October 2020

| EdiTOr’S cOMMEnT | The need to resolve barriers to digitalisation T he recent announcement by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak that the Job Support Scheme will replace the Job Retention Scheme, is extremely welcome and will mitigate unnecessary redundancies, it has also been generally well received across UK industry. The new Job Support Scheme is designed to protect viable jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to Covid-19, to help keep their employees attached to the workforce. The Government will pay a third of hours not worked up to a cap, with the employer also contributing a third. This will ensure employees earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages, where the Government contribution has not been capped. However as Stephen Phipson recently commented in response to the new scheme, there must also be a recognition that there are some sectors of manufacturing where there is still not enough demand to even drive part time work. These are viable, often world leading firms, facing a sustained but temporary absence of demand. Phipson has emphasised that the aerospace and automotive sectors in particular, along with their supply chains, are leading edge high skill areas which will be the growth sectors of the future. There must therefore be a renewed emphasise on supporting these critical manufacturing sub-sectors such as aerospace and automotive in order to ensure the UK protects its future manufacturing prospects. Equally important for the recovery is ensuring small to medium sized businesses aren’t left behind by remaining at the digital starting block. The use of 3D printers, AI, Internet of things, Augmented and Virtual Reality are making a real contribution to business operations across companies of all sizes - especially around the recent need for remote production and monitoring - and the current COVID crisis has shown how investing in digitalisation can create opportunities. This can only be solved by resolving the barriers to digital adoption for SMEs, which include at the top of the list a lack of skills and technical knowledge, and access to finance, which Make UK says been stretched due to loss of business caused by the pandemic. The creation of the new Job Support Scheme and recent skills initiatives are welcome but do not go far enough, and only extra support for manufacturing and in particularly those sub-sectors highlighted above can help the manufacturing and engineering industries recover over the next year and take advantage of new opportunities. www.smartmachinesandfactories.com September/October 2020 | 0 3 | Editor Aaron Blutstein e: aaron@dfamedia.co.uk Contributing Editors Tony Sacks & Andy Pye Director of Sales Damien Oxlee damien.oxlee@dfamedia.co.uk Sales Manager Andy Wyle andy.wyle@dfamedia.co.uk Designer Chris Davis e: chris.davis@dfamedia.co.uk DFA Direct Ian Atkinson e: ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk Operations Manager Ewa Hodden e: ewa.hodden@dfamedia.co.uk Project Liaison Manager Emma Floyd e: emma.floyd@dfamedia.co.uk Commercial Director Ryan Fuller e: ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk Publishing Director Ian Atkinson e: ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk Official Media Partners of: www.primaryengineer.com www.profibus.com Head Office: DFA Media Limited, 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1BE UK t: +44 (0) 1732 370340 f: +44 (0) 1732 360034 e: info@dfamedia.co.uk Printer: Warners Midlands PLC, UK © Copyright 2020, DFA Media Ltd ISSN 2516-8770 Smart Machines & Factories is a controlled circulation magazine, published 6 times a year. Please contact DFA Media with any subscription enquiries. Paid subscriptions are also available on an annual basis at £90.00 (UK), £120.00 (Europe) or £150.00 (Rest of the World) P+P included. The content of this magazine, website and newsletters do not necessarily express the views of the Editor or publishers. The publishers accept no legal responsibility for loss arising from information in this publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the publishers. Editor Smart Machines & Factories