Industry 4.0 lags as manufacturers eye Industry 5.0

Only 22% of large manufacturers have made Industry 4.0 a top strategic investment priority, according to a Macrium survey of more than 100 IT and OT decision-makers in North America and the UK.

The backup and recovery company said the data highlights a gap between growing discussion of Industry 5.0 and the level of investment many manufacturers have made in Industry 4.0 systems.

Its research found that 51% of respondents see Industry 4.0 as an important focus but not a major investment priority. Another 20% said it is part of future planning, while 6% said it is under discussion without concrete plans.

Together, those groups account for more than three-quarters of the manufacturers surveyed. Macrium said the pattern suggests many businesses are still in the early or intermediate stages of digital transformation, even as the next phase of industrial policy and strategy attracts attention.

Investment gap

The study covered verified IT and OT decision-makers at manufacturing organisations with at least 2,500 employees. It found that 93% of respondents either consider Industry 4.0 important, are actively investing in it, or include it in future planning, indicating broad awareness even if spending has not kept pace.

That gap between recognition and action is central to the findings. While executives broadly accept the strategic importance of connected production, automation, data integration and related systems, only a minority describe Industry 4.0 as both a top priority and an active area of investment.

The report places that result in the context of growing discussion around Industry 5.0, a term used by policymakers and industry bodies to describe a model that builds on digital manufacturing while placing greater emphasis on resilience, sustainability and human-centred operations.

In Europe, the European Commission has presented the concept as an evolution of Industry 4.0 rather than a replacement. In the United States, similar themes have emerged in work by the National Institute of Standards and Technology on supply chains and the adoption of emerging technologies.

Macrium said this backdrop risks creating a mismatch between public debate and operational reality inside factories. If manufacturers are still working through the investment and technical demands of Industry 4.0, shifting the conversation too quickly to Industry 5.0 may obscure the work still needed on core digital infrastructure and recovery planning.

Dave Joyce, Chief Executive Officer at Macrium, linked the issue directly to resilience and continuity. "Industry 5.0 is an exciting direction for manufacturing, but there is a risk that the wider narrative gets ahead of the reality for most organizations. Its goals around resilience, sustainability and human-centricity matter, but delivery depends on connected systems, reliable data and recoverable operations. Our research suggests that, for much of the sector, those Industry 4.0 foundations have not yet become a serious investment priority," Joyce said.

Broader trends

The findings echo other surveys cited by Macrium. Research from the National Association of Manufacturers found that 28% of manufacturers currently describe their operations as smart or somewhat smart, while 76% expect to reach that point within two years.

Deloitte's Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey also found strong confidence in digital manufacturing, with 92% of manufacturing executives saying smart manufacturing will be the main driver of competitiveness over the next three years. Yet the same survey suggested uneven uptake of the tools behind that ambition, with 46% reporting industrial IoT use at facility or network level and 29% using AI and machine learning at that scale.

Those figures suggest optimism about digital production is widespread, but deployment remains uneven. Large manufacturers often face the challenge of integrating newer systems with older equipment, maintaining production uptime and managing cyber risk as operational technology becomes more connected.

Joyce said those constraints help explain the gap between strategic intent and implementation. "Manufacturers understand the value of Industry 4.0, but turning it into reality is complex. Cost pressures, legacy systems, the risks of interconnectivity, and limits on taking critical production systems offline mean progress takes time. As Industry 5.0 enters the conversation, the narrative needs to reflect those realities, and how the sector can evolve from them," Joyce said.

The survey was conducted with research firm NewtonX and focused on manufacturers with 2,500 or more employees in North America and the United Kingdom. By focusing on large organisations with dedicated IT and OT leadership, the findings offer a view of companies likely to have the resources to pursue digital transformation, making the low level of top-priority investment more notable.