Whitepaper | Opportunities and challenges in the design and manufacturing industry

Autodesk's Design & Make (D&M) 2025 Industry Report provides an up-to-date overview of the biggest opportunities and challenges in the design and manufacturing industry. The report highlights themes such as digital transformation, talent acquisition, artificial intelligence and sustainability. The report is written in English.

Download now

For this report, 1,925 leaders, futurists and industry experts were interviewed. The study covers three regions (APAC, EMEA and AMER). The report highlights the biggest challenges, opportunities and trends that organisations are experiencing within this industry. In an era of technological advancements, economic pressures, and increasing uncertainty, the question remains how businesses adapt and prepare for the future.

Below we have summarised a few important findings for you. In the white paper itself you will find more insights with accompanying explanations.

Cost control: priority number one, but there is more to it

In the design and manufacturing industry, leaders see both challenges and opportunities. After a year of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, persistent inflation, and disrupted supply chains, it's no surprise that cost containment is at the top of the agenda. A whopping 35% of Design & Make leaders cite this as the biggest business challenge. The adoption of AI and emerging technologies is cited as the second biggest challenge. Optimism in AI is declining, while concerns about the impact are increasing. Many organisations struggle with implementation and finding practical applications.

Another challenge and trend is finding, developing and retaining tech talent: 62% of leaders find it difficult to attract people with the right skills, up from 48% last year. In addition, sustainability is a persistent bottleneck, with 26% of D&M organisations seeing it as one of their biggest challenges.

Digital transformation drives 50%+ returns

A striking finding this year is that most respondents surveyed indicate that digital transformation efforts have led to improvements within their organisations. The majority of organisations that benefit from digital transformation see more than 50% improvement in categories such as customer satisfaction, innovation, and productivity. Digitally mature companies tend to invest more in technology, and those investments are now yielding high results.

Invest in digital transformation today

Cadac is your strategic partner in design and manufacturing processes. We support your organisation in choosing and implementing the right tools and strategies, so that you accelerate digital transformation and strengthen your market position.

Want to know more? Feel free to contact us or download the full report for detailed insights and practical advice.

hbspt.forms.create({ region: "eu1", portalId: "143438306", formId: "266f6cce-bb45-4bea-81ca-20fa18430f11", onFormSubmitted: () => { trackForm(); let topPos = $(".hs-form-wrapper").offset().top - 180; $('html, body').scrollTop(topPos); }, onFormReady: function($form, ctx){ $('input[name="bu"]').val('CDC'); $('input[name="page_url"]').val('https://www.cadac.com/be-en/download/whitepaper-autodesk-state-of-design-make-industry/'); $('input[name="campaign_description"]').val('Whitepaper | Opportunities and challenges in the design and manufacturing industry'); $('input[name="pagename"]').val('Opportunities and challenges in the design and manufacturing industry'); $('input[name="download_object"]').val('Opportunities and challenges in the design and manufacturing industry'); $('input[name="download_link"]').val('state-of-design-and-make-maakindustrie.pdf'); $('input[name="download_type"]').val('Whitepaper'); $('input[name="campaign_code"]').val('CMP-01908-G4P5S9'); $('input[name="marketing_list_number"]').val('ML157783'); $('input[name="weblead_type"]').val('Download'); $('input[name="ddlcountry"]').val('us'); } });