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A focus on digital transformation, sustainability, and people will be vital in 2023
05 January 2023
Coming out of the pandemic, no one expected things to snap back to normality. However, with new geo-political and recessionary pressures coming to the fore in 2022, uncertainty and disruption continued and show no signs of slowing down.
The Government’s autumn budget looked to industry and technology as key areas for growth, with a renewed commitment to R&D and promises of Britain being the ‘world’s next Silicon Valley’, yet there are still a lot of challenges industry faces to reach those heights.
2022 was not an easy period for industry. The ‘race to the chip’ was just one example of product availability issues. Supply chain disruption continued and the fight for talent raged on. However, companies did start to think more seriously about sustainability, with the energy crisis, cost of fuel and reduced access to Ukrainian gas refocusing minds on how to reduce consumption.
There is still hope and opportunity going into 2023, yet we need to work smarter and shift our focus to digital transformation, sustainability, and our people.
1. Digital transformation – optimisation is the name of the game
With financial and market uncertainty carrying on into 2023, businesses will have no option but to optimise operations – to combat energy shortages and price rises. Restructuring and unifying data will enable this optimisation, integrating disparate data points across different business units to gain a single view. This will allow organisations to compare multiple data sources, pinpoint areas to drive efficiencies, reduce waste, and boost profit margins.
Through a best practice approach in our factories and offices, we have proved that optimisation and sustainability go hand-in-hand. Thanks to automation, we reduced the energy bill at our Paris HQ by 79 percent. Meanwhile, at our Coventry site, the team has been able to use resources more efficiently and eradicate gas usage, using a Building Management System (BMS) for desk booking that helps to reduce energy waste in unused areas. What may have seemed like small cost savings in the past will now be more important than ever for businesses going into 2023.
We’ve seen interest in our digital transformation expertise and smart factory capabilities increase dramatically - OEMs want clear visibility of their machines and sites' operations to optimise equipment and processes. In 2023, this will gain momentum as they push IoT data to the cloud and analyse elements as simple as how many times a door has been operated or to identify leaky pipes. Viewing data at such a granular level will allow industrial organisations to make incremental improvements to improve operational efficiency.
2. Sustainability – regaining energy resiliency and product independence
As companies look to focus on ESG issues and their triple bottom line (profit, people and planet), reducing environmental impact is starting to creep up the list of priorities in 2023. As well as optimising current operations, organisations are looking to new initiatives to embrace greener tech and energy sources. But instead of simply throwing money at the issue, companies now realise that stability and strategic thinking are needed for meaningful action.
For example, some of the key trends that look set to continue into 2023 are the mass buying of green energy and the rise of energy prosumers in segments like food and beverage and life sciences. A collective approach to funding sustainable energy sources has been a revolutionary step towards a greener industry.
To accelerate the drive to net zero, companies have been coming together to guarantee a long-term commitment to green energy use to developers, who then use this agreement as collateral for a loan to build a solar or wind plant. Once built, the developer can sell that energy back to the grid and supply the companies that called for more sustainable energy sources.
Organisations will continue looking for clever ways to secure their supply of products or ingredients, all while reducing production and logistics emissions and mitigating supply chain disruption. The rise of vertical farming looks set to continue as industry seeks to become more independent in the face of product shortages.
3. People – revamping the image of industry
People will continue to be a major focus going into the new year. Cultural transformation is needed alongside digital to remove barriers to success, such as a lack of understanding or roadblocks caused by internal politics. People can be a barrier to digital adoption, and with skill shortages predicted to slow automation progress, ensuring that your employees have the right skills will be crucial. If teams and talent are not ready to deliver on projects, there is a risk of investments being wasted.
The fight for talent looks set to continue into 2023, forcing organisations to get more creative to attract people to the industry. Increased marketing and partnerships with schools and higher education will be vital to get talent on board, and a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) will be key when building this ecosystem of early talent. Diversity of thought and ideas will be crucial to driving further innovation across digital transformation and greener tech, and this is only possible through expanding our talent pool.
Industry must place a focus on digital transformation, sustainability and talent going into 2023. This will prove a delicate balance with the uncertainty and turbulent economic times ahead. However, these areas provide a wealth of opportunities for growth and innovation.
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