Industry proposals to boost the UK’s manufacturing sector have been unveiled this morning at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry with the publication of the Industrial Digitalisation Review.
Chaired by Siemens UK CEO Professor Juergen Maier, the Industrial Digitalisation Review outlines proposals to boost the economy using advanced digital technologies including robotics, 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality, as well as artificial intelligence.
Over 10 years, industrial digitalisation could boost UK manufacturing by £455bn, increasing sector growth up to 3% per year; creating a net gain of 175,000 jobs while reducing CO2 emissions by 4.5%.
The independent Industrial Digitalisation Review will inform the basis of government work towards a sector deal in the coming months.
The Government’s Industrial Strategy Green Paper, launched in January identified industrial digitalisation as one of five potential early sector deals and the review kick started work with stakeholders to identify opportunities for how government and industry can work together.
The review brings together input and recommendations from more than 200 stakeholders, including companies such as Rolls-Royce, GKN, GSK, IBM, Cisco, and Accenture.
The review took substantive input from SME’s, as well as academic institutions, R&D centres of excellence, the Digital Catapult and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
Juergen Maier spoke exclusively to The Manufacturer’s Editorial Director Nick Peters about how UK manufacturing can “recover its mojo”:
Juergen Maier explained: “The business and academic community has set out a vision for much greater ambition needed for Britain to be a world leader in the fourth industrial revolution. Industry is committed to working in partnership with government, and this combined package of measures will boost UK growth and productivity in manufacturing and provide more exports and increased earning potential, which our economy desperately needs.
“Our ‘Made Smarter’ proposals will help business understand, deploy and create the latest digital technologies, helping to secure more homegrown R&D and the creation of new industries and highly skilled well paid jobs. The proposals build on the UK’s natural technology strengths, while setting out a framework to encourage entrepreneurs to develop new technologies that help manufacturers.”
The Industrial Digitalisation Review considers three key themes:
- Adoption: Building a national digital ecosystem. Government and industry should create a significantly more visible and effective ecosystem that will accelerate the innovation and diffusion of Industrial Digital Technologies. This includes a National Adoption Programme piloted in the North West, focused on increasing capacity of existing growth hubs and providing more targeted support. Additionally the Review recommends up-skilling one million industrial workers to enable digital technologies to be deployed and successfully exploited through a Single Industrial Digitalisation Skills Strategy.
- Innovation: Re-focus existing landscape by increasing capacity and capability through creating 12 ‘Digital Innovation Hubs’, eight large scale demonstrators and five digital research centres focused on developing new technologies as part of a new National Innovation Programme.
- Leadership: Establish a national body, Made Smarter UK (MSUK) Commission, comprising industry, government, academia, FE and leading research and innovation organisations, responsible for developing the UK as a leader in Industrial Digitalisation Technologies and skills, which has a mandate to develop the UK’s own national Industry 4.0 domestic and global brand.
Business Secretary, Greg Clark MP said: “The UK manufacturing sector has the potential to be a global leader in the industrial digital technology revolution. Government and industry must work together to seize the opportunities that exist in this sector and promote the benefits of adopting emerging digital technologies, as well as cutting edge business models.”
CBI, director general Carolyn Fairbairn commented: “The business community has pulled together to shape these recommendations that will speed up technology adoption and bring new energy to the manufacturing sector. The UK must compete with China, the US and much of Europe where there are already advanced plans to embrace the fourth Industrial Revolution. I urge the government to consider these plans carefully, as they are focused on increasing productivity and wages, especially in smaller businesses.”