MACHINE BUILDING
survey of over 1,000 manufacturing professionals shows that robotics and automation tops technology investment priorities for over a third of respondents. Automated solutions can also be refined and upgraded over time. As Unilever’s global head of customer operations, Juan Carlos Parada, explains, “We’ve been on a path to not just ‘do’ digital but rather ‘be’ digital. We’re moving into an environment where meaningful portions of the work are getting done by machines, guided by people. It’s a mindset shift that is leading to some real breakthrough thinking.”
WHAT IS BLOCKING INVESTMENT IN SUSTAINABILITY-ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES?
So it is clearly worth investing in tech upgrades. However, digital transformation maturity is not widespread outside of larger manufacturing businesses. One survey found that just 25-30 per cent of manufacturers had so far undergone ‘significant’ digital transformation, looking across all sizes of firm. There are a few blockers to more widespread digitalisation: the need for management to understand return-on-investment, the challenge of managing and leveraging data, engaging employees in new systems, and a lack of knowledge sharing between the buy-side and supply-side. More fundamentally, no transformation is possible without finance. But funds are tight in markets where economic performance is uncertain and where international geopolitics are increasing that uncertainty.
HOW CAN MANUFACTURERS TAKE THE LEAP AND INVEST?
Flexible financing options – where manufacturers spread investment cost across an agreed period, aligning repayments with cash flow – are increasingly critical to manage external volatility. These options cover a variety of flexible financing structures, usually based on some form of lease finance. Knowledgeable financing support is also vital. Implementation must be accompanied by strategy and careful planning, to avoid costly failure – a risk when companies don’t take the proper preparatory steps. A specialist financier will have deep sector experience – meaning that they understand the realities of technology applications and benefits, helping them to offer the most appropriate, individualised financing plan. To summarise, specialist finance allows manufacturers to affordably access the sustainability-enabling features promoted by over 75 per cent of machine builders – strengthening efficiency and making savings, while also protecting working capital for other essential business needs. Regardless of regulation or policy that imposes sustainability targets, taking advantage of this pathway generates commercial benefits for manufacturers of machinery and technology, as well as the manufacturers purchasing these assets.
Siemens Financial Services UK
www.siemens.com
UKManufacturing Summer 2026
BROADBENT EMBRACES TRANSFORMATION USING DIGITAL TWIN, ENABLED BY CT SYSTEMS EXPERTISE, SIEMENS TECHNOLOGY AND SMART FINANCING FROM SFS
Thomas Broadbent commissioned CT Systems to implement a major retrofit of one the company’s critical machining centres by collaborating with Siemens and Siemens Financial Services (SFS). The project utilises digital twin technology to minimise interruption to the production schedule, and a tailored financing solution from SFS managed a smooth cash flow for all involved.
Chris Haigh is the managing director of CT Systems, a manufacturing technology integration and retrofit specialist based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. “Our game-changer was the availability of Siemens’ simulation and digital twin software. It completely changes the dynamics of upgrade and retrofit. We were able to structure the project in a revolutionary way. With the upfront costs managed through smart financing from Siemens Financial Services, this is helping us address more and more digital transformation projects like the leading one at Broadbent.
“First, we can develop the retrofit over some 18 months – all in the virtual world, all off-site, meaning there will be no disruption for Broadbent. We can plan everything in the digital twin, making the process as efficient as possible. Actual installation and final live testing will be compressed to a period of three to four weeks. Suddenly, this makes commercial sense for Broadbent, with the installation period reduced to a commercially acceptable period…The original machine can continue to do its job until the retrofit is designed, tested and finalised in the digital twin.”
Matthew Durkin-Jones is finance director of Thomas Broadbent & Sons Ltd, a leading manufacturer of centrifuges. “Innovation, automation, energy-efficiency and sustainability are all hallmarks of our machines operating in the field all over the world, so it seemed right that we chose a sustainable solution for the update of our Waldrich Coburg.
“The very definition of retrofit is sustainability - as we preserve all the good working parts of the original machine, only upgrading what is needed for full modernisation and digital transformation. By deploying the digital twin at CT Systems, sustainable goals are served through saving on physical materials and energy that would have been consumed during on-site development and testing. Then on top of that we get the sustainability benefits that digitalisation brings in terms of operational analysis, visibility from machine data and predictive interventions.”
33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
