As reported by SME Today, a toolkit created by researchers from Leeds University Business School has been designed to significantly simplify the process of decision-making regarding the adoption of digital technology
The toolkit aims to address the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of industrial digital technologies (IDTs) into manufacturing.
These IDTs are reshaping the manufacturing landscape, promising a more adaptable, efficient, and responsive production ecosystem. Already having a considerable impact on UK manufacturers, the adoption of IDTs is poised to influence the global economy, presenting favorable prospects for enhancing the position of UK manufacturers in the global value chains.
Nevertheless, alongside these opportunities, potential challenges arise. Hence, it’s imperative to ascertain how UK manufacturers can effectively navigate these prospects and challenges to maximise the benefits of Industry 4.0.
In response, a research team led by Dr. Hanh Pham, Assistant Professor at Leeds University Business School, investigated the factors influencing IDT adoption in UK manufacturing firms. The team not only analysed the drivers, barriers, and performance outcomes of IDT adoption but also developed strategies to facilitate this adoption, thereby enhancing firms’ international market performance. Their research encompassed data collection through focus groups, interviews, and surveys involving over 300 UK export-oriented manufacturing SMEs.
The study unveiled that while SMEs recognise the potential advantages of IDTs, they harbor concerns related to the risks associated with investing in them. These fears include making incorrect IDT choices, being locked into inflexible software requiring regular payments, and facing issues related to data control and security.
The research also highlighted a disconnection between SMEs and IDT suppliers, with SMEs deeming the information provided by suppliers as unreliable. SMEs expressed a need for impartial advice from third parties rather than relying solely on technology suppliers.
SMEs interviewed during the study also expressed dissatisfaction with the nature and scale of government support for IDT adoption, finding the current business support landscape inadequate, fragmented, and perplexing.
The interviewees also expressed a preference for IDTs that are easy to adopt, backed by proven use cases, and that offer collaboration opportunities with partners such as buyers.
While the accessibility to IDT knowledge was reported as challenging, largely due to a lack of collaborative sharing of guidance and best practices, SMEs were hesitant to engage in a community of practice with potential competitors.
SMEs, when adopting IDTs, aimed to enhance responsiveness, quality, efficiency, flexibility, and transparency. Key drivers for IDT adoption among SMEs included pressure from business partners, regulatory demands, and governmental funding.
Dr. Hanh Pham remarked that the survey results indicated positive impacts of certain IDTs on operational, export, and financial performance indicators for adopters. This underscores the substantial benefits that can be gained by UK manufacturers successfully implementing IDT adoption.
Recognising the challenges faced by UK SME manufacturers in adopting IDTs, the research team developed an IDT adoption toolkit and decision-making model. The toolkit offers insights into improvement opportunities stemming from IDT implementation, ranks business functions by potential impact, and prioritises IDTs for specific focus areas.
Additionally, the toolkit enables UK SME manufacturers to gauge their level of IDT adoption compared to industry standards, identify impactful IDTs for improving business performance across various indicators, and direct users towards pertinent digital solutions. Ultimately, the toolkit simplifies the process of IDT adoption, making it more straightforward and less risky for businesses.
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