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The warning came from Chris Richards, head of business environment at EEF, the manufacturer's organisation, after the publication of a new report on industrial digitalisation. The government-commissioned review, Made Smarter, aimed to create a set of proposals “that will equip the UK with the means to fully embrace the next industrial revolution.”
Technologies such as artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing and machine learning could bring widespread benefits if companies adopt them rapidly and effectively, said review lead and boss of Siemens UK and Ireland, Jürgen Maier. Adoption so far has been limited, but digital technologies will boost productivity and competitiveness, create higher-paid, higher-skilled jobs and address regional economic disparities, the report claimed.
The review found UK manufacturing could benefit by as much as £455bn over 10 years, with sector growth of 1.5-3% and a potential productivity boost of more than 25% by 2025.
However, Richards echoed a key recommendation of the report as he called for a cohesive adoption strategy. “The digitisation of manufacturing is real and is happening at pace, but this speed could create major winners and losers unless all of industry moves together,” he said. “The opportunities are significant and the review highlights the barriers to adoption of new digital technologies that could stop us moving up the ranks, particularly the need for better leadership and a culture shift on innovation to boost adoption – particularly amongst small and medium enterprises.”
The manufacturing expert backed another call from the report for the creation of “fourth industrial revolution demonstration centres,” allowing company representatives to get first-hand knowledge of what is possible in factories and supply chains. Richards also called on government to highlight best practice. “The industrial strategy set to be published next month must fill in these blanks and be absolutely focused on tangible delivery and reassurance about how it will make a difference,” he said.
Alongside quicker adoption of digital technologies, another key proposal set out in the report was for stronger leadership from the government and industry heads. Other countries such as Germany, China and the US already have cohesive strategies, it noted, and the same is needed in the UK if the government hopes to meet its aim of the country becoming a world leader in digital industrial technologies by 2030.
“It’s down to today’s innovators and business leaders to get involved; to work in partnership with the public sector to ensure more longer-term thinking, and make sure all businesses invest and innovate to create a digitally-led industrial Britain,” said Maier. “My call to action to government and the business community is to come together to embrace these proposals, as something positive we can get behind. Focusing on the long-term challenge of embracing this new industrial revolution is vital if Britain is to succeed economically this century.”
The recommendations in the report are "a step in the right direction," said Fujitsu manufacturing CTO Graeme Wright. "We recently took the pulse of UK businesses’ ability to enact digital transformation, and alongside a shortage of skills, we found that one in four organisations have experienced a failed digital project in the last two years - at an average cost of £450,000," he said. "What this shows is that it’s no longer enough just to have the best applications and devices; without talented and capable people to use them, they are meaningless."
For people to succeed, a culture of innovation and collaboration is also needed, he added, saying that no business "can hope to stand alone and succeed in the world of tomorrow."
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.