THE HIDDEN COST OF INEFFICIENT MACHINE CONTROL
WHY SMARTER MACHINE CONTROL CAN UNLOCK EFFICIENCY GAINS BEYOND HARDWARE UPGRADES
Increasingly, manufacturers must improve productivity while minimising operating costs and energy consumption. Yet, when looking to improve efficiency, many focus on visible hardware upgrades, whether replacing motors with higher-efficiency alternatives, upgrading drives or redesigning mechanical systems. These improvements can make a difference, but often the greatest gains don’ t come from replacing physical components. They come from improving how machines are controlled, explains Beth Ragdale, product manager at industrial control and automation specialist Beckhoff UK & Ireland.
While a narrative of industrial decline persists, UK manufacturing has quietly become more productive. According to analysis by FourJaw Manufacturing
Analytics, real manufacturing output has increased by six per cent since 2020, while output per worker has risen by ten per cent over the same period. Meanwhile, the UK manufacturing workforce has fallen by four per cent, suggesting this progress has been at least partly driven by greater adoption of automation, robotics and data-driven manufacturing.
Today, machines are expected to produce more with fewer resources, adapt quickly to changing production requirements and generate the operational data needed to support continuous improvement. Replacing motors and upgrading mechanical components is important here, but is unlikely to unlock the next step change in efficiency alone. Achieving this requires intelligent control of the machines on the shop floor.
42 MACHINERY, AUTOMATION, CONTROL & ENGINEERING