March 2019

47 www.drivesncontrols.com March 2019 EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT n healthier machine tool sector in Germany than in the UK, which in turn means much healthier trading conditions for machine-builders in Germany, as well as suppliers of control and automation systems, robots and other machine- related components and services. While it’s encouraging that the UK, for the first time, has an Industrial Strategy to work to, moving forward, if manufacturing really does have a place in the UK economy – and we know that productivity is key to economic growth – the UK’s short term outlook towards capital investment must change, and quickly. According to a recent study by Foresight (the UK Government Office for Science), the UK share of capital investment in output has been low compared to competitor economies for many decades and continues to be so, both for manufacturing and for the economy as a whole. The report states that “the slow growth of UK investment compared to competitors such as Germany seems to reflect a failure to translate productivity growth into output growth so that investment opportunities made possible by the productivity growth itself are not being taken up”. In other words, a more robust relationship exists between productivity growth and output in Germany that hasn’t been seen here in the UK for more than a decade. Robotics and machine tools Looking specifically at investment in robotics and machine tools, the UK isn’t faring much better. According to the 2017 World Robot Statistics, compiled by the International Federation of Robotics, the automation of production is accelerating around the world with 74 robots per 10,000 employees being the global average robot density in the manufacturing industries (in 2015, it was 66). By regions, the average robot density in Europe is 99, with the Americas on 84 and Asia on 63. Europe’s most automated country, surprise, surprise, is Germany – ranking third worldwide with 309 robots per 10,000 workers. By contrast, the UK has a robot density of 71, putting it below the world average and in 22nd place in the world. So what about machine tools? Again, the statistics are disappointing. The latest figures compiled by the Manufacturing Technologies Association and Gardner Intelligence states that in 2017, the UK machine tool industry was 16th in the world league table for production, 14th in the league table of exporters, the 13th largest importer of machine tools, and the 15th largest machine tool market in the world. China remains, by far, the world’s largest machine tool market, followed by the US, Germany and Japan, with Italy and South Korea vying for 5th position. Clearly, much needs to be done by UK industry to close the gap. Perhaps there is a need to strengthen managerial education in manufacturing to prevent poor decision-making such as a bias against risk, especially in the procedures by which SMEs gauge investment. We also need a more certain, less volatile economic and political environment for UK companies to operate in, where they can be more confident in making longer-term investment decisions. n At the heart of this new interface is the transformation of component suppliers into service providers, delivering free consultancy services that help customers meet their application challenges. Enlightened suppliers now know about and understand their customers’ requirements, making it possible for them to provide advice and support on how these requirements can best be met. For users of automation components, this new paradigm offers important advantages. They save on costly engineering time, for example, and they benefit from having ready access to the supplier’s comprehensive and up-to- date knowledge of the market, technology and trends. This helps the users of the components to stay ahead of the field in their own markets and to offer products with high customer appeal. So far, so good – but what’s in it for the component suppliers? The simple and predictable answer is that they will sell more components, but you may well be tempted to ask how suppliers can afford to provide free consultancy services. What’s the catch? The first part of the answer is that suppliers’ sales teams are now spending their time directly providing know-how and application support, rather than simply “selling” products. This is a change that’s largely cost- neutral. Wizards The second part of the answer is that even though some are, not all of the services are delivered personally. For example, some component suppliers provide configurators and software wizards that guide their customers through the processes of choosing and configuring components. Many include a “buy it now” option that allows users to place orders for components and even complete assemblies with just a few mouse clicks. For component suppliers, these software tools are an affordable way of providing support. For users, they offer 24/7 availability and are easy to work with. I could have said that the new customer-supplier relationship means that we no longer supply components, we supply “solutions”, and that we’re no longer your supplier, we’re your “business partner”. Unfortunately, these claims have been made too many times by companies whose actions don’t reflect their words. For this reason, I’m much happier to say that, now and in the decades to come, the most successful suppliers will be those that offer well-informed consultancy services, and the most successful automation companies will be those that take full advantage of the opportunities these services open up. n