Industry 4.0-Time For UK Manufacturing To Update Skills-October 2018
The UK is reaching a critical stage in the roll-out of Industry 4.0. With the announcement of the first ‘Made Smarter’ pilot scheme in the North West in September 2018, the pressure to encourage the uptake of digital technology in manufacturing supply chains is being ramped up. Although the benefits of Industry 4.0 are clear to the UK manufacturing industry, a number of formidable barriers to its uptake and success remain. A key concern is not only the ongoing skills shortages, but also the urgent need to update the skills of existing UK manufacturing workers in digital technologies.
What is Industry 4.0?
Back in 2017 a manufacturing industry-led review explored how the adoption of industrial digital technologies could transform UK manufacturing. The ‘Made Smarter Review’ set out how technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality and additive manufacturing could help the UK lead the fourth industrial revolution by 2030.
Industry 4.0 – Job Losses And Job Gains
The Made Smarter Review claimed the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) could boost UK manufacturing by £455bn, increase sector growth by up to 3% per year and create 175,000 jobs.
Also, according to a recent study by the Swiss Think Tank, the World Economic Forum (WEF), robots and algorithms could “vastly improve” the productivity of existing jobs, technological advances, could free up workers for new tasks and lead to many new jobs in the future. The study said automation and digital technologies could create 133m new jobs, but at the same time displace 75m jobs globally by 2022 – a “net positive”.
The WEF however also stressed any gains could come amidst “significant disruption” to existing jobs. Some jobs may become “increasingly redundant”. Robots for example could swiftly replace jobs in accounting firms, post offices, secretarial work, cashier work and in factories.
In the UK, a study of workers by the Fabian Society and the Community trade union found that more than 6m people across the UK were worried that their jobs could be replaced by machines over the next decade. The Bank of England has also warned that up to 15m jobs across the UK could be under threat. In August 2018 Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s Chief Economist caused alarm, warning that robots could wipe out thousands of UK jobs.
Others in contrast have taken a much more positive stance on the impact of Industry 4.0 in the UK;
- In July 2018 PwC predicted AI would create as many jobs in the UK as it would displace over the next 20 years
- In April 2018 a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found only 10% of jobs in the US and 12% in the UK were at “high risk” of being automated over the next 20 years.
UK Manufacturing – Time To Focus On Upskilling & Retraining Workers
The 2018 OECD report went on to also suggest that many more workers would see their tasks changing significantly. In the UK a recent survey of businesses found that 80% of businesses said they are likely to automate work in the next five years. What is quite staggering is that 50% of those businesses also said they were likely to make staff redundant lacking the skills to use new technologies, rather than look to upskill or reskill those employees.
UK manufacturers should heed the key recommendations to come out of the ‘Made Smarter Review’ – the urgent need to ‘upskill and re-skill a million industrial workers to enable digital technologies to be successfully exploited’.
Specific recommendations included;
- Creating a single national Skills Strategy and Implementation Group (SSIG) under the governance of the Made Smarter UK Commission (MSUK). This group would act as a focal point for the engagement of industry and provide a forum for identifying future skills requirements, synchronising and focusing existing
initiatives, and ensuring quality and consistency through a kite-marking mechanism. - Establishing a modern digital delivery platform providing scaleable, relevant, timely and easily ‘digestible’ content for upskilling and reskilling. This would enable all companies, but particularly SMEs, to play their part in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with incentives and networks in place to drive adoption
- Establishing an incentivised programme, co-funded by industry and government, to improve digital skills capabilities. Under the guidance of the SSIG and using the digital delivery platform the programme would take the form of personal training and reskilling allowances which would be targeted at:
• Individuals whose jobs are being displaced by automation;
• Workers whose skillsets need to evolve to next-generation capabilities (e.g. the use of additive manufacturing technology or artificial intelligence);
• Providing leading skills in all organisations (e.g. the digital engineer of the future)
With the following outcomes;
- 1 million workers re-skilled or upskilled over the next 5 years
- At least 200,000 users completing level 3/4 certification per year
- Delivery of a platform which provides modular, up-to-date, relevant and accessible content for online and blended up-skilling and re-skilling
- 100,000 employees enrolled in training incentivisation scheme in year 1.
With the first ‘Made Smarter’ pilot already underway, UK manufacturers have an ever-decreasing window of opportunity to audit existing skills sets within their organisations. The time is now to plan for greater investment in training and education to protect at-risk manufacturing workers, to help workers adapt and ensure they have the skills to manage new digital technologies – the robots will be here, sooner than we think.
For Information Regarding Our Manufacturing Recruitment Services Contact:
Joanne Telfer
Director
Ten Live Group
Award-Winning Global Manufacturing Recruitment Experts
Mob: ++44(0) 7547 761779
Email joanne@tenlivegroup.com
Skype: joanne.telfer4
Tel: ++44 (0) 1236 702007
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