Fourth annual “State of Production Health” report finds manufacturers have moved beyond AI experimentation and are now focused on scaling the industrial AI workforce amid workforce, data and operational challenges.
NEW YORK — June 9, 2026 — Augury, a leader in Industrial AI solutions for manufacturing, today released its fourth annual State of Production Health report, revealing that for the first time in history manufacturers have largely moved beyond AI experimentation and are entering a new phase focused on enterprise-scale execution.
The report, conducted in collaboration with IndustryWeek, surveyed 500 manufacturing leaders across U.S. and European companies with annual revenues exceeding $50 million, including 32% with revenues above $500M.
The findings show a sector increasingly committed to AI, with 83% of manufacturers planning to increase AI investments in 2026 and adoption expanding rapidly across production environments. But as AI moves deeper into operations, manufacturers are encountering new challenges. Workforce constraints, unplanned downtime, fragmented systems and poor data quality are emerging as the primary obstacles to realizing AI’s full value.
“The conversation has shifted from whether manufacturers should adopt AI to how quickly and effectively they can operationalize it,” said Elan Greenberg, CEO of Augury. “The companies seeing the greatest ROI aren’t just investing more, but building the data, workflows and organizational alignment needed to turn AI into clear business outcomes.”
Key findings from the 2026 report include:
- AI has moved from experimentation to enterprise scale
Manufacturers are advancing from AI pilots to broad operational deployment. The share of organizations scaling AI across more than half their facilities has tripled year-over-year, rising from 14% to 42%. Predictive maintenance remains the leading use case, now deployed by 57% of respondents, while 87% report adopting or experimenting with generative and agentic AI tools. Looking ahead, 83% plan to increase AI investments this year, with more than one-third expediting increases of over 50%. - Downtime and staging lead operational challenges
Manufacturers are increasingly focused on improving production health from within. Workforce constraints (43%) and unplanned downtime (40%) have emerged as the top operational challenges, both rising year-over-year. Organizations are also using AI to address the knowledge gap and workforce development needs, 94% believing AI will positively impact employee upskilling efforts. - Data quality is becoming the defining factor in AI success
While AI adoption continues to accelerate, many manufacturers are discovering that technology alone is not enough. Data quality is now the leading barrier to AI maturity, cited by 47% of respondents. Process and operational hurdles (43%) and the lack of proven value or clearly defined use cases (39%) also rank among the top barriers to AI adoption, underscoring that many organizations are still working through how to translate AI investments into consistent operational impact. Leading AI adopters are also the most likely to surface data-related challenges, as scaling AI across operations exposes inconsistencies in underlying systems and workflows.
“Manufacturers are clearly committed to scaling AI, but the next phase of value creation depends on execution,” concluded Greenberg. “AI is only as effective as the teams they serve. This is exactly why Augury is committed to helping manufacturers to connect machine, process and operational data through the Industrial AI Workforce, helping our customers run their plants more effectively.”
Click here to access Augury’s fourth annual “The State of Production Health 2026” report. To learn more about Augury and its Industrial AI solutions, visit www.augury.com.
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About Augury
A leading Industrial AI company, Augury helps the world’s manufacturers leverage real-time production insights and data to drive new levels of efficiency. By combining predictive and prescriptive technology with operational data and customized AI agents, production teams can improve uptime, reduce costs, and maximize yield and capacity. Our mission is to transform how people and machines work together to push the boundaries of human productivity.
About The State of Production Health Report
In March of 2026, Augury’s research partner, Endeavor Business Intelligence, used a research panel approach to complete this fourth annual study, surveying 501 manufacturing professionals in the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The respondents were screened to include full-time employees with Director, VP/Head, or C-suite seniority working in industries including food and beverage, chemicals consumer packaged goods, building materials, energy and utilities, wood products, metals and mining, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas and cement.
All the companies have an annual revenue of $50M+, including 32% with revenues above $500M. 84% of respondents report at least five manufacturing sites.
CONTACT:
Zoe Hamilton
PANBlast for Augury
augury@panblastpr.com
