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What is a MES for a manufacture and how does it benefit them?

What is a MES for a manufacture and how does it benefit them? A simple question which can be confusing to answer. We are going to try and demystify some of the confusion around MES in the first of our “Monday MES” series which we will publish over the next few weeks. We hear a …

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Slow Down to Speed Up Your Digital Transformation

Rockwell recently published their 8th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report which is an awesome read if you have a few minutes to spare. It states that “we’ve experienced 20 years of evolution in 2 years” according to Blake Morret, with the recent advancements in technology. Yet, if we walk the lines in the plant …

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Is UK Manufacturing A National Industry?

The image below caught my eye in the latest Make UK UK MANUFACTURING THE FACTS: 2023 report. It made me look deeper to understand if UK manufacturing was a national industry and the demographic spread across the UK. Lets start with some key facts ➡️ 🇬🇧 The UK Powerhouse of Manufacturing is still the North …

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What CEO’s Talked About in Q3 2023

Another quarter and another excellent report from IoT Analytics on what CEO’s talked about in Q3 2023. So what’s my take from this quarters report? Industry 4.0: From buzzword to necessity In recent years, Industry 4.0 was seen as a buzzword or a futuristic concept. But not anymore. Today, it’s clear that Industry 4.0 is …

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There may be trouble ahead… Latest UK Manufacturing Outlook Survey

The latest Make UK/BDO UK Manufacturing Outlook Survey this quarter outlines that “the positive picture of the first half of the year has now gone sharply into reverse” according to The Manufacturer. Not a good start to a Monday. Manufacturers are entering the final quarter on an increasingly unsteady footing. In the absence of an …

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What is Predictive Maintenance?

In the last article in the series we explore “predictive maintenance”. Why predictive maintenance you ask? In the earlier posts we looked at Industry 4.0, digital twins and the power of data. Predictive maintenance is a great use case where all of the three topics above come together in a practical and valuable example. What …

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Thoughts on Industry 4.0

A week back from Hannover Messe 2023, I am sharing my thoughts on Industry 4.0 and what this means to manufacturers. In collaboration with Konektio, I will be looking at the implications of technology on manufacturing operations over the next few weeks though a series of podcasts. Last week I posted about what industry 4.0 …

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What’s the buzz with Industry 4.0?

According to a report by Accenture, Industry 4.0 technologies could add up to $14.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Yet Industry 4.0 as a concept has been around for over a decade (since 2011) and we have not seen much progress… So what’s the buzz with Industry 4.0? What is Industry 4.0? Industry 4.0 is a term …

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Manufacturing Predictions for 2023

If 2023 goes the same way as 2022 it looks like another turbulent year for UK manufacturers.  We all know the making manufacturing predictions for 2023 is likely to go horribly wrong, but here goes anyway! Make UK/BDO made a forecast in their Q4 Manufacturing Outlook survey which shows manufacturing contracting by -3.2% in 2023. This comes …