A recent report from PwC finds that German industry intends to invest 3.3% of its turnover in Industry 4.0 initiatives over the next five years; it also expects to grow its revenues by 12.5%.

With a manufacturing sector that is four-times the size of the UK’s, Germany is the manufacturing hub of Europe; it is also investing seven-times more in automating its manufacturing systems.

Nitin Rakesh, CEO and president of the ‘digital modernisation’ firm Syntel (www.syntelinc.com), says the key for UK manufacturers is to keep pace with their counterparts on the Continent and to accelerate their Industry 4.0 investments by modernising and implementing ‘smart’ machines that can communicate as a ‘unified manufacturing network’.

“Many companies are still relying heavily on legacy systems; and while some have migrated to ERP systems based on SAP, Java and Oracle, manufacturers still need to modernise their underlying computing platforms in order to give them the greater responsiveness and real-time visibility required to service the demands of the digital customer.”

Mr Rakesh also says that many manufacturers have valuable customer, product and sales data that is trapped in ageing legacy databases and cannot be accessed by modern data analysis tools. “The insights contained in historical manufacturing data can hold the key to making enterprises more efficient and better able to meet customer demands.

“Manufacturers in the UK must carefully plan their future technology initiatives to serve a new generation of customers that expects ‘anytime, anywhere’ access to services and information. By implementing modern systems and utilising Industry 4.0 techniques like Big Data analysis, manufacturers can achieve improved levels of control and visibility.”