New Vlerick whitepapers on trust in drones and smart manufacturing

Drones have rapidly evolved from a nice-to-have gadget to a serious asset for industrial inspections. They help companies inspect critical infrastructure faster, safer and more cost-effectively – from power lines and wind turbines to tanks, silos and bridges. Yet technology alone is not enough: without trust, even the most advanced drone stays grounded.

In this whitepaper, Vlerick Business School – in collaboration with SkyeBase – interviewed 17 experts (managers and drone pilots) across different sectors. The study shows how both strategic decision-makers and pilots on the ground need the right level of trust in order to adopt drones with confidence. Too little trust slows down innovation; too much trust risks blind reliance.

The research identifies concrete drivers of trust, including:

• Drone and payload performance, reliability and connectivity
• Data quality: usable, repeatable, and decision-grade inspection data
• Capabilities of drone providers and pilots, including safety and regulatory compliance
• Clear procedures for maintenance, incident reporting and governance
• A transparent regulatory framework for each use case

The whitepaper concludes with practical recommendations for both managers and pilots on how to “inspect with confidence” and unlock real business value from drone-based inspections.

Smart factories are no longer just about technology – they are about people and technology working together. Even the best engineered tools underperform when operators don’t trust them.

In this whitepaper, Vlerick Business School – in collaboration with delaware BeLux – explores how trust shapes the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies in three manufacturing companies. 26 stakeholders were interviewed, grouped into three key roles:

• Operators (Operator 4.0)
• Liaisons (technical experts and team leaders)
• Managers (smart factory leadership)

The study identifies four core dimensions of technology trust:

• System – performance, stability and usability
• Data – quality, validation and relevance
• Social – communication, support and ownership
• Value – impact on business, process and job content

One key finding: operators and liaisons report significantly lower levels of trust (around 68–75%) than managers (around 91%). This “trust gap” helps explain why leadership may see a project as “ready”, while the shop floor still hesitates.

The whitepaper offers actionable guidance for leaders who want to:

• Design “trust by design” into their digital transformation roadmap
• Close the trust gap between management and the shop floor
• Institutionalise ownership for key systems
• Harden data pipelines and validation
• Co-design tools together with end users instead of just deploying them

If successful digital transformation and smart manufacturing are on your agenda, this whitepaper is essential reading.