Chris Iveson, founder and CEO of Sheffield-based
FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics, believes that
Make UK’s executive survey 2025, published earlier this week, represents a ‘wake-up call’ to manufacturers that have been slow to explore the opportunities associated with technology. Make UK’s report reveals that two-thirds (68%) of manufacturers plan to tackle rising costs by boosting productivity and 29% say they will look to technology, cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) to succeed in 2025.
He said: “2025 is a new year, but manufacturers face the same challenges and opportunities as the last — rising costs, higher taxes, sustainability and shareholder demands for better returns. Despite the scale of these threats, it is within most manufacturers’ control to respond in a way that improves their profitability in 2025, and this report is a wake-up call to manufacturers that haven’t explored how to boost productivity with technology.”
Mr Iveson continued: “The UK has a productivity problem because, on the whole, we have been slower than other major industrial economies to invest in technologies that drive productivity. But change is happening, technology offers a fast, efficient, and accessible route to restoring parity and profitability, and those that do not invest will be left behind. Given the challenges of accessing talent and skills in our industry, there can be no surprise that manufacturers are four times more likely to invest in technology than additional headcount to improve performance.
Productivity gains of 10% to 20%He added: “Productivity is priority number one for manufacturers. Making more without increasing overheads is the quickest and most effective way to restore margins, and we consistently see manufacturers achieve productivity gains of 10% to 20% and boost output capacity by up to 30% through more efficient use of their existing assets. The starting point is to understand what is happening on the shopfloor and address the everyday delays and bottlenecks that afflict production lines.
“The ‘wholesale transformation’ Make UK’s report calls is being achieved incrementally. Cloud is becoming the dominant form of manufacturing computing as more legacy systems reach the end of life, making it easier for manufacturers to deploy proven technologies such as data analytics and AI at scale and achieve rapid ROI without capital expenditure.”
He concluded: “One of the most striking aspects of Make UK’s report is the focus on energy efficiency. High energy prices are here to stay, which means that any measure that reduces consumption delivers returns straight to the bottom line. Simple things like knowing how much energy each machine is consuming allows manufacturers to save thousands of pounds a month through better planning and utilisation.”