Asset-Intensive Sectors Have Positive Spending Plans For 2020

This report provides an industry-level breakdown of spending plans for 2020 operational excellence programmes based on interviews with 284 managers in operations, reliability and maintenance roles. A majority of firms in the survey (52%) expect to increase nominal spend on operational excellence by 5% or more in 2020 compared to 2019. Just 1% of the respondents anticipate a budget cut in 2020. The outlook for operational excellence spending is therefore a positive one. At the industry level, expectations of double-digit increases range from 9% to 24% of respondents which should shape the strategies of technology vendors. Only three industries have a quarter or more of firms anticipating no increase or a reduction. Tech providers and service providers with a focus on chemicals and general manufacturing should do more due diligence on their prospects in 2020 as these sectors have the least promising spending plans. Only a minority of firms in these sectors will buy into big new propositions such as digital twin simulations and enterprise-scale APM software.