Filings buzz: tracking industrial automation mentions in the airport industry

Mentions of industrial automation within the filings of companies in the airport industry were 82% higher between October 2020 and September 2021 than in 2016, according to the latest analysis of data from GlobalData.

When companies in the airport industry publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports, and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years.

Industrial automation is one of these topics – companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

To assess whether industrial automation is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the airport industry, two measures were calculated.

Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies that have mentioned industrial automation at least once in filings during the past twelve months – this was 65% compared to 41% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to industrial automation.

Of the 10 biggest employers in the airport industry, Royal Mail was the company that referred to industrial automation the most between October 2020 and September 2021. GlobalData identified 49 industrial automation-related sentences in the UK-based company's filings – 0.3% of all sentences.

Yamato Holdings mentioned industrial automation the second-most – the issue was also referred to in 0.3% of sentences in the company's filings. Other top employers with high industrial automation mentions included Poste Italiane Group, FedEx, and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Across all companies in the airport industry, the filing published in the third quarter of 2021 which exhibited the greatest focus on industrial automation came from Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering. Of the document's 1,304 sentences, seven (0.5%) referred to industrial automation.

This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on industrial automation and how important the issue is considered within the airport industry, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully.

For example, a company mentioning industrial automation more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company's ventures into industrial automation have been successes or failures.

In the last quarter, companies in the airport industry based in the US were most likely to mention industrial automation with 0.2% of sentences in company filings referring to the issue. In contrast, companies with their headquarters in Asia mentioned industrial automation in less than 0.1% of sentences.