29/11/2024 MAKE THE UNITED KINGDOM
Energy management and resource efficiency drive AI adoption over manufacturing processes
Main conclusions:
- Two thirds of UK manufacturing companies use AI in their business
- Yet only 16% of respondents feel well informed about the potential of AI.
- Thus, only a third of companies use AI in their manufacturing processes
- The majority use AI (9 out of 10) to optimize energy consumption
- Use of robotics remains low, despite global automation opportunities
- 75% of companies plan to increase their investments in AI in the next year
UK manufacturers are expected to increase their investment in AI over the next twelve months, according to a report from Make UK published today in collaboration with Autodesk.
The Future Factories powered by AI report examines the opportunities and challenges for UK manufacturers and suggests how government initiatives and regulation can support the sector’s adoption of new technologies.
AI is increasingly deployed in multiple areas of the manufacturing industry, from predictive maintenance to supply chain optimization, with the top benefits cited by manufacturers being increased efficiency (69%), improved productivity (61%) and automation of routine tasks (46%). These benefits demonstrate the importance of lowering barriers to entry for these technologies and the untapped potential for small manufacturers.
Additionally, the report shows that a quarter of companies are using AI as part of their decarbonization efforts. Of these, more than nine in ten (93%) use it to optimize their energy consumption, almost two thirds (64%) to reduce waste and emissions and more than half (57%) to improve resource efficiency. Going forward, businesses are expected to see further progress in these areas. Nearly three-quarters of companies (75%) plan to increase their investments in AI in the coming year.
Nina Gryf, head of digitalization at Make UK, said:
“AI and automation are driving dramatic changes in accelerating manufacturing processes and elsewhere in businesses. Their potential to drive economic growth and reshape industries is becoming increasingly evident, and the manufacturing sector and its factories of the future have a central role to play. However, as the adoption of these technologies increases, the UK needs a step change in the use of automation, otherwise it risks missing out on essential transformative productivity gains.
Srinath Jonnalagadda, vice president of industry strategy for design and manufacturing at Autodesk, commented:
“Leveraging new technologies is not a one-time investment or a silver bullet for change. This requires a mindset shift and an iterative approach over time, especially in the journey to future digital factories. Continued and concerted effort will be required to achieve industry transformation and a workforce with the skills and capabilities required to take advantage of new technologies, enabling UK industry to become a global leader of AI-driven innovation, setting the new standard for manufacturing excellence. .”
Despite increased adoption, only 16% of businesses say they are aware of the potential uses of AI and the lack of understanding and confidence in AI applications means that only a third (36%) of businesses are using it in their manufacturing operations.
The report also shows that large enterprises are twice as likely as SMEs to apply AI (71% and 28% respectively), with barriers to adoption including a lack of knowledge on how to apply AI and limited access to technical and digital skills. . As a result, lower adoption rates among SMEs prevent them from reaping the benefits of increased profits reported by almost a quarter of businesses and the ability to undertake additional work reported by nearly a quarter. third party.
Additionally, while adoption of AI across business functions is increasing, the report shows that the use of other digital tools, such as robotics, remains woefully low. Less than a fifth of businesses (16%) are leveraging them, with almost a third (29%) not considering using them and just four in ten (38%) considering using them. The United Kingdom is positioned 24th in the global ranking of the use of robotics, with 111 robots per 10,000 employees. The UK uses just 0.5% of the world’s robots in manufacturing, compared to 1.2% in France and 1.6% in Italy, both of which have similar sized industrial bases (1).
According to Make UK, welcome initiatives have been taken by the government, including the confirmation of the Made Smarter program being rolled out nationally and the doubling of funding for the Alan Turing Institute (2). However, given the scale of the barriers that remain for SMEs in particular, the industry itself must redouble its efforts to overcome awareness and cultural challenges within organizations by sharing learning among peers and best practices.
In addition, the government could take additional specific measures, including extending the R&D tax relief to cover investments in capital goods and ensuring that the expanded Made Smarter program can be effective in all regions.
The survey was conducted among 151 companies in August 2024.
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