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Skills shortage: Collaboration will provide the solution

We know UK manufacturing and engineering has a big skills shortage. According to a government study, 186,000 skilled engineers are needed annually until 2024 to plug the skills gap, and almost 20% of the current workforce is due to retire by 2026 according to the ECITB.

However, reporting of the skills shortage rarely goes beyond referencing big numbers such as these and suggesting that we ‘need to inspire more young people to pursue careers within the sector’, whilst ‘changing perceptions’. Those two things are true, but they only shed light on a small part of the solution.

How did 2020 reshape manufacturing?

At the outset of 2020, none would have predicted the course that the year would take due to COVID-19. The global pandemic, and the response to it, upended many manufacturing businesses and fundamentally shifted what plant operations look like. Here, Stephen Hayes, managing director of automation technology specialist Beckhoff UK, looks at how the events of 2020 reshaped the coming years for manufacturing. 

The manufacturing industry has been on a course for enhanced connectivity for many years, but there have often been roadblocks to adoption for many businesses. Amid the new challenges presented in 2020 by COVID-19, one positive long-term change for industry has been that these barriers to connectivity have been forcefully overcome. Adoption of Industry 4.0 has been accelerated for many manufacturers in order to remain agile, adaptable and even operational during the pandemic, which sets each business in good stead for the years ahead.

“Our broad international positioning has proven its worth during the pandemic”

A top result in preventive maintenance and a gradual recovery of new machine business: How STUDER has come through the Corona crisis so far. An assessment by Managing Director Sandro Bottazzo

Drops in sales, short-time working: The Corona pandemic has hit the world economy with a force never experienced before. Numerous industries are reporting dramatic developments. STUDER, one of the world market leaders in cylindrical grinding from Steffisburg in Switzerland, has so far come through the crisis relatively robustly, emphasizes Sandro Bottazzo, Managing Director and, as CSO, responsible for Sales, Customer Care und Marketing.

Digital Transformation Empowering Your Remote Workers

No one knows quite how long the uncertainty of COVID-19 will last, and some companies see the crisis as a roadblock for wider digital transformation initiatives in manufacturing. While this is true for some companies, my experience has been just the opposite.

For many, the pandemic has accelerated the work – unveiling deficiencies while boosting digitalisation and transformation at a stunning speed. 

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