British growth in production relies on manufacturing

These latest figures come amongst the highest levels of optimism seen in the sector since June 2015. Yet as the weaker pound continues to be a double-edged sword for British industry, the manufacturing sector must become a priority area for innovations that will help UK businesses to compete globally, said systems integrator World Wide Technology (WWT).

The stated aim of the government’s industrial strategy is to determine priority areas of investment in science, research and innovation to support the UK’s world leading sectors. Research suggests that the global manufacturing sector will invest $20.59bn into IoT solutions by 2021, and that the Asia-Pacific region will see exponential growth in this area. The capacity of the sensor-based technology to boost productivity and profitability must not be ignored in Britain.

Ben Boswell, EMEA Director at WWT said: “It’s great to see this return to optimism in UK manufacturing, but the level of uncertainty in the market means that every effort must be taken now to make the sector sustainable.

“Strategic application of IoT technologies across the business lines of manufacturers can have a significant impact on productivity and cost. Over in the US, we’ve seen a global manufacturer lined up to achieve $1bn in annual savings beginning this year. The data-driven rigour of the connected factory is helping them to reduce machine down time through predictive maintenance and automated repair, for example.

“But applying IoT and achieving these considerable savings is a complex undertaking. Many IoT initiatives rush to deploy technology and fail to pay attention to the critical underlying IoT infrastructure. This can lead to a fragmented solution that may not be secure, sustainable or scalable. At worst, an IoT solution is barely more than a gimmick and becomes an added cost burden which fails to unlock business outcomes.

“At their best though, these solutions offer a competitive edge simply through the smart analysis of routine processes. With optimism high but potential bumps around the corner, the time has never been better for government and industry alike to prioritise the innovations that will deliver sharply focused and sustainable business outcomes for years to come.”