Cumbrian SME manufacturers are fired up for the Industry 4.0 revolution

These businesses are benefitting from improved productivity and revenue, increasing exports and job creation, providing new skills to workforces, enhancing integration with supply chains, opening new markets and products, and reducing their environmental impact.

It’s clear to see Cumbria manufacturers are enthusiastic about the benefits of adopting new digital technology. But there is also uncertainty of how to go about it.

Made Smarter can offer SMEs the specialist advice and insight to help them select the right approach

for their business, how much to invest and which technologies will bring the greatest benefits.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit manufacturing in Cumbria just as it has nationally and globally. But our county’s manufacturers have reacted and adapted to the different circumstances they find their businesses facing with typical resilience.

Those which have invested in emerging technologies have been able to navigate the impact in a variety of ways, including switching production to make medical scrubs, ventilator parts and PPE to help the front-line fight against the disease. Others have harnessed new capabilities to ramp up production to meet increasing demand and continue operating while staff self-isolate to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Some have used new technologies to continue manufacturing operations remotely, while others, forced to temporarily close or reduce operations due to lockdown, used the time to plan for the future.

Digital technologies have allowed manufacturers the option to run operations virtually, remotely or with minimised human intervention. These tools have helped to not just maintain production and processes during the instability, but also increased the chance of businesses in weathering any future unexpected circumstances as they occur.

These stories are proof points for how important emerging technologies are to the future of manufacturing and there is certainly an appetite to embrace them in Cumbria.

While COVID-19 outbreak has created a lot of uncertainty, and will have widespread repercussions for manufacturing, Made Smarter is more determined than ever to reach even more industrious and innovative businesses in Cumbria, and encourage them to take advantage of what I truly believe is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost their growth and create the high value, highly paid jobs of the future.