Improving customer experience with digital technology could be a good ambition for sheet metal engineering companies, as it was a top priority for half of manufacturers quizzed in a recent survey.
Research by Interoute, the global cloud and network provider based in the UK, revealed that 68 per cent of manufacturing and engineering firms are confident that demand is on the up and positive change is afoot. This is more than any other industry surveyed, and higher than the pan-European average of 61 per cent.
At the heart of manufacturers’ goals is to improve customer experience, with 49 per cent of manufacturers putting improved customer experience at the top of their objectives for digital transformation initiatives.
Manufacturers also put automated scaling of IT platforms (66 per cent), securing architecture (63 per cent), continual process evolution (59 per cent) and digital platforms that can connect legacy technology with cloud applications (52 per cent) as priorities for their digital transformation programmes.
“Manufacturers are looking for ways to respond to customers with an ‘on-demand’ mentality and deliver next generation customer support. Digital transformation enables manufacturing and engineering firms that want to provide the exceptional and fast services that customers are now expecting,” Lee Myall, SVP UK Sales at Interoute, was quoted as saying.
Protecting manufacturing growth through digital transformation will help keep the industry and wider economy in good health.
A recent report from the Manufacturing Technologies Association found that general manufacturing is to account for 23 per cent of the UK’s GDP.