Juergen Maier, chief executive of Siemens plc, said the UK could play a major role in promoting the adoption of Industry 4.0 digital technology solutions that will underpin the so-called fourth Industrial revolution – but also needs to develop an aptly skilled workforce to capitalise on the opportunities a digital future can deliver.
He was speaking as a panel member at the Siemens-sponsored, Cheltenham Science & Business Summit 2016, which was debating the digitisation of industry. Other panellists included representatives from the University of Nottingham, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and Cambridge Judge Business School.
The debate was chaired by Emma Tucker, deputy editor at The Times in front of a specially invited audience from the industrial, public and education sectors, as well as Government departments and manufacturing trade bodies.
Maier said: “The potential of digital technologies to use vast data volumes lies at the heart of solutions that have the potential, for example, to enable manufacturers to produce a batch size of one - but at mass market prices.
“In essence, it will allow for the customisation of all manner of consumer and industrial products to meet market demand, and will be made possible via flexible, highly connected and intelligence-led manufacturing processes.”
Maier said he believed today’s Industry 4.0 cyber-physical systems could allow manufacturers to re-assess their processes and business models so that they can improve productivity and customised market responsiveness.
He added: “The ability to extract, hold and interrogate huge volumes of data will also enable businesses to better manage their assets in all kinds of ways, offering, for example, the ability to vastly improve factory efficiencies and contribute to improving Britain’s productivity performance which currently lags behind many leading industrial nations.”
Maier called upon UK manufacturing to embrace the possibilities digital technology solutions offer and to get prepared for the seismic change the digitisation of industry will bring within the next five years.
He concluded: “I would urge all stakeholders, including policy holders within Government, to grasp the strategically important opportunity that lies before us. This is an exciting moment in time for the world of engineering and manufacturing.
“The UK’s industrial sector must ensure we are at the forefront of the digitisation of industry, that we all promote its benefits and we up skill our workforce to make the most of a unique opportunity.”
