Digitalization of Industrial Drives - Adoption Report 2025

A 157-page report on the adoption of key digital solutions across the life cycle of industrial drives, based on a survey of industrial drives OEM and system integrators as well as in-depth interviews.

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Modern industrial drives have evolved from stand-alone components into connected, software-defined assets. This digitalization allows users to monitor conditions in real time, tune performance remotely, and orchestrate entire fleets of drives. This shift creates a new landscape of opportunities and challenges for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), system integrators (SIs), and their end customers.

The "Digitalization of Industrial Drives - Adoption Report 2025" provides a structured analysis of the adoption of key digital solutions across the life cycle of industrial drives. It examines the market through five distinct lenses: an overview of industrial drives, the current state of digitalization, the landscape of key technology vendors, deep dives into four digital solution categories, and an analysis of customer expectations.

The research is based on a survey of industrial drive OEMs and system integrators, supplemented by in-depth interviews. The participants were selected across various industries in Europe, North America, and the Middle East & Africa.

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Report at a glance:

• 157-page report: Detailing the adoption of digital solutions for industrial drives.
• 4 in-depth digital solution analyses: A deep-dive into 4 industrial drives digital solutions: Simulation, Customization, Reliability & Uptime, and Cybersecurity.
• Data from 30+ industrial verticals: Insights drawn from a wide range of sectors, including various types of manufacturing, energy, mining, and basic metals.
• Vendor landscape breakdown: An analysis of the primary industrial drive technology vendor market by solution type, region, company profile, and industry.
• Customer expectation models: A dedicated analysis of customer requirements for manufacturer support and pricing for digital solutions.

Key areas of analysis:

• Introduction to industrial drives: Details the definition and segmentation of mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic/pneumatic drives, with a focus on electrical drives. It also outlines the key components of a drive system and a typical electrical drive software stack.
• State of digitalization: Analyzes the digital maturity of end customers by region, company profile, and industry. It examines the primary drivers and challenges influencing the adoption of digital solutions and describes the customer journey for both OEMs and SIs.
• Industrial drive vendor landscape: Presents an overview of vendors for drive digital solutions. The analysis breaks down the landscape by region, company profile, served industry, and specific digital solution category.
• Simulation solutions deep dive: Examines 11 simulation use cases across the drive life cycle, including the types of simulation tools used. The analysis details the drivers and challenges for adoption and discusses factors that build trust in simulation results.
• Customization solutions deep dive: Investigates 11 customization use cases and scenarios. It details the various methods used for drive customization, key adoption drivers, and implementation challenges.
• Reliability & uptime solutions deep dive: Analyzes 8 digital reliability and uptime solutions. The section outlines common data collection methods from drive systems and examines the issues faced when integrating third-party condition monitoring solutions.
• Cybersecurity solutions deep dive: Details the state of cybersecurity adoption, including an analysis of 26 different frameworks. It examines the importance placed on various security frameworks and outlines the key drivers and challenges for adoption.
• Customer expectations: Analyzes customer requirements for manufacturer support across simulation, customization, reliability & uptime, and cybersecurity. It also examines customer pricing expectations for premium digital solutions.

A data-driven foundation for key business functions:

• Strategy & corporate development: Inform strategic planning and market positioning with analysis of digital maturity levels, adoption drivers, and implementation challenges across different industries and regions.
• Product management & marketing: Guide product roadmaps and messaging with detailed examinations of digital solution use cases, the vendor landscape, and specific customer expectations for features and support.
• R&D & engineering leadership: Direct technical development priorities with insights into customer journeys, technical challenges, and expectations for simulation models, customization tools, and embedded cybersecurity.
• Market intelligence & competitive analysis: Benchmark offerings and identify market opportunities using the structured breakdown of the technology vendor landscape by region, industry, and digital solution.

Key concepts defined:

• Industrial drives: The report focuses on electrical drives, which are hardware units that control and regulate the motion of an electric motor by managing its speed, torque, and direction. They function as the "brain" of a larger drive system that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.
• Simulation: The use of software tools to create a virtual model of a drive system. This model allows for testing the drive's behavior under various operating conditions without needing to test on a physical system.
• Customization: The use of specialized software tools to adapt and optimize drive operations according to the unique requirements of each customer, including performance profiles and control interfaces.
• Reliability & uptime: The set of integration-, operation-, and maintenance-related activities that are critical to ensuring the highest level of drive availability and utilization.
• Cybersecurity: The deployment of security measures such as secure boot, encrypted telemetry, access controls, and intrusion detection to defend industrial drives against cyber threats.

Questions answered:

• What are the life cycle stages of an industrial drive and key digital solutions?
• What is the digital maturity of end customers and the drivers and challenges in adoption of digital solutions?
• What are some of the key vendor of drive digital solutions?
• What are some of the "Simulation" solution use cases and the drivers and challenges to its adoption?
• What are some of the "Customization" solution use cases and the drivers and challenges to its adoption?
• What are some of the "Reliability & uptime" solutions and the drivers and challenges to its adoption?
• What are some of the "Cybersecurity" frameworks and the drivers and challenges to its adoption?
• What are the customer expectations from a drive manufacturer?

Companies mentioned:

A selection of companies mentioned in the report.