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 and company size, from small to very large. We asked respondents to assess their level of familiarity with 14 different kinds of technology, and indicate how the technologies relate (or not) to their businesses. All respondents were asked about all 14, even though we realize that some are more relevant to some industries than to others. Those shaded light green primarily apply to those making and/or moving a physical prod- uct, while those in dark green are likely to be applied more universally.
One way to analyze the data is to divide participants into two groups— those with no or limited familiarity with a technology, and those that understand it well (Fig. 1). We presume that those who have deployed or are deploying a technology fall into the latter category.
Either You “Get It” or You Don’t
Not or somewhat familiar Well Understood Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) 37%
63% 47% 37% 60% 44% 52% 64% 61% 71% 70% 56% 53% 55% 37%
75% 100%
We seem to be all over the map here, with those that understand a technology well most often utilizing increas- ingly large volumes of data to provide intelligence. And yet, we don’t see a big uptick in terms of deployment (Fig. 2). Only 10 to 20 percent have even begun to deploy the tech-
nologies that are most well understood, and many do not see the applicability to their businesses.
Is this due to a lack of education, or is it because these technologies really don’t apply? I think it is a little of both. While I plan to do a deeper dive by industry, two preliminary
S38 MetalForming/July 2017
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Smart Robots 53% Digital Twins 63% Drones 40% Beacons 56% Augmented Reality 48% Artificial Intelligence 36% Machine Learning 39% Predictive Analytics 29% Internet of Things 30% Natural Language (voice-based) user interface 44% Virtual personal assistants for employees 47% Virtual customer assistants (chatbots) 45% Blockchain (distributed ledgers) 63%
Fig. 1
0%
25%
50%
Source: Mint Jutras 2017 Enterprise Solution Study


















































































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