Deloitte report reveals industrial metaverse’s transformational impact on manufacturing industry

Deloitte and the Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC) jointly released a comprehensive report titled Exploring the Industrial Metaverse. This study delves into the opportunities awaiting manufacturers as they explore the immersive three-dimensional virtual environments of the industrial metaverse. The report outlines how embracing next-gen technology within this digital realm can empower manufacturers to lead ongoing transformations and significantly enhance operational efficiencies.

Adoption of the industrial metaverse technologies could help manufacturers build new markets and unlock measurable value, notes Deloitte in a press statement.

The outlook for continued adoption of industrial metaverse infrastructure appears strong, as per the report findings. 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.

• Nearly four in 10 organizations surveyed are planning substantial growth in their use of metaverse technologies.
• Executives expect the metaverse to transform research and development, design and innovation, and enable new product strategies.
• In the near term, the industrial metaverse appears poised to offer new ways to solve challenges such as attracting and retaining top talent and building supply chain visibility and resilience.

Key takeaways

• Most manufacturing companies are leveraging the industrial metaverse: 92 percent of companies surveyed are experimenting with or implementing at least one metaverse use case, and most are running six or more.
• Use cases span four key industrial ecosystems: production (34 percent), customer interaction (21 percent), supply chain design (21 percent), and talent (17 percent).
• Manufacturers are optimistic about the industrial metaverse’s continued potential. Notably, 74 percent of those surveyed expect it will improve revenue, and 55 percent expect it will reduce costs.
• Cybersecurity and data protection are key concerns.

Analysis of the anonymous survey results identified a cohort of respondents whose companies are already taking the lead in metaverse implementation. They are likely to have a higher number of metaverse use cases in play; are committing larger investments to their metaverse initiatives; and are more likely to look towards external partners to help deploy metaverse initiatives.

Deloitte notes that these pacesetters are more likely to embrace organizational change to spur industrial metaverse adoption. More than half of those surveyed have established a roadmap for a shift to the metaverse and are actively recruiting talent with the requisite digital skills and knowledge.

According to the study, cost, talent and interoperability are key challenges among respondents, while cybersecurity concerns stand out as a top potential risk.

• For metaverse-enabled technologies, cost savings were identified in the study as a key benefit.
• Surveyed executives rank barriers to adoption as: implementation cost (51 percent), lack of talent with the right skills and knowledge (50 percent), and integration with existing technology platforms and systems (45 percent).
• Respondents are most concerned with the cybersecurity risks associated with implementing metaverse-enabling technologies (72 percent), risks around data protection and IP (55 percent), brand and reputation risk (49 percent), and privacy of personal information (37 percent).
• The study suggests manufacturers believe the value it will deliver outweighs the cybersecurity risk, especially with the right mitigation strategies in place.