(Rockwell Automation: Milwaukee) -- Rockwell Automation, one of the largest companies dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, releases new research highlighting how leading machine builders are strengthening performance, resilience, and customer trust amid increasingly complex operating conditions.

Titled “The OEM Advantage Playbook,” the research is based on insights gained from 500 OEM leaders across 17 countries. It emphasizes that while OEMs continue to navigate workforce instability, supply chain volatility, cost pressure, and rising customer expectations, many are adapting how they operate to perform more consistently when conditions are less predictable. Rather than relying solely on machine performance, leading OEMs are focusing on faster recovery, operational consistency, and decision-making grounded in data.

“The next era of OEM leadership won’t be defined by who builds the most advanced machine,” says Evan Kaiser, vice president of global OEM and emerging industries at Rockwell Automation. “It will be defined by who builds a business that delivers consistent performance despite workforce turnover, supply disruptions, and relentless market pressure.”

Key research findings

Rapid recovery is the new profitability lever: With average outages lasting 40 hours and costing $3.6 million, leading OEMs enable their customers to recover in 24 hours or less. These organizations design machines to detect issues early and restore performance quickly, helping to protect revenue and customer confidence.

Workforce instability is now permanent, and winners design for it: With turnover reaching 47% in some regions, leading OEMs embed expertise into machines and workflows to reduce dependence on individual experience while enabling faster onboarding and consistent performance.

Performance measurement is evolving: High-performing OEMs prioritize profitability and customer outcome metrics—cost of goods sold, lead times, and downtime recovery—alongside traditional production yield and emerging people-centered measures like safety and satisfaction.

Technology is being applied with greater intent: Top performers adopt digital twins, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and cobots strategically to design quality into machines and improve deployment consistency, applying field insights to inform future designs rather than solving isolated problems.

Compliance and cybersecurity are becoming differentiators: Leading OEMs integrate cybersecurity into product design from the outset, treating security with the same discipline as safety to support market access, reduce delays, and build customer trust.

To learn more, the full findings of “The OEM Advantage Playbook” can be found here.