This is shown by the new study ‘GenAI in mechanical and plant engineering. From promise to profitability’. The VDMA Software and Digitalisation and the strategy consultancy Strategy& Germany (PwC) conducted the study together.
The study was published at HANNOVER MESSE and presented at a press conference and on the Digital Transformation Stage in Hall 17, Stand E44.
GenAI could bring the German mechanical engineering industry an additional profit of 28 billion euros. Through the targeted use of GenAI, the industry's operating margin could increase by up to 10.7 percentage points.
‘Just ten of the 45 use cases considered can exploit 58 per cent of the potential for margin improvement, thereby achieving a significant increase in efficiency in the industry,’ emphasises Guido Reimann, deputy managing director of VDMA Software and Digitalisation.
The study also highlights where GenAI can achieve its greatest potential:
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Sales & Marketing: +2.4 percentage points margin increase
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Research & Development: +1.7 percentage points
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Planning: +1.7 percentage points
But there are hurdles:
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25% of companies struggle with insufficient data quality
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24% lack GenAI specialists
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24% cite technical hurdles as a major challenge
The solution?
GenAI must be elevated from a side issue to a top priority!
Companies that integrate AI into their core processes secure sustainable competitive advantage.
‘Only by making GenAI a top priority, embedding it deeply in core processes and developing differentiating new capabilities from it can a company strengthen its competitiveness – and increase its profitability in the long term,’ explains Bernd Jung, Senior Partner at Strategy& Germany.
