The manifesto is being launched at a time when efforts are focused on accelerating the rate and scale at which manufacturers adopt Industry 4.0. Research has found that although 62% of manufacturers plan to undertake some form of move to Industry 4.0, only 23% of them are doing something about it.
Asif Moghal, senior manufacturing industry manager at Autodesk, says: “If British manufacturers are to rival those in countries such as China and India, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the industry. We feel the MSR and ISWP are great steps towards achieving this. However, a number of areas within it would benefit from further refinement.”
The manifesto lays out the following four recommendations to drive these changes and create a more sustainable strategy for the UK’s manufacturing industry:
- Develop home grown leadership – While the Government announced it is to invest an additional £406m to help address the shortage in STEM skills, what is needed is a ‘pull’ from the industry and greater collaboration between the two. This involves creating National Design & Manufacturing Days for students; championing STEM skills; helping SMEs better understand Industry 4.0 and developing a leadership curriculum for businesses owners.
- Enable full spectrum innovation – Both the 2016 Autumn Statement and 2017 Budget pledged to increase funding for R&D in the UK, but this is currently limited mostly to early stage projects. By expanding the funding scope, more UK companies would be able to develop and commercialise a broader range of product and business model innovations. A range of tax or financial incentives should also be created by Government to support this.
- Simplify the skills issue – The creation of more skills institutions, as outlined by MSR, should be abandoned. There should rather be greater support from Government for the Institute for Apprenticeships; the scaling up of existing digital catalyst programmes; and an effort to making the Apprenticeship Levy easier to navigate to help upskill the future workforce.
- Connect everyone – The Government’s March 2017 Connectivity paper and commitment in the 2017 Budget for full fibre broadband and 5G are welcomed. However, a report in August 2017 suggested the UK’s average broadband speed was just 16.5Mbps, placing it 31st in the world. Creating a secure and reliable digital backbone for businesses must be a priority for Government, so that industry can access transformative technologies and platforms that enable collaboration and break down the barriers between design and manufacturing. The manifesto supports accelerated investment into the UK’s digital infrastructure, including faster broadband, better security and a digital connectivity rating.
Moghal continues: “We believe these four areas would drive a transformation for UK design and manufacturing and we welcome a conversation with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the Made Smarter Review board and wider industry on our proposal.”
