Drives & Controls March 2023

SHINING A LIGHT ONTHE CHALLENGES OF 4IR Since 2016, theWorld Economic Forum has been compiling a list of manufacturing sites around the world that it regards as being leading examples of how adopting Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies can boost productivity, cut emissions, build supply chain resilience and engage workforces. There are now 132 of these“Lighthouse”manufacturers – the latest 18 of which (spanning 36 sites) were announced at the recent WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Not one of the new Lighthouse sites is in the UK, and just four are in Europe – one being a Coca-Cola plant in Ireland which has used 4IR technologies to cut costs by 16% while expanding its product portfolio by 30%. A Siemens factory in Germany is one of three new“Sustainability Lighthouses”that demonstrate that“productivity and sustainability are no longer at odds with one another”. Almost half (14) of the new Lighthouse sites are in China, with a further six in India and three in Brazil. Many of these sites are owned byWestern multinationals, but there is a distinct impression that developing countries are now leading the way in implementing 4IR technologies. McKinsey has been analysing what sets the Lighthouse plants apart from others and found that the difference wasn’t so much size, sector or geography, but mindset and strategic focus. Compared to other companies, Lighthouses are three time more likely to consider their production networks to be advanced in their use of 4IR technologies, and 50%more likely to be ahead of schedule in scaling them. TheWEF points out that the Lighthouse sites have escaped the“pilot purgatory”that results inmore than 70% of companies that invest in advanced technologies such as big data, AI or 3D printing, failing to move beyond the pilot phase. Most companies, it reports, struggle to scale up when upgrading technology because of the costs and the anticipated returns on investment.“Only a select group of leading organisations can deploy advancedmanufacturing at scale, generating new value and customer experiences,”the Forum says. The Lighthouse network aims to show that it is possible to close the gap, and to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies in manufacturing. "By integrating 4IR technologies, Lighthouses demonstrate how to scale advanced technology across entire manufacturing networks, going beyond suppliers and customers to include procurement, logistics, research and development,”says Francisco Betti, theWEF’s head of advanced manufacturing and value chains. The Lighthouse network confirms that, while is not always easy to implement 4IR technologies, for those who succeed, the benefits can be substantial. Tony Sacks, Editor Youcanfindoutmoreabout theWEFLighthousenetw orkathttps://drivesncontrols.news/rzodzq. TheMcKinsey reporton thenetworkcanbedownloaded fromhttps://drivesncontrols.news/cfxee2 n COMMENT