Verity Davidge
Director of Policy, Make UK
In the UK, we are entering a new and exciting digital age that has the potential to bring about numerous benefits to the manufacturing sector.
Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and large language models (LLMs; generative AI) are transforming industries by automating tasks, optimising production and revolutionising the way we approach problem-solving.
Automation and robotics in manufacturing
As AI, automation and robotics continue to evolve and speed up processes on the factory floor and elsewhere, their potential to drive economic growth and reshape industries is becoming increasingly clear. The manufacturing sector and its factories of the future have a central role to play. The sector brings stability and economic resilience to the economy and provides the jobs and goods needed to ensure that communities across the country thrive.
As the Government moves to develop
its industrial strategy, digital technologies
and digital skills must be at the heart of it.
Productivity and automation adoption lag
However, despite being a major contributor to growth in the UK, the manufacturing sector faces a significant challenge when it comes to productivity and automation adoption. Just 7% of the companies we surveyed as part of this report regarded themselves as ‘very knowledgeable’ about AI, and we remain behind in many global rankings when it comes to metrics such as robot density.
Multifaceted benefits of tech adoption
Yet, there are huge financial gains to be had. For example, the AI industry in the UK is expected to contribute $1 trillion to the economy by 2035. As an economy, and as a manufacturing sector, we have the potential to realise these gains. After all, manufacturing contributes some 47% of all private R&D spending in the UK.
It’s clear that factories could look very different in five, 10 or 20 years’ time, by adopting existing digital technologies to transform them into the factories of the future. This can help boost efficiency and productivity, not just on production lines but also in other areas such as decarbonisation and occupational health and safety.
As the Government moves to develop its industrial strategy, digital technologies and digital skills must be at the heart of it. Two hundred years after the industrial revolution took root, the fourth one is bringing the zero-impact factory within reach.
