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This article is part of our Opinions section, where we invite industry professionals to share their views on the most pressing technology questions of our time.
There’s no doubt that the global industrial automation industry is growing, with projections estimating the market to hit $441 billion by 2030, but that’s only half the story. Investment may be flowing, but under the hood, development tools are still hindered by a lack of usability. Across the European market, only 37-43% of processes are automated, with fragmentation across operating systems, frameworks, and devices continuing to stifle progress.
Admittedly, industrial automation has been slower than other sectors in adopting brand new technologies and processes. For young engineers entering the industry, having had the luxury of using advanced consumer technology, the staple tools of the sector feel difficult to use, pushing many to ‘flashier’ fields such as consumer technology. And unless this underlying usability issue is addressed, Europe’s manufacturers risk their new talent pipeline drying up, which will only push them further behind their global competitors.
Currently, Europe’s industrial automation landscape is a patchwork of disparate devices, frameworks, and operating systems, making any form of automation a lengthy and time-consuming process. Recent research estimated 78% of European manufacturers are currently stuck in ‘mid-stage automation’ due to the disconnected, siloed nature of operations. For incoming talent, this isn’t exactly an exciting prospect.
But the answer here isn’t to rip it all up and start again. Innovation rarely comes from building whole new processes and tools from scratch; such ‘moonshot’ projects almost always fall off the rails, leaving us back where we started. Instead, the focus should be placed on solutions that can deliver immediate value and accelerate time-to-market – innovations that reduce complexity, rather than adding to it. Because the longer we wait, the smaller that incoming pipeline of talent is going to become.
Today, teams spend far too much time simply trying to make all of their different systems compatible, with fragmentation leaving many locked into vendors in an effort to make the whole process easier. But rather than resigning themselves to this fate, manufacturers can invest in cross-platform frameworks that work across devices, removing the need to rewrite code for every device and platform.
In these frameworks, software can be reused across Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA), Programmable Computers (PLCs), Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), and even mobile and embedded devices. Not only does this reduce development and maintenance overhead, but it speeds up deployment and updates – giving engineers time to spend on truly innovative work that delivers real customer value, ensuring their work remains engaging.
And for incoming talent, industrial automation is transformed from a daunting career spent navigating cross-device and OS complexity, and into an exciting opportunity to develop through challenging yet exciting work.
More specifically for incoming talent, these cross-platform frameworks enable the implementation of newer, smoother UI components for HMIs, bringing benefits both to those directly controlling the machinery and to IT teams building applications.
For the new, digital native talent starting machinery control roles, cross-platform frameworks deliver an experience far more in line with the consumer tech they’ve become used to in their day-to-day life. Smooth, fast, and intuitive interfaces that make it easier for operators to control complex processes, not harder. Think advanced graphics, with 2D or 3D elements, and even digital twins.
And for those new developers on the IT support side who are building these applications, it doesn’t just need to look good; it also needs to perform well. There’s little point building new manufacturing applications if the software itself isn’t futureproofed; the next new engineer will have to carry out the same job all over again. With regulations such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act mandating that automation software must be secure by design, built-in tools for architecture verification and static code analysis will be essential to monitor compliance.
At this stage in AI adoption, industrial AI applications will soon be an expected standard. The rising productivity demands that this next generation is set to face will make the rapid iteration and deployment of industrial AI applications a non-negotiable. But, without the aforementioned cross-platform frameworks connecting disparate devices and operating systems, introducing new APIs to simplify AI integration will remain a pipe dream.
Consumer devices such as smartphones can now automate a variety of functions, and younger generations of engineers will expect the same from their workplace platforms and tools. With unified frameworks and new APIs in place to support this integration, they’ll be able to use AI to support real-time decision making and predictive maintenance, freeing up their time to focus on innovation, rather than maintenance. Not only will they benefit from efficiency, but it will also give young talent the space to build, iterate, and innovate quickly, greatly enhancing the developer experience.
Europe’s industrial automation industry is at a crossroads. Fragmentation and poor usability of manufacturing tools have restricted automation progress, leaving the current workforce spending untold hours deciphering complex webs of disparate tools, devices, and frameworks. That’s not to mention the internal politics and inefficiencies created across functions thanks to this fragmentation. While this has already stifled growth, now it risks jeopardising the incoming pipeline of talent as advancing consumers raise expectations around user experience.
To avoid falling further behind their peers and to maintain a strong influx of new talent, European industrial automation needs to start holding software and HMIs to a higher standard. The manufacturers that do so will create modern and intuitive environments, fostering a new generation of engineers who can innovate and experiment freely. And those that don’t will soon find themselves cut off from new talent as others offer more attractive opportunities.
