The WEF Quantum Report of October 2025: Quantum Technologies in Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains – A Critical Review
Year: 2025
Type: review
Abstract: The World Economic Forum (WEF) and Accenture's 2025 white-paper Quantum Technologies: Key Opportunities for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains presents quantum computing, sensing, and security as near-term levers for industrial transformation. This critical review evaluates those claims against the current peer-reviewed literature and independent industry benchmarks. The analysis finds that quantum security (post-quantum cryptography, PQC) and selected sensing applications (e.g., dimensional metrology) are approaching commercial readiness (TRL 6–7). By contrast, the report's expectations for quantum-computing optimisation are heavily constrained by the limitations of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The intrinsic NP-hard nature of large-scale manufacturing scheduling, together with technical barriers in sensor ruggedisation, high total cost of ownership (TCO), and an estimated talent gap covering less than 5 % of projected demand (Greinert et al., 2023), suggest that the WEF's timelines for broad industrial adoption are overly optimistic. The review concludes with recommendations for practitioners: focus pilot investments on quantum security and narrowly scoped sensing use cases, while maintaining a patient, long-term outlook for quantum-computing advantage.
DOI: 10.17613/a58c8-a3326
Author: Kho, R.K.D.
Language: English
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7104950577
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