TEST & MEASUREMENT  RS DESIGN SPARK UK & IRELAND


The rise of intelligent manufacturing: Ireland’s next big opportunity


Irish manufacturing is standing on the edge of a transformation. Labour and skills shortages, soaring energy costs and global supply chain disorder is applying pressure at every stage of the production cycle


By Pete Wood, Director, RS DesignSpark A


dded to this is the race toward sustainability, making the challenge feel immense. The good news is that


 are no longer the next big thing, they’re practical solutions reshaping factories today. 


 simulation technologies. They will have systems   able to repair themselves. Pete Wood, looks at how manufacturers can


 smart factories and drive more competitive manufacturing.


OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH AI AND ROBOTICS  with key challenges like the growing pressure to reduce carbon footprints and improve energy  lower costs to enable them to compete on a global scale.  technologies and connected devices, focuses on  collaboration between human creativity, critical  to handle repetitive or dangerous tasks and to achieve sustainability and resilience.    and spark innovation. That said, only three per  operations compared to eight per cent across   However, only four per cent have achieved any   computer platforms on the market, designed to help manufacturers easily adopt edge   cameras, sensors and embedded systems. This reduces the reliance on cloud connectivity, allowing local data processing close to where the


 without the risks associated with low latency, data privacy and bandwidth constraints. Widely used in applications like autonomous machines, predictive maintenance, computer vision for inspections and smart manufacturing, the result is improved  enhanced data security and compliance and lower cloud costs and energy consumption.  are designed to help companies accelerate development. These scalable edge computing    to entry for companies who feel they lack deep  external expertise.  intelligence and power needed to handle complex tasks in a compact form, making it an ideal solution for manufacturers looking to  maintenance.


  where there might be labour shortages.


22 November/December 2025 Irish Manufacturing


, has developed a humanoid robot with an  to perform tasks like stacking and palletising.  perception and fast decision making, beyond simple repetitive tasks, allows the robot to handle   frees resources and reduces the reliance on highly skilled technicians.


LOOKING AHEAD     be able to go beyond simple automation to deploy autonomous agents, capable of planning,  and make smart factories of the future more  to overcome challenges and seek out these opportunities, to lead smart manufacturing innovation and compete on a global scale.


https://ie.rs-online.com/web/ www.irish-manufacturing.com


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