SHERIDAN, Wyo., Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The global industrial automation market is valued at USD 266.7 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach USD 410.3 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 9% over the forecast period (2026â2031), according to a new study by Wissen Research.
The clearest evidence is on the factory floor. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reports that factories installed a record 603,000 industrial robots in 2025, up 11% from the year before, and that the global operational stock reached 5.079 million units. IFR forecasts installations to rise another 9% in 2026, to approximately 655,000 units.
Behind the robots is a broader shift. The market is moving from hardware-oriented, isolated machine control toward connected, software-based production that combines control hardware, robotics, industrial software, and real-time analytics. Demand is driven by labor shortages, rising quality standards, and the need to control complex processes in automotive, electronics, food, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
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Industrial AI Has Moved From Pilot Projects Into Live Operations
Cisco's 2026 State of Industrial AI study found that 61% of surveyed organizations were using AI in live industrial operations, and 83% planned to increase their AI spending. The use cases already delivering results are practical ones: predictive maintenance, process automation, automated quality inspection, logistics, and energy forecasting. Machine vision systems powered by AI can spot defects and abnormal conditions, and AI can adjust process parameters as production conditions change.
Getting there is harder than buying software. AI has to be integrated with industrial control systems, edge computing, and data platforms, which depends on good machine data, working IT and operational technology (OT) connections, and the state of legacy systems. In the same Cisco study, 97% of respondents expected AI workloads to affect their industrial network requirements, 51% anticipated higher connectivity and reliability requirements, and 43% reported limited or no collaboration between IT and OT teams. The report sees opportunities in industrial networking, edge devices, and real-time data infrastructure alongside conventional automation hardware, and in digital twins, which let companies test production changes virtually before implementing them.
Robots Move Beyond the Car Factory
For years, industrial robotics meant automotive welding and material handling. The IFR data show a broader base. In 2025, robot installations in metal and machinery grew 22%, while automotive and electronics installations each rose 10%. Collaborative robots (cobots) accounted for 66,000 new installations, about 11% of the total, and autonomous mobile robots are taking on internal transport. The growth is concentrated geographically: China installed about 354,000 robots in 2025, roughly 59% of the global total and 20% more than the year before, while India installed nearly 10,500, up 15%, with annual installations growing an average of 27% between 2020 and 2025.
The competitive map is shifting with it. Chinese robot manufacturers supplied 55% of the industrial robots installed in China in 2025, up from approximately 28% a decade earlier, intensifying competition for established international vendors.
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What's Fueling Growth in the Industrial Automation Market
- Semiconductor manufacturing capacity: New wafer plants need tight control of temperature, pressure, gas flow, and contamination, which raises demand for automation systems, sensors, robots, and integrated control systems.
- Electrified vehicle production: Battery manufacturing, motor assembly, and battery pack integration need automated material handling, robotic welding, vision-based inspection, and traceability to keep high-volume production consistent.
- Pharmaceutical traceability and process regulation: Complex biopharma production and regulatory traceability requirements call for automated inspection, batch control systems, paperless technology, and accurate dosing tools.
- Food inspection and packaging: High-speed lines rely on machine vision, automated weighing, fill-level verification, and reject systems to cut product loss and ensure correct packaging.
- Brownfield modernization: Companies are replacing outdated programmable logic controllers (PLCs), old drives, and unintegrated automation with connected platforms that improve equipment visibility and enable remote diagnostics without a complete plant renovation.
- Energy optimization: Chemical, oil and gas, and metals producers are adopting advanced process control, variable frequency drives, and real-time monitoring to stabilize processes and reduce energy use per unit of output.
Challenges Facing the Industrial Automation Market
The upfront cost is the first barrier. Replacing an old control system often means interrupting production, reconfiguring hardware, upgrading software, and validating the result, and companies with several production sites can struggle with incompatible communication standards and production methods. In pharmaceutical and food manufacturing, automated processes may need significant validation before they go live, and smaller businesses can find it hard to finance automation projects.
Connectivity brings industrial cybersecurity risk. Honeywell's 2026 OT Cybersecurity Benchmark Report found that only 21% of surveyed organizations had a complete inventory of their operational technology assets, even though 88% described their cybersecurity programs as mature. Respondents reported an average of 16.2 hours of downtime from their most significant incidents, with losses reaching up to USD 500,000 per hour. The 2025 SANS ICS/OT Security Survey found that only 49% of surveyed organizations had detection capabilities designed specifically for industrial control systems, and just 26% of that group considered them highly effective. Recovery can be slow even when detection is quick: nearly half of surveyed incidents were detected within 24 hours, but almost one in five took more than a month to remediate fully.
Recent Strategic Developments in the Industrial Automation Market
In September 2026, Emerson Electric Co. of the United States announced plans for a 3,500-square-meter automation solutions service center in Qatar's Umm Alhoul Free Zone, featuring the region's first certified in-country flow calibration laboratory. The facility will provide measurement instrumentation, control system integration, spare parts, and training services to improve operational efficiency and reduce customer downtime across the Middle East and Africa.
In July 2026, City Electric Supply of the United States partnered with Siemens Digital Industries of Germany to expand industrial automation and control solutions through its Industrial Automation Solutions division. The partnership strengthened its capabilities in PLC systems, control panels, drives, SCADA, application engineering, and troubleshooting for smart manufacturing and automation customers across North America.
In July 2026, ABB Ltd. of Switzerland agreed to acquire Rotork plc of the United Kingdom through a recommended all-cash offer valued at approximately USD 5.5 billion, aiming to expand its portfolio in intelligent flow control, electric actuators, and instrumentation and to strengthen its field-device and industrial process automation capabilities.
In July 2026, American Industrial Partners completed its acquisition of Honeywell International Inc.'s Intelligrated and Transnorm businesses, combining them with Trew to create a warehouse automation provider. The combined organization offers conveyor systems, robotics, sortation, automated storage and retrieval systems, software, and lifecycle services, and generated over USD 1 billion in 2025 revenue.
The four deals cover service networks, distribution, field devices, and warehouse automation, a reminder that portfolios are being reshaped from several angles at once.
Key Insights from Industrial Automation Market Analysis
- Industrial robotics held a strong position in 2025, supported by rising automation across manufacturing, demand for production precision, and flexible robotic systems. FANUC, Yaskawa, ABB, and KUKA compete in robotics, motion control, and integrated manufacturing automation.
- Automotive and transportation remained a major application in 2025. Automotive manufacturers installed 126,088 industrial robots worldwide in 2024, about 23.3% of the 542,000 installed that year, although electronics manufacturers installed slightly more (128,899), showing how closely the two industries compete for robotics demand. Electric vehicle production adds automated battery-cell handling, pack assembly, robotic joining, and testing to conventional assembly lines.
- Asia-Pacific held the leading regional position in 2025. Asia accounted for 74% of global industrial robot installations in 2024, compared with 16% in Europe and 9% in the Americas, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) reported that global manufacturing output in higher-technology industries grew 5.8% in 2025.
- The market is moderately consolidated. A few large multinationals compete alongside specialized technology providers.