UK manufacturing must embrace change

It is no secret that the UK’s manufacturing industry must embrace change - and do so rapidly.

Having been blighted by crippling energy costs, a loss of market share and severe financial restraints, it is of little surprise that the industry outlook has not always been positive.

However, recent reports in the Independent suggest that 2013 has seen a significant manufacturing upturn with the sector reporting its strongest growth for three years.

And coupled with the new incentives that the Energy Bill offers UK manufacturers, the future starts to look more promising.

Executives are hit with unprecedented levels of information across their operations every day - as a result of which many manufacturers are data-rich but information-poor

As the UK finally begins to emerge from recession there has never been a more pertinent time for plant managers to make improvements onsite to cope with growing demand.

This requires manufacturers to change the way they view their site. They must gain a deeper understanding of their energy portfolio to ensure that they can gather the right information about energy use in their plant so that informed decisions can be made. A massive 90% of a manufacturer’s energy is consumed through their processes.

When the government announced its plans for the Energy Bill earlier this year there was a widespread uproar from many UK businesses complaining that the measures would have a detrimental effect on an already fragile economy.

However for the industrial sector, many of the proposals offered light relief from ever increasing energy bills.

Under the new Energy Bill, certain energy-intensive industries could benefit from economic support to maintain competitiveness while the UK makes the switch to lower carbon generation.

In addition, under the new legislation a separate incentive also means manufacturers could, in fact, be paid for every kilowatt-hour they save through energy-reducing measures such as the implementation of variable speed
drives, low-energy lighting, smart metering and monitoring.

Energy has long been viewed as a fixed cost by businesses when in reality, the thinking needs to shift towards energy as a variable cost where real changes can be made to the way it is used, when it is used and for what purpose.

But making these changes relies on one thing - information - but more importantly, the appropriate information delivered to the right people at the right time.

For a facilities or company director to make real changes to their business they need to be able to take a truly holistic view of their entire plant, which is where the importance of digital technology comes into play.

Executives, facility managers and operations staff are hit with unprecedented levels of information from a variety of data sources across their operations every day - as a result of which many manufacturers are data-rich butinformation-poor.

The answer is not simply to generate more data but to use technology to automatically pull data from control and monitoring systems; organise it into the relevant information for each function and - more importantly - into actionable insight to make better decisions and improve efficiencies.

The key is to understand what the data is telling you in order to act on it and implement long-term, ongoing change - such as recognising that one production line may be using more energy than necessary at the wrong time of day - allowing decision-makers to use energy more wisely and in turn reduce consumption.

Granulating data in this way not only enables manufacturers to save more energy, but also to use less. Today and in light of the Energy Bill’s new incentives, the “Negawatt” - or energy you do not use - can pay more dividends than the Megawatt that you do.

To help manufacturers tackle the data challenge, Schneider Electric has launched StruxureWare so ware applications and suites to address the energy and production management needs of manufacturers in different market segments.

Designed to provide a consistent user experience and scalable platform across all areas of its organisation, StruxureWare software enables users to optimise business processes while conserving enterprise resources as well as integrating seamlessly with third-party and legacy products.

It is impossible to manage what one cannot see. By utilising the right software manufacturers can remain competitive by reducing their overheads, while at the same time looking to reap the benefits from the incentives laid out in the Energy Bill.

Increasing profit margins in this way frees up much-needed finance to invest further in R&D in order to compete on a global level.

We are living in a digital age where UK manufacturers need to embrace so ware to bridge the gap between their existing enterprise and control systems in order to maximise their business performance and be more efficient and sustainable.

Only then can we hope to keep British manufacturing firmly on the map.