Thinking ahead to 2024, Laura Capper, Head of Manufacturing and Construction at NatWest, says:
“Continued advancements in digitalisation and Industry 4.0 technologies as well as the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning for process optimisation, will be required to boost productivity and overcome labour challenges.
“It would be great to see greater adoption of robotics and automation in the industry to ensure we remain competitive within the global landscape. Utilising AI to enhance efficiency and support decision making will be a key enabler for the sector to scale and grow. For example, data led insight and decision making on quality control, predictive maintenance and supply chain optimisation.
“We would anticipate an increased emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly practices among manufacturers. They will play a key role in scaling new sustainable supply chains presenting a huge opportunity for manufacturers to capitalise on. Hopefully manufacturers can look to longer term benefits that a sustainable strategy will bring and where they can pivot into new areas and products which will drive a lower carbon UK economy for other sectors. Initiatives such as EV batteries, Carbon Capture Storage – all of which will need manufacturers producing components to support new technologies.
“There will be a growing reliance on flexible and agile manufacturing practices to be able to adapt to external factors (e.g. supply chain disruption, inflationary impacts to raw materials sourced globally etc). Manufacturers have shown real resilience to date, demonstrating agility to challenges they have faced throughout the last three years. I hope these learnings and the momentum this has generated will allow businesses to continue to adopt a future fit mindset.
“Greater collaborations and partnerships to drive innovation – fostering relationships across the supply chain and eco-system will drive greater benefit to manufacturers and solve challenges in a more effective and efficient manner.”
