The technology industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the the increasing demand for optimised production processes, cost reduction, and improved productivity, and growing importance of technologies such as sensors and actuators, industrial automation systems, data analytics, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies enable real-time monitoring and control of manufacturing operations, predictive maintenance, seamless communication between machines, and data-driven decision-making. In the last three years alone, there have been over 3.6 million patents filed and granted in the technology industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Internet of Things: Smart factory systems. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
300+ innovations will shape the technology industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the technology industry using innovation intensity models built on over 2.5 million patents, there are 300+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, environmental sensors, digital twins, and network-on-a-chip are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Intelligent embedded systems, smart factory systems, and smart grids are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are contactless verification, wearable physiological monitors, and software defined wide area network, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for IoT in the technology industry
Smart factory systems is a key innovation area in IoT
Smart factory systems are advanced manufacturing systems that integrate operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) to facilitate streamlined and productive production processes. These systems leverage a combination of data, analytics, cloud computing, automation, robotics, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable real-time monitoring of operations and the optimisation of manufacturing processes. By incorporating these technologies, smart factory systems enhance operational efficiency, improve product quality, and enable proactive decision-making based on data-driven insights.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 360+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established technology companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of smart factory systems.
Key players in smart factory systems – a disruptive innovation in the technology industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to smart factory systems
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| State Grid | 498 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Siemens | 392 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hitachi | 351 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitsubishi Electric | 283 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Intel | 251 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hyundai Heavy Industries | 205 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Boeing | 197 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Emerson Electric | 150 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Furukawa | 148 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | 133 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Southern Power Grid | 122 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NEC | 118 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Honeywell International | 112 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Yokogawa Electric | 110 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toshiba | 107 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Panasonic | 90 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Omron Tateisi Electronics | 88 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Rockwell Automation | 81 | Unlock Company Profile |
| General Electric | 76 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Korea Development Bank | 74 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Gree Electric Appliances | 72 | Unlock Company Profile |
| LG | 67 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Samsung Heavy Industries | 61 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Japan Wool Textile | 61 | Unlock Company Profile |
| ABB | 59 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust | 58 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Fanuc | 57 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Schneider Electric | 57 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Petrochemical | 52 | Unlock Company Profile |
| International Business Machines (IBM) | 52 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Dell Technologies | 51 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Tobacco International | 48 | Unlock Company Profile |
| EssilorLuxottica | 47 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Tobacco Yunnan Industrial | 47 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NIKE | 46 | Unlock Company Profile |
| POSCO | 46 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Fujifilm | 42 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Bayerische Motoren Werke | 42 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Omron | 41 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Gebr Knauf | 41 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hon Hai Precision Industry | 40 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Inspur Electronic Information Industry | 39 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Robert Bosch Stiftung | 38 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Amazon.com | 38 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Aviation Industry | 37 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Safran | 37 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid Information and Telecommunication | 35 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems | 34 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Reactive Technologies | 33 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Illinois Tool Works | 32 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
State Grid Corporation of China is one of the leading patent filers in smart factory systems. The company’s patents are aimed at invention related to a power demand side management platform comprising five sub layers that include a data source layer, a network layer, a data layer, a support layer, and an application layer.
According to the invention, such services as power information monitoring analysis, energy application service, demand side management information issuing and the like can be provided for government users, power grid companies, energy application users and social users, and availability and application performance of a 7*24-hour system can be realised.
The system can timely discover a fault phenomenon and provide an early warning. It can also perform fault cause auxiliary analysis and have an automatic fault processing capability, reducing operation costs, shortening the problem solving time, improving user satisfaction, and ensuring safe, stable and highly efficient operation of each service system.
Other prominent patent filers in the space include Siemens and Hitachi.
By geographic reach, Thomson Reuters Global Resources leads the pack, followed by THORLABS and Reactive Technologies. In terms of application diversity, Intel holds the top position, followed by Precitec Optronic and Alphabet.
IoT innovation in smart factory systems refers to the integration of IoT technologies into manufacturing processes to enable efficient and automated operations. By leveraging IoT in smart factory systems, organisations can achieve higher operational efficiency, reduced downtime, improved product quality, and enhanced overall productivity.
To further understand how IoT is disrupting the technology industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Internet of Things – Thematic Research.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
