HFS Research (“HFS”) has named Accenture the overall winner in its Top 10 Report 2022 for Industry 4.0 services. The recognition follows Accenture’s top position in the previous HFS Industry 4.0 ranking, published in 2019.
HFS defines Industry 4.0 as the growing effect automation and data exchange have on manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the internet of things, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.
The analysts assessed 14 providers across four categories for Industry 4.0 services. Accenture came out as the #1 provider overall, holding the top spot in the execution, innovation and cross-functional collaboration (OneOfficeTM 1) categories and ranking second in the voice of the customer category.
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According to the report, Accenture is a scaled service provider with a consulting and innovation focus. Its digital engineering and manufacturing practice Industry X is the largest among the analyzed service providers in terms of the number of clients and resources.
Other differentiators are Accenture’s offerings and solutions, such as Digital Service Factory and Smart Connected Products and Platforms Hub, which provide value propositions through a combination of operational efficiency and the acceleration of new revenue and business models.
“Accenture ranked #1 in our HFS Top 10: Industry 4.0 study due to its expertise in capabilities addressing the entire value chain of services, including strategy, implementation, and managed services,” said Mayank Madhur, Associate Practice Leader.
“Our clients are reimagining their products and how to make them with data and digital technologies,” said Sef Tuma, global lead for Engineering & Manufacturing, Industry X at Accenture. “We support their next digital frontier – the digitization of engineering and manufacturing – by applying the latest technical innovations strategically and pragmatically. This helps them become more resilient, productive, sustainable and relevant in a continually disrupted market.”
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According to the report, COVID-19 was a wake-up call for firms that had not implemented digital engineering and manufacturing initiatives. It became a key driver in helping companies survive the pandemic. When adopted effectively, the combination of, for instance, cloud and edge computing, analytics, and automation makes manufacturing more productive, reduces its cost, and helps get products and services to the market quicker and personalize them for a large number of customers.
Accenture has been continuously building its digital engineering and manufacturing capabilities for the past decade. Most recently, it acquired Eclipse Automation, a provider of customized manufacturing automation and robotics solutions. Other recent acquisitions and investments include international engineering services provider umlaut, consulting capabilities for product lifecycle management systems integration from DI Square, asset management and performance specialists Advoco and T.A. Cook, and autonomous mobile robots specialist Pollux.
