The State of Smart Manufacturing Report surveyed over 1,500 decision makers within the manufacturing industry
Rockwell Automation conducted the report, finding that the UK is the European leader for both artificial intelligence and digital twin adoption.
From the survey respondents, the use of digital twins in the UK has jumped from 21% to 37% in the last 12 months alone.
13% of respondents were located in the UK
The survey was conducted over 17 countries, including the UK, US, and China.
It was also found that on top of the boost in digital twin adoption, a further 35% of respondents are planning to adopt the technology within the next 12 months.
This puts the UK at the highest and fastest rate of digital twin adoption in Europe.
In terms of AI, the survey indicated that 53% of UK manufacturers have or are already using AI or machine learning (ML) in their process, with 94% planning to utilise it in their process in the future.
These results can also often be tied to staffing or skill shortage issues, with 45% of UK firms citing the easing of labour shortages as a key reason for automating their process, and 40% looking to augment existing roles.
Just 38% plan to upskill their existing workforce, but this is more than the European average.
The UK is keen to adopt artificial intelligence in its processes
In January, the government announced intentions to become an “AI superpower”, establishing plans to build on the previous National AI Strategy.
This plan has several objectives, including establishing AI growth zones for aspects such as putting planning proposals through more quickly and establishing AI infrastructure and data centres, building a new supercomputer, and augmenting and enhancing public sector jobs.
This report and the strategy both highlight AI as a widely-regarded strategic imperative for the construction industry, such as in using algorithms to explore possibilities within civil engineering designs, being used in the Sellafield nuclear site health and safety system, or even being used to monitor the health of bridges and notifying of the need for predictive maintenance.
At the time of the speech, Keir Starmer said: “We are going to create AI growth zones, breathing new life into sites like Culham, in Oxfordshire. And we are going to remove the blockages that hold you back.
“This is a Government that backs the builders. So if you are looking at where to build your data centres, we will speed up planning permission. If you need better access to power – and we all know how big a challenge that is – we’ll get you those grid connections at speed.”
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