.0, be the most significant gainers with potential revenue expansion amounting to more than 7%.

Most automotive and metals executives highlight that their customers are ready to pay a premium for innovative products and services. In textile and clothing, executives note consumer readiness to pay a premium for sustainable products.

More than 95% of the respondents in the cement and industrial goods sectors are prioritising investments in real-time inventory tracking to optimise inventory levels, reduce stockouts, and minimise excess inventory, this year and the next.

According to PwC India’s latest research, 93% of senior executives across six industries would like to be known for their sustainability initiatives, and yet achieve 2x to 3x profitable growth over the next three to five years. This is the Industry 5.0 paradigm.

Industry 5.0 builds a symbiotic relationship between humans and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and internet of things (IoT), helping raise human productivity and opening new production possibilities that are automated, safer, sustainable and resilient. By making technology more human-centric - both from a workforce and consumer standpoint - Industry 5.0 paves the way for widespread adoption of digital technologies with a human touch, driving impactful collaboration among a wide group of stakeholders across businesses.

Embracing Industry 5.0 necessitates that the C-suite - especially heads of manufacturing, operations and supply chains - prioritise the long-term wellbeing of their workforce, consumers and/or end-users along with environmental impact, while achieving both short and long-term business goals.

The questions that then arise are:

Are leaders ready for this mindset change that places business goals at par with workforce sustainability and consumer expectations?
Are businesses ready to invest and move to the next level to ensure a fine balance between business interests and workers’ safety?
Are business leaders willing to factor in environmental impact in all that they do?

Industry 5.0 represents a defining moment for the manufacturing sector - one that creates a symbiotic relationship between humans and advanced technologies like AI, robotics and IoT. Companies that fast-track their adoption of these capabilities will establish a competitive edge in the coming years, as transformation is crucial for building a sustainable and resilient future with humans being an integral part of this transformative journey.

Sudipta Ghosh, Partner and Industrial Products Leader, PwC India

Six transformational shifts

From product personalisation to experience customisation

On an average, for 52% of executives across industries, providing seamless and connected customer experience across various touchpoints is an investment priority this year.

From predictive to preemptive

Nearly 50% of executives in our research are channelising their investments to build responsive supply chains by factoring in real-time data and analytics so as to check for potential disruptions and adopt prescriptive measures to mitigate risks, this year.

From basic safety to overall sustainability

More than half of the executives in our survey are prioritising investments this year towards building mechanisms to facilitate adoption of renewable energy sources, implement energy-efficient practices, reduce waste generation, and manage water usage responsibly through digital and other technologies.

From functional maturity to organisational excellence

52% of senior executives, on an average, across industries are prioritising their investments this year towards building a culture of lifelong learning, providing opportunities for upskilling and reskilling employees to encourage experimentation and innovation at speed and scale.

From punctuated value creation to rapid value reinvention

Nearly 50% of senior executives, on an average, across industries are prioritising investments for integrating advanced technologies and human expertise to rapidly reconfigure and accommodate changes in product design or customer requirements, allowing for more customised and personalised manufacturing — during the present year.

From enterprise-wide protection to lifecycle cybersecurity measures

46% of executives on an average across industries are prioritising investments in the current and following year towards building capabilities aimed at protecting manufacturing systems, data, and intellectual property embedded in products manufactured from cyberthreats to ensure the integrity and reliability of operations.

Five recommendations for companies to build and deploy Industry 5.0 capabilities at scale

Embrace a comprehensive data management programme to build a secure data core
Foster data-driven collaboration across functions and within ecosystems
Find business opportunities to make humans, machines and technologies work in sync
Design agile, responsible and secure innovation architecture
Build a data-reporting and measurement culture around sustainability

About the survey

The PwC India research, conducted between May and July 2024, includes insights from C-suite executives and senior leaders across the automotive, cement, chemicals, industrial goods, metals, and textiles and clothing industries.