The future of industries:

Bringing down
the walls

PwC’s future
in sight series

www.pwc.com
A shockwave in the form of a
new industrial revolution is
taking place. It’s reshaping
the foundations of many
industries. And it’s bringing
down the walls between
others as the boundaries
between suppliers,
producers and consumers
and, in some cases, between
whole industries shift.

Contents
Introduction  3
The technology shockwave 4
Bringing down the walls 8
Staying ahead of the shockwave 13
The trick to seeing the future...
is knowing where to look for it. Join in the discussion 13

PwC’s future in sight series brings

together our insights and perspectives
on the disruptive forces we believe
will have a transformative impact
on the future.

www.pwc.com/futureinsight

Consumer and Industrial Products

& Services covers the industries
that provide us with many of the
physical products and services all
around us – from cars and cranes
to medicines and electricity,
these sectors provide the physical
things that are part of everyday
life -- automotive, energy, utilities
& mining, healthcare, industrial
products, pharma and life
sciences, retail & consumer, and
transportation & logistics.
Introduction
Technological change is between whole industries shift. We’re already
seeing this happening and we foresee that it
creating historic shifts in has much further to run.
industry footprints. Over
the next ten years, we think Across all sectors, we believe we are at a
historical inflection point where companies
this process will accelerate. and sectors will either develop to be the
Traditional industry advanced industries of the future, some of
classifications will need to them with different focal points from the
industries of today, or decline to become
be rewritten. Where industry uncompetitive and obsolete.
boundaries begin, where they
What’s the impact on your sector? Will we
end and who are the main see a new industrial order? Are completely
players will all be up for grabs new sectors emerging? Are you in an industry
in a number of sectors. where the new industrial revolution is set to
shake the foundations, or is it going further
The digitisation of everything, the internet and bringing down the walls? And can you be
of things, advanced robotics, artificial sure you are developing the capabilities that
intelligence, machine learning, blockchain will ensure you take your place in the new
and developments such as advanced materials advanced industries of the future?
and next-generation genomics are among the
technologies that are changing the basis on
which industries compete and interact. They
are already shaking up the foundations of many
industries.

Advanced technologies will become integral

to the licence to operate and change the cost
economics of sectors. The possibilities opened
up by automation, sensors and connectivity
provide immense potential to boost efficiency
and reduce the cost base. Energy efficiency,
for example, has become a core strategic issue
for companies in nearly every sector, with
technology and data advancement providing
opportunities for more active management
and, indeed, self-production. And wider
energy transformation, decarbonisation and
recarbonisation are reaching across all sectors.
Companies will need to embrace technological
advancements, or risk disappearing.

But in some industries, the revolution will

go further. It won’t just be the foundations of Norbert Schwieters
industries shaking, but the walls will be coming Consumer and Industrial
down, as the boundaries between suppliers, Products & Services
producers and consumers and, in some cases,

The future of industries  3 

The technology shockwave
The speed and scope Another big difference is that whereas
previous industrial revolutions spurred
the use of sensors and automation
to increase efficiency all help reduce
of the technological demand for many resources, the resource intensity. The impact of
shockwave currently latest industrial revolution is partly the sharing economy, for example
all about reducing resource intensity. in transport, reinforces this trend by
gathering momentum is Developments such as lightweighting, improving asset utilisation.
unprecedented. Previous better energy efficiency and controls,
industrial revolutions
were focused on specific
technologies – water The technological shockwave is being amplified by
and steam in the first customer, producer and supplier behaviour and
industrial revolution,
electricity in the expectations.
second, electronics and
information technology
in the third. Now a
multiple number of Figure 1: A different future: less than a decade away

technology accelerations % of survey respondents*

Tipping points expected to occur by 2025
are occurring predicting occurrence by 2025
simultaneously, at 10% of people wearing clothes connected to the
91.2
internet
exponential pace, and
90% of people having unlimited and free
are disrupting virtually (advertising-supported) storage
91.0

all industries. Tipping One trillion sensors connected to the internet 89.2
points are set to be timed
in years not decades. The first robotic pharmacist in the US 86.5

And what is very different is that, while 10% of reading glasses connected to the internet 85.5
earlier industrial revolutions were
driven by technological advances that
were focused initially at least on the 80% of people with a digital presence on the internet 84.4
production side, many of the advances
currently occurring are ones that The first 3D-printed car in production 84.1
simultaneously embrace consumers,
producers and suppliers. The result The first government to replace its census with big-
82.9
is that the technological shockwave data sources
is being amplified by customer, The first implantable mobile phone available
producer and supplier behaviour and 81.7
commercially
expectations.
5% of consumer products printed in 3D 81.1

90% of the population using smartphones 80.7

Source: World Economic Forum, Deep Shift Technology Tipping Points and Societal Impact,
September 2015.

* Expectations from a community of over 800 executives and experts from the information and
communications technology sector.

4  Bringing down the walls

What’s powering the shockwave?
The number of Our digital
technological human behaviour
developments that Foremost among the behavioural
are happening factors amplifying the shockwave are
our expectations as digital humans.
simultaneously is We’re all becoming digital humans,
immense. Some are relying on and expecting a digital Artificial intelligence (AI)
interface to be the primary mechanism
highly applicable across by which we manage and control our Software algorithms are capable
a range of sectors, while lives. By 2020, mobile will account for of performing tasks that normally
require human intelligence, such as
over 50% of internet access revenue
some are more relevant in more than three-quarters of visual perception, speech recognition,
to some sectors than countries.2 The smartphone is already decisionmaking, and language
the digital interface for a huge range of translation. AI is an “umbrella”
others. And the wider personal, business and entertainment concept that is made up of numerous
potential of some, such activities, and is setting the pace for our subfields such as machine learning,
expectations for ‘always on’ interaction which focuses on the development of
as blockchain, is only and control at our fingertips. programs that can teach themselves to
now in the process of learn, understand, reason, plan, and
act (i.e. become more “intelligent”)
being realised and when exposed to new data in the right
discovered. PwC has Connecting with the quantities. Machine learning, whereby
tracked more than 150 digital human algorithms learn from data without
relying on rules-based programming,
discrete technologies, Digital interfaces with future is fast being supplemented by deep
and has developed a smart homes, cars, factories learning, with algorithms being able
to process many more layers and
or cities are among the
methodology to identify examples of the new forms of dimensions than previously imagined.
the most pertinent.1 digital convenience that lie
ahead. But already, chemicals
We highlight the leading companies are enabling
developments together farmers to receive precision Current and near
agricultural data that combine reality
with the behavioural meteorological, environmental,
changes that are land and crop data. In medicine, Machine learning is already
smartphones are changing part of everyday life, lying
accompanying them. health relationships, prompting behind a variety of applications
a Wall Street Journal headline to across different industries. Deep
declare “the future of medicine is learning is paving the way for
in your smartphone” with “new a future where breakthroughs,
tools tilting healthcare from such as driverless cars, better
doctors to patients.”3 In parts preventative healthcare and faster
of sub-Saharan Africa, mobile drug discovery, move from the
payment systems have not only realms of science fiction to actual
meant that digital payments have practicality. But well ahead of
leapfrogged the development of that future, Gartner predicts
a more costly formal banking that by 2018 more than half of
system, but they are changing large organisations globally will
the nature of the power utilities compete using advanced analytics
sector by enabling the spread and proprietary algorithms,
of solar-powered electrification causing the disruption of entire
in the absence of the electricity industries.4
grid – digitally-controlled micro-
power is accompanying digitally
controlled micro-finance!

1 PwC, Tech breakthroughs megatrend: how to prepare for its impact, 2016.
2 Global entertainment and media outlook 2016-20, PwC, Ovum.
3 Wall Street Journal, The future of medicine is in your smartphone, 9 January 2015.
4 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3192717
The future of industries  5 
 Blockchain Drones and flying robots
Blockchain replaces the need for The drone revolution has the potential
third-party institutions to provide to go right to the heart of many
trust for financial, contract and other operational challenges in industries
activities requiring authentication and ranging from transportation and
verification. Trust is in effect distributed logistics, forestry and agriculture,
along the blockchain. Blockchain engineering and construction and
technology has the potential to disrupt extractive industries. According to PwC’s
The internet of things a wide variety of transactions beyond study on the commercial applications
the traditional payments system. of drone technology, the emerging
The internet of things (IoT) is a Because the blockchain can record global market for business services
fast-expanding network of digitally- and authenticate every stage of a using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
connected objects — devices, vehicles transaction, it could theoretically be is valued at over US$127 bn. Drones
and more — embedded with sensors used to secure and verify any type of have considerable potential in areas of
and intelligent computing capabilities. transaction, making it relevant to a surveillance, maintenance, logistics,
The rapidly evolving industrial IoT wide range of industries, from uses in data collection, and so much more.
(IIoT) connects sensors, software, and bills of lading and custody chains in
networks that enable manufacturing transportation and logistics to supply
and industrial devices to be connected chain authentication in manufacturing.
and remotely monitored or controlled. Adding AI to drones
It opens up immense integration
possibilities across the supply chain and The current generation of drones
beyond to customers. Closely linked Collaborating across can be used for activities such as
with the rise of smart cities and grids, the walls site monitoring, maintenance,
both the IoT and IIoT open the way to delivery and even urgent medical
a future where a vast array of sensor Collaborative technology, such response by flying blood
data and analytics-driven intelligence is as blockchain, promises the products, medicines and medical
available seamlessly in real time. ability to improve the business equipment to where they are
processes that occur between needed. But the future is one
companies, radically lowering in which artificial intelligence
the “cost of trust.” For this is incorporated into UAVs,
Changing the reason, it may offer significantly especially the use of machine
economics of higher returns for each learning software to equip
industries investment dollar spent than them as flying robots, opening
traditional internal investments. up possibilities such as robotic
So what’s the catch? You cannot aerial construction and repairs.
A recent PwC survey5 of over
2,000 industrial products get the return by yourself; you
companies worldwide found must be willing and able to
that they expect automation collaborate with customers,
and digital connectivity will suppliers, and competitors in
bring them enormous benefits ways that you have never done
– predicting 3.6% p.a. in before.
cost reductions over the next
five years, driven by internal
improvements and by working Figure 2: Technology disruptions will impact all industries
more closely across value
chains. They’re also expecting to
generate 2.9% p.a. in increased
revenues by digitising products
and services and developing new
digital service offerings, all the
way through to hosting platforms
for industrial ecosystems. 80% 68% 58%

80% of CEOs think 68% expect their 58% say the way
that the production production technology their business
technologies their costs to change acquires
companies use will significantly production
change in the next five resources will
years change sharply

Source: PwC CEO Pulse 2016.

5 PwC, Industry 4.0: building the digital enterprise, 2016.

6  Bringing down the walls

 “Industry 4.0 basically takes the cost of scale
close to zero.... And merging the real world
Robotics, augmented with the virtual world allows us to create what
reality and virtual reality we call a digital twin”
A range of other technological ― Joe Kaesar, CEO, Siemens8
advancements is appearing, rapidly
and simultaneously, in fields as
disparate as healthcare and industrial
manufacturing. Robotics, for example,
is set to revolutionise medical practice as
well as a wide range of manufacturing,
construction and infrastructure
processes. In the oil and gas sector, 3D printing
Royal Dutch Shell has developed a
robot to monitor equipment and carry 3D printing uses additive manufacturing
out safety checks at a remote facility techniques to create three-dimensional
in Kazakhstan.6 Augmented reality objects based on digital models by
(AR) adds information or visuals to layering or ‘printing’ successive layers
the physical world, via a graphics and/ of materials. 3D printing enables on-site
or audio overlay, to improve the user or with-customer production, opening
experience for a task or a product. AR up considerable scope for value-chain
is distinct from Virtual Reality (VR); disruption and bypassing the need
the latter being designed and used to distribute or transport parts and
to re-create reality within a confined products.
experience.

Coming of age for 3D

Operations and printing
augmented reality
According to a PwC survey of
At Boeing, factory trainees US manufacturers, two out of
assembling a mock aeroplane three companies are already
wing worked 30% faster and adopting 3D printing in some
90% more accurately using AR- way—from experimenting
animated instructions on tablets with the technology to
than trainees using instructions making final products.9 But
in PDF documents. Meanwhile, its potential reaches far
DHL equipped its warehouse beyond manufacturing. In the
workers with AR-enabled construction sector, buildings
smart glasses that guided them have been constructed using
through item picking for order robotic arms attached to 3D
fulfilment, resulting in fewer printing heads, and 3D printing
errors and a 25% increase in techniques could revolutionise
efficiency.7 In the aerospace and construction methods. In
defence sector, military aircraft medicine, 3D printing has a
manufacturers are able to use phenomenal potential for the
the data set from an aircraft to rapid construction of precision
create immersive and experiential individual body parts, implants
simulation software and training and devices in a range of
programmes. This can transform biocompatible materials.
the training economics for fighter
and other flight crews. Wear and
tear on the actual airframe can be
minimised and reserved for the
missions that matter, reducing
substantially the overall cost of
operations.

6 Shell gets go-ahead for frontline robot to monitor Kazakh site, Financial Times, 13 September 2016.
7 PwC, Technology Forecast: The road ahead for augmented reality, 2016.
8 Strategy+business, 9 February 2016.
9 https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industrial-products/3d-printing.html
The future of industries  7 
Bringing down the walls
We’ve already seen The second wave of the revolution is
now coming in the form of the industrial
the advance pulse of internet and the simultaneous impact
the shockwave in the of a number of technologies as well
as technological integration between
form of the internet them. It is sweeping through a range of
and digitisation industries, replacing linear value chains
with virtual value chains and new
bring down walls digital ecosystems. And in some cases
between industries. changing the very footprint of industrial
sectors. In a series of industry examples,
Technology companies we look at what is happening in a range
have become user of sectors and what lies ahead.
experience companies.
Telecommunications
companies have become Figure 3: The boundaries between industries will erode

entertainment content
companies. Physical
banking has been
replaced by mobile
phone wallets and hit 62% 60% 56%
by disintermediation.
Bricks and mortar
retailers continue
to be swept away by 62% of CEOs
anticipate their
60% expect a tech-
based, non-traditional
56% predict a large
existing player from
the advance of online customers purchasing competitor to enter another industry
retailing. their products or their industry will move into their
services through a industry
new provider

Source: PwC CEO Pulse 2016.

“We see more change in the next five years than

there’s been in the last 50”
― Dan Ammann, President, General Motors10

10 Market Watch / Wall Street Journal, 12 June 2016.

8  Bringing down the walls

From automotive to
Across the walls:
mobility solutions automotive and other
Automotive companies are eyeing a industries
future where they’re no longer selling
a car but facilitating and personalising Technology – what will
‘on demand’ mobility. Just as many happen to the boundaries
people turn to their apps when they between technology companies,
need a taxi, car manufacturers are automakers and transport
conscious of a future when consumers operators.
have a similar digital relationship with Telecoms – will connected
a mobility service that can provide them car trends trigger massive data
with vehicles to match their lifestyle. usage?
It could be a big spacious wagon for
the weekend away with the family or a Entertainment & media –
Real time physiological data doesn’t just
microcar for a short trip into the city. what implications will ‘car as
open up possibilities for personalisation
Add in the driverless dimension and the screen’ have for major for content
and prevention, it also opens up
potential for asset sharing and it’s not creators and distributors?
the possibility of a ‘laboratory of
difficult to see a future where owning a Insurance – how will life’, enabling new collaborations
car becomes the exception rather than connected cars impact the way between healthcare providers, pharma
the rule. auto insurance is sold? companies, patients and non-patients
to inform innovation in future care and
Automakers have been investing heavily treatment.
in connected services, new ride-sharing
and other transport services, including
deals such as Toyota’s investment in
From technology But for the full potential of this to
unfold, the crucial wall is not so much
Uber, VW in Gett, and GM in Lyft. We to healthcare and between the pharma and technology
are already seeing experiments with
self-driving car services. We’re also pharma R&D sectors but rather between pharma
and healthcare. A true ‘laboratory of
seeing the entry into the market of data- life’ with feedback loops informing
centric digital players such as Google, Lifestyle devices are evolving in ways
that can give healthcare providers and future medical research would need
Apple, and Alibaba, all of which are well access to patient data and records and
attuned to the changing demographic pharma companies rich data insight.
Already the take-up of such devices is would need to overcome the significant
of the driving (and non-driving) public. regulatory and ethical barriers that lie in
This is changing the industry mindset significant. Nearly half of consumers
responding to PwC’s forthcoming Total the way of this.
of how companies see themselves. For
example, Uber’s chief executive Travis Retail survey either already own or
Kalanick commented: “We see ourselves intend to own a wearable device.12
becoming a robotics company in the Some commentators point to a future of Across the walls:
future.”11 a “health internet of things”, in which pharma and
on-body sensors and home behaviour
sensors provide data to enable health
technology
And there is another change taking
place in the automotive sector. The car professionals to provide real time and
early diagnostic services. They point to Joe Jimenez, chief executive of
is already becoming a rich technology Novartis, the Swiss drugs group,
space as the online world comes moves made by both Google and Apple
to build a presence in health research says the health and technology
onto the dashboard and cars become industries must share expertise.
more connected. The advent of the data as evidence of the walls coming
down between technology and pharma. His company is working with
‘driverless car’ will accelerate the move Google on a “smart” contact lens
to the in-car experience becoming that will measure blood sugar
the differentiating factor in our car The walls are also coming down
levels in tear fluid and transmit
choices. Increasingly, we will expect between health and retail. PwC sees
the data to a mobile device.
the in-car experience to be as rich in evidence of increasing trust among
“Novartis is one of the largest
communications and entertainment consumers in non-traditional healthcare
contact lens manufacturers,
content as our home experiences. delivery channels. For example, a
but we don’t know anything
quarter would consider administration
about microprocessors and
of a MRI scan, ultrasound or X-rays at a
about sensors,” he says. By
retail store or pharmacy and 44% would
working together, he says, the
consider going to these places to get a
two industries can develop
minor ailment diagnosis.13
breakthrough technologies
that help meet the growing
health needs of an ageing global
population. What is becoming
clear, however, is that Google,
Apple and others want a share of
the resulting value.
Source: Financial Times, Apple and Google
11 Financial Times, Tesla powers up plan for full self-driving cars, 20 October 2016. stake a claim on big pharma’s turf, 22 March
12 PwC, Total Retail, 2017. 2015.
13 ibid.

The future of industries  9 

From electricity From product
Across the walls: the
to smart home manufacturing to race to secure cross-
and smart city value-add services industry positions in
infrastructure and industrial the industrial internet

The century-old electric utility internet platforms Leading companies such as GE

industry is at the nexus of a developing and Siemens are already rushing
ecosystem that starts with smart Companies that previously just to strengthen their position
homes but stretches out to embrace a manufactured something as mundane as as platform providers across
diverse range of vital infrastructure. a seal are now able to add sensors that a wide range of industries.
Integrated and automated systems enable predictive maintenance and take Each has developed a cloud-
have the potential to bring together this into value-add areas of being able based system for connecting
energy management, energy demand to offer full monitoring, maintenance machines and devices from a
response, asset management and and renewal services. Such integrated variety of companies, facilitating
condition monitoring, city resource solutions or value-added services are transactions, operations and
use, transportation efficiency and even characterised by significantly higher logistics, and collecting and
elderly care through smart software customer benefits and will revolutionise analysing data. GE lists no fewer
solutions and analytics. existing product portfolios and than ten different industrial
performance relationships. sectors that its Predix industrial
A range of connections between operation system is targeting.
different industries emerges. If electric But the race is on to develop and grow Other industrial companies
vehicles become the norm, it will create the platform ecosystems that will be are also moving from simply
the need for substantial infrastructure capable of building critical mass and augmenting their products
investment and the opportunity to use either sideline or encompass more with digital features to more
vehicles as a mass storage source. Local fragmented offerings from other comprehensive digital offerings.
utility networks and circuits would companies. A platform is a nexus of These can range from complete
potentially face tremendous strain. exchange and interoperable technology, digital solutions to becoming a
Collaboration and shared business which allows a wide range of vendors platform integrator.
models come into view. Power utilities and customers to interact seamlessly.
have the potential to capture several The most successful first movers of
sources of value from this scenario but the software and internet industries
face considerable competition from a all cemented their positions with such
range of other players. powerful and distinctive platforms. First
movers in the industrial internet are
seeking a similar advantage (see panel).

Across the walls: An effective platform must, by

smart eco systems definition, bring the customer close to
operations. Industrial companies that
The connections arising share these platforms will also have
from smart building and access to customer data, which will be
infrastructure reach far and analysed to better forecast their needs,
wide across industry walls. improve products and develop new
For the defence and security ones. Whoever owns the platform thus
sector, the use of data from owns the customer, owns access to the
CCTV, smart city infrastructure, customer, and ends up aggregating the
mobile and internet-connected work of a lot of other enterprises.
devices translates directly into
new possibilities for security
products and services. As well
as security data, sensors within
buildings can feed back an
increasing array of information
about building performance and
occupancy behaviour, enabling “We are entering a decade of probably the most
engineering and construction
companies to put this data at the
dynamic changes in the power grid that we
heart of future project planning have ever observed in mankind’s history”
and execution. But it also
pitches them into whole lifecycle ― Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO, ABB14
relationships with the built
infrastructure, extending their
footprint deeper into lifetime
repairs and maintenance and
blurring the boundaries with
other buildings services such as
security and cleaning. 14 Financial Times, 3 July 2016.

10  Bringing down the walls

No industry ‘Sharing’ is a big story for logistics now
– from innovative approaches to reduce
Technology has always
been a hugely important

is immune cost and increase personalisation, to

more formal JVs and partnerships at
aspect of the oil and gas
industry, helping it move
corporate level, the whole sector is to ever more efficient and
All industries will redefining collaboration. Part of this challenging exploration and extraction.
is the development of the ‘physical Digitally-enabled technology systems
need to be ready to internet’ solutions, based on a move are expected to significantly reduce the
stretch their horizons. towards more standardised shipment cost-per-barrel of future hydrocarbon
Advanced technology sizes, labelling and systems. resource exploitation. The use of IoT
sensors can help oil companies have
adoption will be at For the ‘physical internet’ to work in real-time control that could increase the
the heart of future practice, though, many walls would safety, reliability, and yield of thousands
competitiveness. It have to come down. Companies would of wells around the globe.
need to be willing to collaborate far
doesn’t necessarily more extensively than they do today. The gains of integrating technology and
mean the walls will For example, most of the 535,000 services are bringing down walls in the
distribution centres in the US are oilfield services sector. For example,
come down between all standalone operations owned by the largest oilfield services provider,
industries. Oil and gas, different companies; imagine the Schlumberger, is positioning itself as
for example, will still savings if they were all connected, and a provider of integrated services right
physical workflows were standardised across the whole exploration and
be oil and gas in twenty for maximum efficiency. production spectrum. And it is going
years’ time. But we do further by also seeking to transform the
expect all industries to The retail sector was in the traditional procurement model at work
forefront of the first wave in the industry to a more collaborative
be transformed by the of the walls coming down, exploration and production model.
technology shockwave, with traditional retailers being eclipsed
lowering cost bases and by more nimble and agile online models. An industry that has traditionally
But the realignment of the boundaries looked within its own walls is now
improving operational of the sector still has a long way to run. very alert to the possibilities coming
efficiency, as well as We’re already seeing an increase in from other sectors: “We have spent a
direct-to-consumer brand-building, such century devising and using our own
demanding greater as start-up Dollar Shave Club’s low- industry’s oil and gas technologies,
integration with cost online subscription shaving model. but now we can harness a wave of new
customers and suppliers. It poses a sufficient threat to market technologies that apply across sectors
incumbents such as Proctor & Gamble’s - digital technology, big data, artificial
In many sectors, it is Gillette to have attracted the attention intelligence, robotics, virtual reality
likely to transform of Unilever, which has acquired it for and materials science,” observed Bob
competitive metrics and US$1bn. The move gives Unilever a Dudley, BP’s group chief executive.15
direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel
open up industries to that cuts out retailers. Even an industry as
new start-up entrants or specialised and far up the
incumbents from other We can expect more of such moves. supply chain as mining is
Indeed, the IoT will greatly increase not immune to the walls
sectors. the potential for consumer product coming down. PwC’s Global
manufacturers to get feedback direct Mining Transformation report paints
from consumers and develop more a picture of a technology-transformed
direct relationships with end customers, future: “In this future, players
In the logistics industry, again potentially bypassing retailers from the health sector bioengineer
for example, some of the and realigning boundaries within the microorganisms to release coal seam
sector’s own customers sector. Whether it’s internet-enabled gas, making hydraulic fracking obsolete.
are starting up logistics coffee machines communicating with Fintech companies use blockchain
operations of their own, coffee pod producers or a washing technology and the data from ubiquitous
and new entrants to the industry are machine connecting with the detergent drones to create tradable units in
finding ways to carve out the more manufacturer, the potential for mines and their outputs and assets are
lucrative elements of the value chain greater customer convenience and traded faster than ever imagined. Some
by exploiting digital technology or automation could disrupt the distinction precious metal ore bodies are kept in
new ‘sharing’ business models. There between producers and retailers and the ground, but still traded. High-tech
is a trend towards large industrial see consumer product companies manufacturers develop new ‘dry mining
or retail customers and suppliers establishing direct relationships with techniques’, unlocking the potential
becoming players in the logistics market end customers. of ore bodies previously thought to be
themselves, not just managing their own sub-economic or located too close to
logistics but turning that expertise into a environmentally sensitive areas.”16
profitable business model.

15 Competitiveness, Carbon, Choice - embracing change, Oil & Money conference, 18 October 2016.
16 We need to talk about the future of mining, PwC, 2016.

The future of industries  11 

Staying ahead of the
shockwave
We’ve identified five big issues for companies to
consider if they are to thrive and not be thwarted in
the revolution that is unfolding.

Have you got an outcomes focus or are Are you leading with or being left
you still stuck in a physical product behind by advanced technology? Across
mindset? Products are being replaced a range of sectors, the rate of adoption
by outcomes. Customers will no longer of advanced technologies is accelerating
interact with industries and product fast. Developments such as blockchain,
sectors based on the physicality of Industry 4.0, machine learning, artificial
their product, but on the outcomes, intelligence and advanced genomics
convenience and value they can offer. are set to revolutionise sectors as
diverse as finance, logistics, industrial
What are you doing to avoid manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. At
commoditisation of your business? the heart of all these technology-driven
Another boundary shift may involve changes is the need for companies to
the traditional distinction between step up their ability to digitise and
‘business to business’ and ‘business harness data analytics.
to consumer’. With the advent of
connected infrastructure and online Have you got your timing right? Some
automation, some B2B activities could parts of the shockwave, such as the
become commoditised and subsumed industrial internet, are upon us now
within more agile B2C solutions. and the next few years will be crucial
in determining whether companies
Are you building a platform presence? stay ahead or get left behind. But in
In the coming decade, the development some other areas, companies may have
of industrial internet platforms and the choice of being ‘early adopters’ or
other platforms that integrate with ‘smart followers’. And regulation will
smart ecosystems is likely to be as play a part in determining in which
significant as the B2C online revolution territories particular technologies and
of the last decade. Automation will play new ecosystems evolve, and how fast.
a central role in such systems, and a It’s no coincidence, for example, that
presence in these platforms will be a Poland is setting the pace on drones. It
vital ‘go to market’ success factor for was the first in the world to introduce
many companies. a complete legal framework and
institutions regulating the commercial
use of drones.

12  Bringing down the walls

Join in the discussion
This ‘Future of Industries’ report is one of a
number of PwC initiatives to help companies
consider how the shockwave of the new industrial
revolution will change industries. We want you to
be part of the discussion.
• What will your future industry look like?
• Who will be your competitors?
• What will customers want?
• What will be the winning business models?

Join in the discussion with PwC leaders and experts.

Global contacts
Consumer and Industrial Pharma & life sciences
Products & Services Mike Swanick
Norbert Schwieters [email protected]
[email protected]
Healthcare
Oil & gas Patrick Figgis
Niloufar Molavi [email protected]
[email protected]
Retail & consumer
Mining & metals John Maxwell
Jock O’Callaghan [email protected]
[email protected]
Transportation & logistics
Power & utilities Julian Smith
Norbert Schwieters [email protected]
[email protected]
Marketing & knowledge
Automotive management
Rick Hanna Olesya Hatop
[email protected] [email protected]

Industrial products Raymond Mingioni

Joe Herron [email protected]
[email protected]

The future of industries  13 

When we look into the future, we see
disruption, we see collisions, we see
transformation, but most of all we see
opportunities.
What do you see when you look to the
future?

Other titles available in the future in sight series

Shifting patterns Capturing value from They say they want a

The future of the disruption revolution
logistics industry Technology and innovation Total Retail 2016
in an era of energy
transformation

www.pwc.com/futureinsight

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