Schneider Electric has projected that the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector could face significant production losses and rising cost pressures by 2030, citing inadequate adoption of artificial intelligence.
According to the study, the expected strain on the industry will largely stem from manufacturing delays, increased downtime, and equipment failures, which are likely to undermine operational efficiency and output.

In the study, which surveyed 1,453 global executives, released recently, also revealed a widening gap between AI ROI ambition and operational reality in the consumer-packaged goods sector.
It said: “The survey reveals CPG manufacturers expect an accelerating margin crisis, with inefficiencies including manufacturing delays, downtime, and equipment failure already amounting to an estimated 20.3% of the final manufactured product cost today. Respondents report 15.2% of mean manufacturing revenue lost today due to delays, downtime, rework, quality deviations or suboptimal asset use.”

It, however, further warned that the preventable losses are expected to worsen sharply, reaching 21.37% next year and rising toward 29.14% by 2030.
The report stressed the need for companies in the CPG sectors to turn to industrial intelligence, which include the combined power of AI, data and automation to reinforce competitiveness in a decade of accelerating volatility.
“Many CPG manufacturers are betting on industrial AI to cut the projected rise in preventable production losses,” it stated.

He noted that expectations around artificial intelligence are rising sharply in the CPG sector, even as industry readiness lags, with the report showing that only about one in eight manufacturers (13%) have AI fully integrated across core operations and decision-making processes.
“Respondents also expect AI-driven return on investment (ROI) to rise sharply, with a third (32.7%) anticipating returns of 50–74% on their AI projects by 2030, while nearly a tenth (7.9%) forecast returns of above 100%, meaning such investments would pay for themselves in under a year,” it reported.
Commenting on the report, President of CPG at Schneider Electric, Neil Smith, said that manufacturers are projecting a tripling of end-to-end AI adoption by 2030, alongside a significant increase in expected returns, matching levels currently achieved only by the most advanced Lighthouse and autonomous factories.

He described the widening expectation gap as the strongest signal of urgency seen in years, noting that AI can only be transformative when it delivers true industrial intelligence, enabling real-time operational data, modern automation, and AI to drive synchronized decision-making at scale.
“Many organisations are still operating brownfield sites with fragmented data and legacy systems that limit AI’s value and adoption. Closing this readiness gap is now one of the most important competitiveness priorities for the CPG sector,” he stressed.

Country President, Schneider Electric West Africa, Ajibola Akindele said the findings highlight that delivering the transformational ROI expected from industrial AI within four years will require a step change in collaboration, transparency, and shared standards.
Akindele added that the sharing and deployment of best practices and sector-specific expertise will be key to driving the next wave of industrial digital transformation.