We are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in UK manufacturing, driven by artificial intelligence (AI). As the industry barrels towards its fifth revolution, Industry 5.0, collaboration between humans and intelligent systems becomes central to how we create value. The pace and scale of AI continue to accelerate beyond expectations, and its influence is reaching every corner of industry.
AI and automation are rapidly transforming how we design, make and bring products to market. Their potential is being realised across the UK, from streamlining production and reducing waste, to automating design and planning processes.
Yet adoption hasn’t kept pace with innovation. At a time when manufacturers face persistent skills shortages, an ageing workforce, and growing global competition, AI is becoming essential to achieving more with the resources we have.
Against the backdrop of the UK’s recent Advanced Manufacturing Plan, which aims to almost double investment in advanced manufacturing over the next decade, the urgency to ensure businesses have the tools and skills needed to succeed in industry has never been greater.
This paradigm shift isn’t solely about smarter factories, but building more human-centric, connected workflows that span the entire design to manufacturing workflow and even beyond.
The evolution of industry
Modern manufacturing has been shaped through centuries of industrial revolutions, each driven by defining technological breakthroughs and the subsequent effects on labour and society. The First Industrial Revolution began with mechanical power derived from steam and water, birthing early modern factory systems. The second was powered by electrification and characterised by mass production via assembly lines. The third revolution brought computers and the inter-connected world into factories, while globalisation and offshoring to lower-cost economies rapidly accelerated production like never before.
Currently, AI and automation are revolutionising manufacturing floors. Developments in AI, big data analytics, and cyber-physical systems have enabled smart manufacturing machines to communicate with each other and optimise production, often with minimal human intervention.
For much of this era, however, the tools and skillsets needed to implement and benefit from advanced manufacturing have been concentrated among large corporations with the scale and global footprint to absorb the costs of experimentation.
With AI capabilities rapidly advancing in recent years, and access to digital infrastructure widening, smaller manufacturers are finally starting to benefit from this intelligence.
Yet focusing solely on automation and efficiency has revealed limitations, especially where human effort has been viewed merely as a cost to be optimised, rather than a source of creativity and innovation.
The next evolution of manufacturing
The next evolution of manufacturing builds on these digital foundations, but places humans back at the centre. The European Commission defines it as an approach that “places the wellbeing of the worker at the centre of the production process and uses new technologies to provide prosperity beyond jobs and growth while respecting the production limits of the planet.” Simply put, it’s a shift from focusing solely on economic value and productivity to a broader commitment to society and human wellbeing.
This new revolution relies on augmented, intelligent systems supporting human capability rather than automating it away. AI, robotics, and data analytics are increasingly designed to better understand human intentions and support faster, more informed decision-making on the factory floor.
The growing use of digital twins links every stage of manufacturing, allowing ideas to be tested and refined before being built. These technologies are supporting a more collaborative and connected approach to production, where continuous learning happens from design through to delivery.
AI’s promise in British industry
As the manufacturing sector evolves, AI and automation are becoming key drivers of success. Research from Make UK and Autodesk indicates that two-thirds of manufacturing companies currently use AI in some form across their operations. However, only a small fraction feel confident they understand AI’s full potential, with only one-third of manufacturers applying it directly within their production processes, revealing a gap between adoption and understanding that remains one of the biggest barriers to progress.
But where AI is being used, it’s already proving its worth: 93 percent of manufacturers using AI are applying it to reduce energy consumption, showing efficiency is where its value is most easily realised. Beyond this, AI is helping to optimise production, manage supply chains, and design more resource-efficient products, demonstrating its potential to support at every stage of the manufacturing lifecycle.
Despite this momentum, the UK’s overall adoption of automation and robotics still lags behind other advanced economies. Research shows the UK has just 112 industrial robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers – around half the EU average, and far below industrial automation leaders such as Germany (415) and South Korea (1,012).
Investment in new technology and automation in the UK has been hampered by limited access to finance, fragmented policy support, and uneven digital capability. This slow uptake has left UK manufacturers struggling to match the productivity and competitiveness of their international peers.
Unlocking agility in UK manufacturing
Closing the automation gap will depend on smaller firms embracing digital transformation. These smaller manufacturers, who represent the backbone of the UK industry, may face higher barriers to adoption, but their flexibility remains one of the UK’s biggest untapped strengths.
Companies tied to legacy mass-production systems are struggling to adapt quickly enough to today’s rapidly changing environment. In contrast, smaller manufacturers can pivot more easily to new, more responsive production models that meet the growing demand for highly customised products, thanks to AI. Their agility enables them to implement innovative, customised solutions for different markets and use digital tools to level the playing field and compete on a global scale.
With the right support and investment, this adaptability could become a real competitive advantage, not just for individual firms but for the UK manufacturing sector as a whole.
The government’s new Advanced Manufacturing Plan recognises this potential, pledging funding and expanded Made Smarter support to help smaller manufacturers adopt digital tools and scale innovation easier. The key will be monitoring how this plan lands in practice.
But as with any major technological change, success depends less on the tools themselves and more on how they’re applied. Turning to AI to join the hype, rather than implementing it to solve a specific, existing problem, can mean hefty investment without seeing significant returns.
The most successful manufacturers start with the why, identifying where AI can add value rather than bolting on technology and hoping it delivers results.
The next challenge is not only about building smarter factories, but building the skills to effectively run them. The most crucial next step for UK manufacturing is to support today’s workforce to adapt and equip the next generation with the digital and creative skills to work confidently with these new technologies.
Early exposure and upskilling
As manufacturing becomes increasingly digital, people remain the key to progress. But a growing issue for the UK sector is its ageing workforce, with more workers approaching retirement than young talent is entering the field.
Manufacturers are similarly feeling the pressure of a widening gap between decades of hands-on expertise against the digital skills needed to meet emerging technological demands. While long-standing experience remains one of the industry’s greatest strengths, the skills needed to operate effectively in the new era are constantly changing.
Bridging this skills gap requires a new approach to talent acquisition and development. As AI and other digital technologies advance, traditional qualifications should be viewed more flexibly. Hands-on experience with technology must be prioritised, and talent sourced from less conventional routes, such as pro builder gamers or hobbyist coders, can provide valuable digital capabilities to the sector that would otherwise be overlooked.
Exposing students and young people to real manufacturing environments before they enter the workforce can also help close the divide between education and industry. Many students still perceive manufacturing as outdated or uninspiring. Practical experience can change that perception, showing how digital skills translate into tangible impact and inspiring future engineers to see manufacturing as a space for creativity and innovation.
Similarly, manufacturers need to rethink how they train and commit to the ongoing learning of the existing workforce. Upskilling should not be reserved solely for younger people or new entrants. Regular training programs and integrating new digital capabilities into everyday work are essential for helping long-serving employees adapt to evolving technologies and continue contributing meaningfully.
Manufacturers who continuously invest in their people as much as their machinery will be better positioned to lead the next phase of industrial transformation.
Integrating AI into workflows
Autodesk is embedding AI into everyday workflows in ways that help engineers, designers, and manufacturers make more informed decisions and refocus their time on higher-value tasks. Instead of bolting AI onto individual tools, the goal is to integrate it across the entire product lifecycle.
At the most practical level, AI is automating much of the time-consuming and repetitive work, freeing up engineers’ time for creative tasks. At the workflow level, AI enhances how people work together, connecting design and manufacturing to allow teams to iterate faster and adapt more fluidly. And at the systems level, AI is beginning to connect whole systems, learning from data and taking autonomous actions to optimise how products are designed, built, and made.
Novel developments in AI
New developments are making this tangible, as Autodesk’s generative AI-powered geometry enables users to create fully editable CAD models from a single prompt, cutting design time dramatically. Autodesk’s collaboration with Microsoft is expanding this capability, allowing designers to generate photorealistic product images from CAD designs, place them in real-world contexts, and export them directly into Microsoft apps like PowerPoint to reduce hours of manual work.
The aim is to use AI to enhance and augment human expertise, rather than replace it. By taking on routine tasks and connecting complex systems and siloed teams, AI can refocus manufacturers on the work that matters most to design and shape the next generation of intelligent, human-centred manufacturing.
Shaping the next industrial era
UK manufacturing is at a crossroads. With the Advanced Manufacturing Plan laying out a vision to strengthen innovation and investment, now is a key opportunity to shape a sector that’s both globally competitive and human centric. Industry 5.0 puts creativity and human judgement back at the centre of production, with AI and automation acting as powerful enablers.
Success in Industry 5.0 will not only rely on the technology we invest in, but on how well manufacturers can foster the skills and agility to put these new tools to purpose.
The foundations built today will prepare ground for what some already call ‘Industry 6.0’ – an era where intelligence becomes ambient, systems learn and act autonomously, and connectivity links every stage of production in real time.
While that horizon still takes shape, the choices we take now in adopting AI and equipping our workforce will determine how ready the UK is to lead in the next industrial age.
