British manufacturers are confident about Industry 4.0 changes

New research conducted by Interoute, the global cloud and network provider, finds that 68% of British manufacturers are confident about changes within the sector as Industry 4.0 advances.

This is higher than any other industry surveyed and above the European average of 61%.

Almost half of the manufacturers questioned claim to prioritise customer experience above anything else for digital transformations programmes, at 49%.

Manufacturing had the highest level of response to customer experience, with only 32% of legal services ranking it the most important, and 38% of the travel and transportation industry.

Interoute’s research found that the top manufacturing must haves for digital transformation are:

• The automated scaling of IT platforms, at 66%
• Securing the architecture, at 63%
• Continual process evolution, at 59%
• Digital platforms that can connect legacy technology with cloud applications, at 52%

“Manufacturers are looking for ways to respond to customers with an ‘on-demand’ mentality and deliver next generation customer support,” stated Lee Myall, Senior Vice President of UK Sales at Interoute.

“Digital transformation enables manufacturing and engineering firms that want to provide the exceptional and fast services that customers are now expecting.”

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“For example, in our lifetimes, we will see a supply chain revolution where spares and parts are ‘printed’ locally and shipped short distances, in a fraction of the time, improving customers’ experience as demands are met quickly.”

“To be prepared for this change, manufacturers need a digital infrastructure that can connect legacy and digital networks together so they have the agility to embrace the latest developments and quickly respond to change.”