Reluctance to invest in digital technology is the manufacturing industry’s biggest productivity blocker, according to research which found that legacy technologies are having a negative impact on three quarters of UK businesses in the sector.
The Manufacturing Digital Productivity Report – produced by software company iBASEt with support from the Manufacturing Technology Centre – surveyed 403 highly engineered industrial manufacturers in the UK and USA.
It revealed that firms still use paper for more than a third of processes on average, while manual spreadsheets are used for almost half of processes.
Meanwhile around two thirds of respondents implemented Industry 4.0 and smart factory technologies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with 30% doing so for the first time. Close to one in seven said this made them more productive, however 56% are not effectively harnessing Industry 4.0 data and 19% are not using any of the data at all, the report says.
“It is alarming to see that major manufacturing operations are still being run by pen and paper or spreadsheets,” said iBASEt CEO Naveen Poonian. “This lack of digital maturity is slowing manufacturers down, leading to increased errors, and making it increasingly difficult to attract the next generation of talent.”
He added: “It is true the pandemic brought Industry 4.0 adoption plans forward, but manufacturers must make the move as part of a sound long term digital strategy, using tools fit for the job. If not, this lack of digital maturity will continue to be the biggest barrier of industry productivity in the years to come.”
The report concludes that: “Highly engineered industrial manufacturers simply have to invest in digital, or they risk falling behind the competition. A small crumb of comfort right now is that most competitors are still sat, neck and neck, on the start line. However, it would only take a few to race on ahead to leave the rest far behind. Stagnating any longer is not an option.”
It adds that manufacturers need guidance on what to prioritise and which solutions to deploy. For example a Manufacturing Execution System can help firms “unlock real time visibility and intelligence for improved control; while on the cloud front, an MES is a readymade facilitator of a more mobile, agile and productive workplace” it says.
Manufacturing Technology Centre chief executive Dr Clive Hickman commented: “Manufacturing produces more than 18% of UK GDP, yet 96% of employees at major manufacturers think that UK businesses are not doing enough to reap the benefits of digitisation.
“This isn’t just a UK problem – companies all around the world have been sluggish to adopt these technologies; that means there is a prize available for the country that moves swiftly to embrace the new manufacturing economy.”