10th May 2024
Despite facing challenges such as a global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical uncertainties, the manufacturing sector remains crucial to the UK economy.
In 2019, Protolabs initiated a comprehensive five-year study involving over 700 members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) to gain a deep understanding of the industry’s foundation. Whilst the unprecedented changes that followed were unforeseen, its findings highlight the adaptive strategies of UK manufacturers and provide a glimpse into the future of the industry.
The report offers unparalleled insights into the transformation of UK manufacturing under intense pressure, revealing the strategies engineers are employing to drive further evolution in the sector.
PP Control & Automation (PP C&A) CEO, Tony Hague was invited to contribute opinion on one of the reports key themes, whereby accelerated responsiveness seems to have emerged as the new normal.
“The ability to swiftly adapt and respond can often make the difference between securing a successful order or losing out to competitors. Demonstrating a proactive willingness to invest and engage early on, even without a guaranteed outcome, signals a commitment to long-term partnership and underscores reliability. You will want to illustrate your complementary skills and capabilities to help customers realise true added value benefits, particularly in addressing areas where they may face challenges outside of their core competencies.
But you’ll also need to have a process of effectively measuring the impact and results to be completely transparent on the value you bring. In a similar fashion, maintaining authenticity and honesty in assessing one’s suitability as a partner is essential; transparency regarding capabilities and alignment with client needs fosters trust and ensures mutual success in the long run.”
TONY HAGUE, CEO, PP CONTROL & AUTOMATION
You can download the full report from Protolabs now, including insight from guest contributors and analysis on one of the most disruptive periods ever experienced by UK manufacturing. The results show evidence of real change in attitudes, thinking and adoption of new technology.
Protolabs is the fastest manufacturing service in the world for Injection Moulded, CNC and 3D Printed parts. IMechE is an independent professional association and learned society that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession.
Ian Knight, Chief Information Officer at PP Control & Automation (PP C&A) challenges the prevailing, often vague narrative around AI adoption and reframes the conversation around a more practical starting point: operational constraints.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept for manufacturers. It is already being explored across quotation, production planning, engineering, quality, supply chain and customer service functions. Yet, for many organisations, the gap between experimentation and meaningful operational impact remains difficult to close.
A leading aquaculture specialist – that is changing the way fish are vaccinated safely – has signed a major manufacturing deal.
On paper, defined discipline-specific suppliers can look organised. However, every additional supplier introduces another handoff, and every handoff creates another point where time, quality, communication and accountability can be lost.
Very rarely does growth not surface because an OEM lacks ambition. Shortcomings arise because operating models built to support such ambition don’t evolve quickly enough.
Recent weeks have brought two important industry moments into sharp focus, concluding that demand for AI and automation is rising, but investment, skills, and long-term thinking must follow.
For decades, one question has sat at the heart of operational strategy for machine builders and OEMs: make or buy? It’s a familiar debate and it isn’t the wrong question by any means, but perhaps it is an incomplete one.
In most machine building businesses, change is still treated as an exception. A late-stage drawing revision, component substitution, or wiring tweak discovered during build. Each one is handled, resolved, and signed off. And then everyone moves on. But what if that’s the wrong way to think about it? What if change isn’t the disruption to the system but the system itself?
