It is no secret that the UK’s manufacturing industry needs to embrace change – and quickly.  Having been blighted by crippling energy costs, a loss of market share to the rest of the world and severe financial restraints, it is of little surprise that the outlook for industry has not always been deemed as positive.  However, recent reports in the UK’s press suggest that 2013 has seen significant growth in manufacturing with a reported 0.8% surge in output in February¹.  Couple this with the new incentives which the Energy Bill can offer UK manufacturers and the future looks a lot more promising.

Manufacturing shrank in the UK throughout 2012, though the performance of individual sectors varied greatly².  At the start of 2013, companies have been seen to start investing, recruiting and also exporting, meaning that for 2013 as a whole, manufacturers can expect to see some pick up in the UK economy².  The ‘strong rebound’³ of manufacturing in February has helped to boost the confidence of the industry, meaning that companies are now in a more robust position since the beginning of the recession, to move forward and continue to build on this.  However, this relies on two key factors – that manufacturers change the way they view their energy portfolio and secondly, ensure they can gather the right information about the energy their plant uses, at the right time.

90% of a manufacturer’s energy is consumed through their processes.  When the government recently announced its plans for the Energy Bill, there was widespread uproar from many of the UK’s businesses claiming that the measures would have a detrimental effect on an already fragile economy.  

However, for the industrial sector, many of the proposals may offer some light relief from ever increasing energy bills.  Under the new Energy Bill, certain energy intensive industries may benefit from economic support to maintain competitiveness while the UK makes the switch to lower carbon generation.  In addition, under the new legislation, a separate incentive means manufacturers could in fact, be paid for every kilowatt-hour they save through energy reducing measures, such as the implementation of variable speed drives, low energy lighting, smart metering and monitoring.  

Energy has long been viewed as a fixed cost by businesses when in reality, the thinking needs to shift towards energy as a variable cost where real changes can be made to the way it is used, when it is used and for what.  Making these changes however relies on one thing – information – but more importantly, the appropriate information, delivered to the appropriate people at the right time.  For a facilities or company director to make real changes to their business, being able to take a true holistic view of their entire plant is key, which is where the importance of digital technology comes into play.

The key is being able to understand what the data you gather is telling you in order to act on it to implement long-term, on-going change – such as recognising that one certain production line may be using more energy than necessary at the wrong times of day – allowing decision-makers to use their energy more wisely and in turn reducing consumption.  Granulating data in this way not only enables manufacturers to save more energy, but also use less.  Today, and in light of the Energy Bill’s new incentives, the ‘Negawatt’, or energy you don’t use, can pay far more dividends than the Megawatt which you do. 

To help manufacturers tackle the data challenge, Schneider Electric has launched StruxureWare software applications and suites to address the energy and production management needs of manufacturers in different market segments. Designed to provide a consistent user experience and scalable platform across all areas of their organisation, the software enables users to optimise business processes while conserving enterprise resources as well as  integrating seamlessly with third party and legacy products.

You can’t manage what you can’t see. By using appropriate software, manufacturers can remain competitive by reducing their overheads and at the same time look to reap the benefits from the incentives laid out in the Energy Bill.  Increasing profit margins in this way frees up much-needed finance to invest further in R&D in order to compete on a global level.

We are living in a digital age where UK manufacturers need to embrace software as the ‘glue’ to bridge the gap between their existing enterprise and control systems, in order to maximise their business performance and be more efficient and sustainable.  Only then can we hope to keep British manufacturing firmly on the map.