We help machinery and industrial-automation companies meet the digital transformation imperative. Our work includes setting digital priorities, digitizing the core business, inventing and investing in new sources of revenue, extracting value from data, and mastering new ways of working driven by digital.
BCG X, our tech build and design unit, focuses on data, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics solution design, and digital business building.
Companies focused on manufacturing machinery, components, and equipment for industrial automation have two critical roles to play in our ever-changing world. First, their products must enable other industrial companies to become highly automated, digital, and sustainable businesses. Second, they need to understand and harness the top trends transforming the machinery and industrial-automation industry today. BCG’s machinery and industrial-automation consultants collaborate with leaders to explore:
- Digital Disruption. How can machinery and industrial-automation companies monetize the volumes of data that digital technologies generate and capture? How can digital offerings and services generate additional revenue streams to help these companies compete against software giants and telcos? How do traditional companies make the leap from manufacturing hardware-centric equipment to delivering fully digitized products and services? (See the exhibit below.)
- The Challenging Future of Automation. How will advances in automation technologies erase the boundaries between information and operational systems? How can industrial-automation companies navigate the cyber-physical hybrid networks that combine new technologies? How can machinery and industrial-automation companies best set their game plans to capture the value pools emerging from these new ecosystems?
Winning Strategies in Machinery and Industrial Automation
BCG’s machinery and industrial-automation consulting offerings include a comprehensive suite of advisory services and tools. We help our clients navigate the challenges and address the opportunities emerging in the machinery and industrial-automation industry landscape. Our team comprises more than 200 core senior consultants and experts around the globe who possess in-depth experience across the entire value chain of machinery and industrial automation—including general machinery and components, digital machinery, industry-specific machinery, industrial automation and controls, and building technology.
Our machinery and industrial-automation consultants are supported by researchers, analysts, and experts in 90 offices around the world, as well as a cadre of senior advisors. We have supported more than 1,400 global client projects in the machinery and industrial-automation industry since 2015, helping our clients tackle various challenges in such areas as strategic planning, corporate development, operations, marketing and sales, and workforce planning.
BCG’S Selected State-of-the-Art Tools and Proprietary Data
BCG X
BCG X
Capability
Capability
BCG’s M&A Support
We help investors and companies in the machinery and industrial-automation industry identify investment targets and partnerships in the fast-changing industrial-technology arena. Our experts home in on specialized segments, such as advanced robotics, autonomous vehicles, machine vision, and industrial IoT.
BCG’s M&A Support
Capability
Capability
Our Digital Acceleration Index (DAI)
BCG's DAI enables decision makers in a company to rate the enterprise’s effectiveness on digital initiatives under way. Informed by survey responses, companies can set their digital ambition, prioritize digital projects, identify capability gaps, and build a roadmap to the future.
Our Digital Acceleration Index (DAI)
BCG’s Digital & Excellence Services Benchmark
The tool helps companies assess their digital maturity. The eight criteria include the effectiveness of field force training and support, service operations, and customer incident handling.
BCG’s Digital & Excellence Services Benchmark
BCG’s Climate Readiness Toolkit
This toolkit includes climate scenario modeling. It positions clients to reduce emissions, bolster resilience in the face of
climate-related risks, foster supply chain
sustainability, and design a low-carbon portfolio.
BCG’s Climate Readiness Toolkit
Our Center of Excellence
BCG’s Center for Digital in Machinery
We bring together and combine BCG’s mastery of strategy and business management with deep expertise in engineering, industry, and technology to achieve superior results for our clients. Our partnerships with leading engineering and industry organizations, such as VDMA and RWTH Aachen University in Germany, enable us to explore the latest advances in automation and industrial technology, identify the business implications for companies, and then collaborate to pursue the most promising strategic plans and use cases.
Our Featured Insights
Article
February 21, 2025
Few industrial goods firms invest enough in the pricing function to achieve sustainable above-average revenue and profit growth, according to our 2024 Pricing Maturity Assessment.
Article
February 18, 2025
Companies that prioritize selling aftermarket services to supplement equipment sales not only generate much more income, they also solidify lasting relationships with customers.
Article
August 1, 2024
To succeed in the future, manufacturers must learn to deliver industrial solutions as digital services. This playbook describes the first steps involved in executing this complex strategy.
Article
November 8, 2023
The company’s leaders recognize that a GenAI transformation requires a transformation of business processes and people development.
Article
September 19, 2023
As demand for electricity surges and electric grids become less stable, residential energy flexibilization provides a solution.
Article
February 3, 2023
The industrial machinery industry is behind the curve in going digital. But companies in the vanguard are proving better at innovating and achieving their strategic goals.
Meet Our Leaders in Machinery and Industrial Automation
