Manufacturers lacking tech training

The new research polled manufacturing decision makers in the UK, US, Germany and France. Almost a third (32 per cent) of those surveyed said they don’t believe the majority of their workforce are skilled in using automation and robotics in the manufacturing environment, reflecting the potential consequences of not prioritising training programmes.

However, 71 per cent are at least fairly confident that their business has embraced Industry 4.0 concepts such as automation, artificial intelligence and real-time data, while 72 per cent believe their current solutions allow workers to be at the centre of the production process. This suggests a level of misplaced confidence among business leaders, Visual Components said in a statement announcing the findings.

The need to better utilise technology in the manufacturing environment was highlighted by mistakes being made on the factory floor – as many as 24 per cent of decision makers cited low flexibility for different jobs with a robot, poor layout design (20 per cent) and a wrong focus point (16 per cent) as some of the key errors made.