According to a recent survey released today by Make UK and Infor, manufacturers are expected to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning at an increasing rate as they strive for increased automation and gains in productivity, efficiency, and quality.
Published in advance of this week’s Bletchley Park AI Summit, the survey reveals that businesses are investing more in automation of a wide range of technologies and functions, from product design and development to manufacturing processes. With increased automation resulting in higher skill levels and over a quarter of companies (28%) indicating they will have less need for lower skilled roles, these investments are expected to pick up speed over the next two years.
Notwithstanding the encouraging outlook, most manufacturers feel that the UK is falling behind its rivals, and major obstacles to additional automation still exist in the form of a lack of technical expertise, data integration, and workplace culture.
Make UK is calling on the government to address the persistent lack of technical skills in the workforce and to reform the Apprentice Levy, while also pushing for the nationwide implementation of the Made Smarter scheme, which has proven successful in assisting SMEs in adopting digital technologies.
As per the survey, over half of the companies (55%) have either already implemented AI and machine learning or are planning to do so in order to automate decision-making processes and enhance operational efficiency. Furthermore, in fields like design and prototyping, augmented reality and virtual reality techniques have already been introduced by 4/5 of companies, or they plan to do so.
This is a part of a larger push by businesses to invest in automation; nearly six out of ten (59%) plan to increase their spending over the course of the previous year, and over three quarters of businesses (76%) have already done so. Additionally, a quarter of businesses intend to automate between 10% and 25% of their processes, and one in five plan to automate between 25% and 50% of their processes over the next two years.
The majority of these investments are made in product design and development (49 percent of companies) and manufacturing process improvement (65% of companies). Additionally, businesses are reaping big rewards in the form of increased labour efficiency (49%) and productivity (60%) as well as improved quality for a comparable number of employees.
Even so, there are still substantial obstacles to the widespread adoption of automation, including data challenges (41%) and nearly half of companies’ lack of technical skills (46%) and integration issues. High expenses and workplace culture are two more reasons given by more than a third of businesses as obstacles (38% and 36%, respectively).
The poll also demonstrates a glaring discrepancy between the expected return on investment (ROI) for businesses and policy incentives intended to encourage investment. Over 80% of companies anticipate a positive return on investment within five years of making the investment. By contrast, a majority of companies (56.4%) feel that government investment policy is insensitive to the time it takes to see a return on investment.
Make UK has recommended the following actions to help remove these obstacles and encourage additional automation:
- Launch the popular Made Smarter programme countrywide. This is a tried-and-true plan to assist manufacturing companies in implementing new technology. Additionally, it ought to broaden the scope of Made Smarter to encompass industrial decarbonization in order to promote energy efficiency and the move towards net zero.
- Make permanent full expensing capital allowances so that companies can plan long-term investments.
- To encourage more digitalized R&D, the R&D tax credit should be expanded to include capital expenditures.
- To support SME engagement with the successful Catapult Centers, government should collaborate with business organizations and sector-specific bodies. This would enable more SMEs to utilize their world-class facilities and is particularly crucial given the geographic distribution of the centers.
Between June 21 and July 12, 135 companies were surveyed.
