Enabling distributed manufacturing through digital skills development

Distributed manufacturing seeks to improve accessibility, transparency, and inclusivity within manufacturing supply chains, benefiting all stakeholders, including suppliers, customers, and broader communities. However, there exists a significant gap in understanding the involvement of these stakeholders in enabling distributed manufacturing and its integration into the manufacturing value chain to address societal issues such as skills, employment, and inclusivity sustainably. To remain competitive, the manufacturing supply chain sector must embrace digital technologies. However, the digital skills gap in manufacturing highlights a disparity in digital competencies among workers and businesses, hindering the integration of critical technologies such as data analytics, visualisation, automation, and artificial intelligence. Surveying 135 UK manufacturing and engineering businesses revealed shortages in skills related to business analytics, web/app development, and artificial intelligence/machine learning/augmented reality (AI/ML/AR), robotics, and systems integration. Looking ahead, digital technologies such as additive manufacturing, AI/ML/AR, and robotics/process automation are perceived as vital skill sets for the UK economy in the next five years. This research aims to shed light on the current digital skill requirements in the manufacturing supply chain, explore anticipated future digital skill needs, and identify optimal approaches for enhancing digital skills in the future.