Prioritising low cost digital solutions required by manufacturing SMEs: A shoestring approach

This paper establishes a reference set of those low cost digital solutions needed by small and medium sized manufacturers – SMEs – and proposes a method for determining development priorities using input from reference groups of SMEs. The paper describes the approach taken to identifying and classifying common digital solutions used in manufacturing and the results from a series of workshops in which company representatives prioritise different solution types to help guide developments

Towards shoestring solutions for UK manufacturing SMEs

In the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring project we focus on low-cost digital solution requirements for UK manufacturing SMEs. This paper shows that many of these fall in the HRI domain while presenting the use of low-cost and off-the-shelf technologies in two demonstrators based on voice assisted production

Digital manufacturing on a shoestring: Low cost digital solutions for SMEs

One of the key findings in a number of recent studies has been that small and medium sized manufacturers (SMEs) have been slow in adopting digital solutions within their organisations. Cost is understood to be one of the key barriers to adoption. Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring is an approach to increasing the digital capabilities of SMEs via a series of low cost solutions. The programme proposes using off-the-shelf, (possibly non-industrial) components and software to address a company’s (digital) solution needs, adding capabilities one step at a time with minimal a priori infrastructure required. This paper will introduce the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring programme as a whole and demonstrate the way in which it addresses the need for low cost digital solutions for SME Manufacturers. It will discuss challenges associated with integrating low cost technologies into industrial solutions and the style of IT architectures best suited for integrating such solutions into industrial environments

Low-cost (Shoestring) digital solution areas for enabling digitalisation in construction SMEs

This is the author accepted manuscript The adoption of digital solutions accelerated in the construction industry to increase the efficiency of manufacturing and construction processes. However, most construction SMEs face barriers to digital construction due to budget constraints and the complexity of existing commercial digital solutions. In this study, we developed 58 digital solution areas for construction SMEs by adapting the Digital Shoestring Approach. It was developed through eight interactive digital requirement assessment workshops with 70 representative construction SMEs in the United Kingdom. The catalogue was used for identifying the top fifteen priority digital solutions of construction SMEs by grouping them into two 1) suppliers and off-site construction SMEs (Tier 2) and 2) on-site construction SMEs (Tier 1) due to the differences between manufacturing and construction processes. The findings showed that the catalogue helps construction SMEs to identify relevant digital solutions when initiating their digital transformation. This provides the basis for the cost-effective and evidence-driven digitalisation for construction SMEs.Centre for Digital Built BritainUK Research and Innovatio

Prioritising low cost digital solutions required by manufacturing SMEs: A shoestring approach

This paper establishes a reference set of those low cost digital solutions needed by small and medium sized manufacturers – SMEs – and proposes a method for determining development priorities using input from reference groups of SMEs. The paper describes the approach taken to identifying and classifying common digital solutions used in manufacturing and the results from a series of workshops in which company representatives prioritise different solution types to help guide developments

A catalogue of digital solution areas for prioritising the needs of manufacturing SMEs

The digitalisation of the manufacturing industry is perceived to be critical for achieving future productivity gains. As a result, programmes such as Industry 4.0 (I4.0) have received a huge amount of attention. A series of authors have identified a gap in digitalisation research in the area of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). The majority of studies and developments are focussed on larger companies, disregarding SME-specific digitalisation challenges such as knowledge, resource, and technology-awareness limitations. Based on the literature, we believe that a major reason for the disconnect is the discussion of digitalisation from a technology-centric viewpoint. Instead, we propose a problem-centric view on digitalisation as a means of addressing operational challenges through digital technologies. The aim of this paper is to identify the solution areas associated with these challenges that are relevant to a majority of manufacturing SMEs. In this study, we collate a catalogue of digitalisation priorities, conducting workshops with manufacturing SMEs (n=128). The final catalogue comprises 59 items with a clear hierarchy. Out of all participants in the study, 86% ranked one of the top 5 items as a key priority for their business. This contribution can help focus research, systems development, and standardisation to increase accessibility to digitalisation for manufacturing SMEs

Towards shoestring solutions for UK manufacturing SMEs

In the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring project we focus on low-cost digital solution requirements for UK manufacturing SMEs. This paper shows that many of these fall in the HRI domain while presenting the use of low-cost and off-the-shelf technologies in two demonstrators based on voice assisted production

Digital manufacturing on a shoestring: Low cost digital solutions for SMEs

One of the key findings in a number of recent studies has been that small and medium sized manufacturers (SMEs) have been slow in adopting digital solutions within their organisations. Cost is understood to be one of the key barriers to adoption. Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring is an approach to increasing the digital capabilities of SMEs via a series of low cost solutions. The programme proposes using off-the-shelf, (possibly non-industrial) components and software to address a company’s (digital) solution needs, adding capabilities one step at a time with minimal a priori infrastructure required. This paper will introduce the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring programme as a whole and demonstrate the way in which it addresses the need for low cost digital solutions for SME Manufacturers. It will discuss challenges associated with integrating low cost technologies into industrial solutions and the style of IT architectures best suited for integrating such solutions into industrial environments