Interview with
Ben Peace
The Knowledge Transfer Network
Ben Peace, Head of Manufacturing, The Knowledge Transfer Network Ben heads up the manufacturing team at the Knowledge Transfer Network (the UK’s innovation network). He started his career with ten years of product development within industry – first in a university spinout, then in a multi-national heating manufacturer. He then spent a couple of years in innovation consultancy before joining the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) in 2011. KTN’s manufacturing team helps manufacturers to innovate, and innovators to manufacture. It does this by making targeted links to the right knowledge, partners, facilities and funding.
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There’s a lot written about industry 4.0. What is you take on it and where are we heading? I’ll start by saying we are not always served well by thinking of “Industry 4.0”, or the “fourth industrial revolution” as one thing. The implications; the roadmap to adoption, is quite different for each individual business. With that as context, what is clear is that there is a variety of digital technologies that have been emerging in recent years which, when deployed successfully, can have a transformative effect on manufacturing – making it more efficient and productive; delivering better value to customers and high quality jobs. I’m referring to technologies such as additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cyber security, sensors, and immersive technologies. Here in the UK we have great home-grown emerging innovation in these areas - both within academia and within innovative businesses big and small. The businesses that will really benefit will be the ones that can successfully integrate a range of such technologies, taking a collaborative approach that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Indeed it struck me powerfully whilst at the last Industry 4.0 Summit earlier in the year that the solution providers would do well to work together to develop more joined-up solutions; whilst manufacturers will benefit from sharing knowledge on deployment, eg. across sectors. When such momentum starts to build, we will move from something that feels more like a genuine revolution. This is for certain: Even if we don’t adopt the latest technologies we can be sure that other nations will. Our industry will be left behind.
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