UK manufacturers are under pressure. Costs are rising, customers want faster turnaround, and teams are already stretched. During the recent Made Smarter East of England panel discussion, industry leaders shared honest, grounded insights about what it really takes for SMEs to adopt digital tools without breaking the business or overwhelming the team.
Below is a practical breakdown of the key themes, translated into clear takeaways for owners, operations leads and production managers. If you are running a factory on paper, spreadsheets or disconnected systems, this is for you.
Starting the Journey: Why a Friendly Critique Works
Most manufacturers do not need a lecture on what is wrong. What they need is clarity.
Panel members described the first step as a friendly critique. The aim is not to point out flaws, but to make the primary objective smarter. Think of it like asking a trusted mechanic to look under the bonnet before a long trip. Their job is to spot pitfalls, share what has worked for others, and guide you from where you are today to where you want to be.
Because these advisers have often made the same mistakes themselves, they can provide a realistic picture of what success looks like and how to get there. That reassurance matters. It is easier to take the first step when you know someone has walked the path before.
Get the Foundations Right Before Spending a Pound
Digital adoption does not start with buying software. It starts with understanding your process.
Many SMEs cannot clearly map out how a job flows from order to despatch. Without this hygiene factor, digital tools simply automate chaos.
The panel emphasised lean basics such as simple process mapping or the 9-ways-waste framework. These reveal bottlenecks, duplicated work, and missing steps. Once the foundations are visible, opportunities for digital improvement appear naturally and usually without major capital spend.
At TotalControlPro, we often say: do not put sensors on a leaking pipe before you fix the leak. A clean, well-understood process is always the cheapest first win.
Connecting Systems: Weeks, Not Months
One of the biggest frustrations for SME leaders is running production through multiple tools. An ERP for orders. Spreadsheets for scheduling. A CRM for sales. And a lot of manual rekeying in between.
The panel’s answer was encouraging. A typical engagement starts with a workshop to map where data lives and what is causing the pain. The aim is to consolidate information, remove duplicate spreadsheets and choose the right tool for each job.
With the help of AI and modern integration methods, most manufacturers can move from workshop to a working system in a matter of weeks, not months.
This is exactly how DynamxMFG operates. We take the data flows discussed in the workshop and turn them into a live, operational workflow, collecting real data almost immediately. For many SMEs, this is the moment everything clicks: “Oh, this is what digital actually looks like.”
Tackling Fear and Building Confidence
Fear of job loss is still one of the biggest barriers to technology adoption. The panel put it simply: people need transparency and a reason to care.
Teams want to know what the future state looks like and what is in it for them. If an operator is spending three hours a day copying reports, and the new system removes that task, they need to understand that the goal is not replacement but freeing up their time for value-added work.
There is also a real tension between managing today’s production pressures and preparing for tomorrow’s improvements. Every SME feels this. The answer is to break the journey into quick wins that build trust. Small steps that show “this is working” always beat long, drawn-out projects that never reach the finish line.
We see this daily: when operators help shape the process, adoption becomes far easier and faster.
Energy Saving: Lean First, Tech Second
Energy efficiency is not just about installing sensors or buying new machinery. It is about doing more with less.
Digital tools help identify wasted motion, idle time and inefficient setups. When a process becomes leaner, energy use drops naturally. The panel stressed that sustainable businesses become green by being efficient first, then layering technology on top to optimise even further.
How to Measure Success
Productivity alone is not a helpful metric. Too narrow, too easily misread. The panel recommended measuring improvements across several areas:
- Efficiency and throughput
- Reduction in wasted time or errors
- Team capability and confidence
- Business resilience and growth potential
These are the measures that matter because they show whether the business is becoming stronger and more sustainable.
With DynamxMFG, typical improvements include faster job turnaround, fewer data errors, higher on-time delivery, and clearer visibility across the shop floor. These small gains add up to bigger profitability.
Keeping Humans in Control
Automation does not replace people. It supports them.
According to the panel, humans should control the start of the process by setting goals and defining what success looks like. They should also control the end through quality checks and decision making.
In SMEs especially, the people on the shop floor are the experts. Their input keeps digital tools grounded in reality. Good systems amplify their knowledge rather than override it.
The Day Job Problem
A question from the audience hit home: “Is it just me, or does everyone struggle to make change because staff are too busy with the day job?”
Every panelist agreed. This is one of the biggest challenges facing SMEs. The perfect time to start will never come. Instead, the trick is to break projects into small, achievable pieces that create momentum.
Once teams see progress, resistance drops. Quick wins build confidence. And the day job gets easier because the root causes of daily firefighting begin to disappear.
Final Thoughts: Practical Digitisation, Not Hype
The key message from the Made Smarter discussion was clear: digital adoption in manufacturing does not have to be expensive, risky or disruptive. It starts with understanding your process, engaging your people, and taking one step at a time.
DynamxMFG follows this exact philosophy. We work with manufacturers using paper, spreadsheets and disconnected tools, helping them move towards real-time, data-driven operations at a pace that fits their business. Transparent, practical, no jargon, and grounded in the realities of UK manufacturing.
If you want to explore what a first step could look like, book a short, no-pressure demo and we will walk you through what is possible for your factory.
