Manufacturing businesses in Thessaloniki appear unprepared to compete in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as they themselves rate their level of readiness at just 2 out of 5, while almost half of the businesses do not use any relevant tool.
According to the relevant announcement, the data emerge from the May - June Economic Barometer conducted by Interview on a sample of 405 manufacturing businesses on behalf of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Small Industries and Crafts (VETH).
To the question “which of the following AI technologies does your business use?” 25% answered Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude for text/image processing), 4% customer service chatbots (automated AI digital assistants that answer questions, execute orders, etc.), 8% marketing and sales automation tools, 15% analysis and forecasting software, while the lion’s share, namely 48%, answered that it uses none of the above.
Regarding the biggest obstacles manufacturers face in integrating AI into their businesses, 30% answered uncertainty about the results of the investment, 20% concern about data security as well as privacy issues, 19% the high cost, 8% the difficulty of finding employees with the necessary skills to use the new AI tools, 9% answered “other”, while 16% stated that they face no obstacle.
Time savings the main benefit
To the question “what are the main benefits you estimate exist from the use of AI?” 50% answered time savings in repetitive tasks, 18% reduction of operating costs, 5% improvement in the quality of deliverables, 12% better understanding of customer needs, 5% other and 10% none of these.
More specifically regarding sectors, 27% of the survey participants estimate that the marketing department has benefited or could benefit from the use of AI, 17% product development, 15% customer service, 5% human resources, 6% the accounting department, 10% answered “other” and 20% “none of these”.
To the question “how often do you use AI tools in your daily work?” 21% said daily, 34% every week, 24% rarely and 21% not at all.
Manufacturing businesses unprepared for the AI era
To the question “how ready is your business to compete in the AI era?” on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 not at all ready - 5 absolutely ready) the average readiness is 2, a fact that demonstrates that although Artificial Intelligence has the potential to change the balance, it still has a long way to go before being successfully integrated by Thessaloniki’s manufacturing businesses.
Economic Conditions index strengthened - Satisfaction for manufacturing businesses
In the second part of VETH’s bimonthly Economic Barometer, 40% of the manufacturing business respondents, regarding how they judge the condition of their business, stated that it is satisfactory, 36% good and 24% bad. In the next six months, 55% estimate that the condition of their business will be the same, 24% that it will be better, while 21% worse.
85% answer that they will maintain their business’s workforce over the next two months, 10% that they will hire staff and 5% that they will dismiss staff. Turnover remained the same for 39% of respondents, 33% recorded a decrease, while 28% an increase.
Regarding the Economic Conditions index, in the May - June period it was on an upward trajectory, namely at 6.2 points, significantly improved compared with the March - April period, when it was at 4.2 points. It should be noted that in the May - June period of 2025 the Economic Conditions index was at 5.2, while a year earlier, during the corresponding period, it was at 3.3.