March 2019

40 n EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT March 2019 www.drivesncontrols.com Change is a constant, but the rate is accelerating Apprentices are crucial to our future “The development of open standards is a key enabler for the increasing ease to capture data and open up communications between devices and systems.” The role of automation engineering and emerging opportunities within the sector are both exciting and challenging. The initial scepticism surrounding the Fourth Industrial Revolution is now receding and there is an inevitability about the amazing changes and impact that are coming. The only open question is when? However, digitalisation and Industry 4.0 do not exist in isolation: they build on the technologies and experiences of Industry 1, 2 and 3. The demand for engineers with an excellent understanding of mechanisation, hydraulics and pneumatics is not diminishing, but is a platform to build on. Increasingly, we are stretching the reach of an automation engineer to talk about on-premise and cloud-based platforms – collecting, visualising, analysing data, and communicating the outcomes to other cloud-based systems. Tomorrow (or maybe next year, but it’s not far away!), machine learning and artificial intelligence will be adopted in factory automation machinery, guiding our decisions and businesses. Festo is fully committed to supporting digitalisation and driving Head of Marketing, Festo UK Steve Sands General Manager UK & Ireland, Omron Europe Mark Butters As we move into Industry 4.0, there’s a misconception that robots and automation will replace the traditional workforce – but this simply isn’t true. In fact, recruiting and retaining good talent is more important than ever. With the UK’s engineering skills shortage showing no sign of abating, today’s smart manufacturers must attract the next generation of engineers to secure the long-term future of their business. The automation myth Automation, robotics and artificial intelligence technologies are changing the face of British manufacturing – the sector could unlock £455bn over the next few years if it cracks the 4th Industrial Revolution 1 . The public still perceive automation as “job-stealing”, with 34% of British workers seeing automation as a threat to their job security 2 . In fact, the opposite is true. By replacing monotonous and repetitive tasks, automation will free up the workforce to take on more challenging, productive roles – and the uptake of Industrial Digitalisation Technologies (IDT) could result in a 25% productivity boost in the UK, creating 175,000 new jobs over the next 10 years 3 . Bridging the skills gap The need to retain and upskill existing employees and recruit new, high- quality staff is certainly reassuring for British workers fearful of the digital revolution. But the scale of the challenge for firms cannot be underestimated. Engineering is facing a skills crisis of unprecedented proportions. Annually, 203,000 people