roundtable


SOUTHERN MANUFACTURING


100 TM


The Business Magazine staged this roundtable at Lainston House Hotel near Winchester with Southern Manufacturing 100 sponsors NatWest, Shoosmiths, MHA MacIntyre Hudson, JLT, and Taylor Made Computer Solutions, along with invited business representatives who together provided an interesting mix of views on ...


Remaining competitive in the fourth industrial revolution


Participants Kate Arnott: Partner, MHA MacIntyre Hudson


Ella Barrington: Managing director, Base Performance Simulators


Jim Davison: Southeast region director, EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation


Lined up to debate: the Roundtable team


Journalist John Burbedge reports the roundtable highlights


The first industrial revolution was ...


David Murray explained how manufacturing is now facing a fourth industrial revolution.


The first industrial revolution used water and steam power to mechanise production. The second revolution used electric power to create mass production. The third used electronics and IT to automate production. And the fourth will drive the digital age, by fusing technologies that are already blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.


“We are beginning to see glimpses of what this new age will bring – drones, self-driving cars, virtual experiences, genetic breakthroughs – and how different, for better or worse, life can become for many of us,” he said.


The fourth industrial revolution would see the advent of cyber- physical stems involving entirely new capabilities for people and machines. Murray exampled genome editing, artificial intelligence, breakthrough materials, and even controlled corporate governance using cryptographic blockchains – distributed databases that maintain a continuously-growing list of records, or blocks, secured from tampering and revision.


Does this revolution mean anything yet in your industry?


‘Absolutely,’ said Ella Barrington who works at the leading edge of motorsport creating virtual simulated driving experiences for real-life grand prix racing teams.


“If this wasn’t occurring I don’t 36 businessmag.co.uk


Joe Jeffers: Finance director, Taylor Made Computer Solutions Lynn Knight: Corporate partner, Shoosmiths Martin Watts: COO, HS Butyl Antony White: Relationship director, NatWest Benjamin Wiggins: Recruitment consultant, ARM


David Murray: Managing director of The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion.


think we would be in business. It is exactly what we do, fusing virtual reality with digital technology and software to create 171 virtual circuits, from satellite data, architectural maps, electronic sensors and physical people giving feedback from actual race circuits and cars.


“We have lots of very clever virtual reality coming along, but actually people still need a physical interface with the real world. Maybe the next generation won’t. Our business is now 50% digital side and 50% people making things and bolting them together. That interface is crucial to getting the job done well today, and will become far more important in the wider technology space.”


Martin Watts admitted that before the roundtable he had not heard about the ‘fourth industrial revolution’. HS Butyl is a traditional 30-year-old manufacturing business – “We mix butyl, then extrude butyl,


and some of our equipment is relatively old. I guess we are ripe for this revolution.” There may be opportunities for technological improvement, but the challenge, as for most businesses, remained “moving from today to the future, while managing the busy today.”


Banker Antony White was not sure industrial change was being driven solely by technology or other factors such as Brexit or the living wage introduction, particularly for those with large EU-linked workforces. A lot of his business clients, faced with increasing costbases, were simply looking at technology as a means of improving their manufacturing process.


You can’t win, if you are not in


Based on the latest findings of this year’s annual MHA Manufacturing and Engineering Survey Report, Kate Arnott


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – NOVEMBER 2016


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