FourJaw CEO Chris Iveson (left) and CTO Robin Hartley-Willows (right)

Sheffield-based FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics has revealed that the number of manufacturers using its plug-and-play machine monitoring platform more than doubled in 2023 and that its installed base — the number of machines monitored by manufacturers using FourJaw technologies — increased almost three-fold.

The company saw a significant increase in investment appetite from manufacturers looking to deploy technologies to enable them to improve operational efficiency. This increase in demand saw FourJaw welcome more than 60 new customers from the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, New Zealand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

FourJaw’s platform captures real-time production data, such as utilisation and energy usage, from manufacturing machinery and combines this with operator feedback to generate insights that improve productivity, operational efficiency, and financial and environmental performance. More than 120 manufacturing businesses worldwide now use FourJaw.

Unlike traditional monitoring systems, which are usually costly to set up and have to be hardwired into each machine, manufacturers can install FourJaw’s technology on any type of machine in minutes thanks to its plug-and-play IoT (internet of things) hardware. This ease of installation, combined with FourJaw’s per-machine pricing model, makes the technology accessible to manufacturers of all sizes. Those using it proactively typically achieve 10-20% productivity gains and increase output capacity by as much as 30% within a year.

FourJaw raised a £1.8 million seed funding round in October 2023, enabling it to enhance its technology and support continued growth. FourJaw now employs 26 people, primarily at its headquarters in Sheffield.

Greater productivity and prosperity
Chris Iveson, CEO at FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics, said: “2023 was a break-out year for FourJaw and for manufacturers increasing their investment in factory digitalisation. We are extremely pleased to support this industry-wide shift, helping manufacturers move their processes from 20th-century methods to smart factories with accessible technologies.

“Advances in cloud computing and low-cost IoT devices have brought cutting-edge machine monitoring within the reach of most manufacturers, who are pushed to operate more efficiently by high energy costs and increasingly recognise that technology offers the best route to greater productivity and prosperity.”

Chris Borrett, investment director at Mercia Ventures, a FourJaw investor, said: “Manufacturing is an enormous industry that is undergoing massive digitisation. Until now individual machine data across the entire assembly line has been prohibitively expensive and cumbersome to install. FourJaw is changing the game, providing the data, the platform and the intelligence required for manufacturers from all sizes and sectors to radically evolve their operations.”

Research firm Gartner revealed in December 2023 that more than half of manufacturers (54%) would increase technology spending by at least 10% in 2024 and said that business intelligence and analytics software are now top priorities as manufacturers transition to smart factories.

Earlier this month, Make UK revealed that manufacturers are accelerating their use of new digital technologies and that 71% of firms now see these as a way to boost operational efficiency.