BCAS 2018

www.bcas.org.uk 3 Editor’s Foreword W elcome to this year’s Official BCAS Compressed Air & Vacuum Technology Guide. The last 12 months have concentrated the minds of many in industry to stand up and take notice of the growing push for businesses to aspire to a smart engineering vision, and the compressed air industry is not immune from the rapid changes taking place. However, the recent BCAS survey revealed an apparent indifference towards Industry 4.0 and the rise of new digital industrial technology with only 24% of compressed air end users stating that it is very important at the moment. Therefore is it hype over reality or a lack of awareness? With industry proposals to boost the UK’s manufacturing sector having recently been unveiled at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry with the publication of the Industrial Digitalisation Review, I do not believe it is hype over reality. Unless we take up the challenge we will fall behind our international competitors. Leading industry figures have said that from a business community’s perspective it is clear that establishing how the UK manufacturing and industrial sectors adapt to a highly digitalised future (and benefits from the opportunity this brings) will be a fundamental factor of any future economic success. The uptake of digital technologies in the industrial sector will be central to our future, by improving our national productivity, creating higher value jobs, and arming our workforce with the digital skills required in the decades ahead. BCAS’ view is that this current trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies can only help with energy efficiency, maintenance before failure and therefore improve both service levels and costs moving forwards. Today a smart factory or production facility is available as an retrofit – so you do not have to wait to change your compressor to take advantage of this new technology led revolution. Although the BCAS survey highlighted that 36% still rate Industry 4.0 as important (the figures increase when asked if it will become important in 5 and 10 years’ time), these figures worryingly suggest it may reflect a lack of urgency to take action in an area where UK manufacturing should take a lead. Professor Juergen Maier who led the recent Industrial Digitalisation Review highlighted that Government and industry should create a significantly more visible and effective ecosystem that will accelerate the innovation and diffusion of Industrial Digital Technologies as well as creating more awareness. This includes a National Adoption Programme piloted in the North West, focused on increasing capacity of existing growth hubs and providing more targeted support. Additionally the Review recommends up-skilling one million industrial workers to enable digital technologies to be deployed and successfully exploited through a Single Industrial Digitalisation Skills Strategy. The UK manufacturing sector has the potential to be a global leader in the industrial digital technology revolution. Government and industry must work together to seize the opportunities that exist in this sector and promote the benefits of adopting emerging digital technologies. This in turn will also create numerous opportunities for the compressed air industry over the coming decades, which can only be a good thing. Opportunity knocks Aaron Blutstein – Editor BCAS Compressed Air & Vacuum Technology Guide 2018