Manufacturing is good, it’s the backbone of our country and its sturdiness has always been a key indicator and reflection of the strength of our economy as a whole.
There’s a strong tradition of manufacturing in the North of England – Did you know that Mackems (people from Sunderland) were originally stapled with their moniker because of their ship building heritage and the fact that they literally ‘make them?’
At Hark, we’re proud (to be from the north and) to be taking that culture of construct into the next industrial era.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently released their latest UK Index of Production statistical bulletin which shows some heartening facts about the manufacturing industry, for example:
“Compared with December 2017, manufacturing output in January 2018 was estimated to have increased by 0.1%; this was the ninth consecutive period of growth and is the first time this has occurred since records began in February 1968”.
With the ongoing growth of the sector, now is the time for manufacturing companies to really capitalise on the exciting new developments in technology that are promising to reshape all aspects of their industry.
The proliferation of the industrial internet of things (IIoT) will generate improvements to the manufacturing process as wireless sensors can now provide real-time data transfer through telemetry and cloud-based services can monitor and control complex machinery – the age of smart manufacturing and Industrial IoT is now.
The report from the ONS reflects on the industry as a whole which includes mining and quarrying, energy supply, and water and waste management industries:
In January 2018, total production was estimated to have increased by 1.3% compared with December 2017; mining and quarrying provided the largest upward contribution, increasing by 23.5%.
AI will help to build on and develop this success as organisations can allow machines which learn from experience, to model their business processes, while programmatic decision making will become commonplace and selection of supply chain or manufacturing partners will be based on predictive analytics.
At Hark, our platform is geared up for the manufacturing sector, we’re already at the forefront of what machine learning can do for utility companies and are looking forward to inviting more companies into the fold.
If you’re interested in bringing your manufacturing sites and processes into Industry 4.0 contact us today.
