July 2020
Featured in this insight: Manufacturing, engineering & industrial
60% of UK engineering firms polled report loss in revenue due to COVID-19: A survey of people working in the UK engineering sector has found that 60% have experienced a loss in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic, while half (50%) have seen disruption to supply chains.
As well as the negative consequences of the global pandemic, analysis from the survey conducted for The Engineer and manufacturing software supplier aPriori also suggests how the industry might develop as a result – perhaps moving forward at a faster pace than it might ordinarily have done.
The survey revealed that half the businesses polled have used the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough staff since it opened back in March, while a little over a quarter (28%) said they have seen product launches delayed, postponed or cancelled in their entirety.
When it came to how employees working in engineering have been able to operate during the pandemic, 36% said they have experienced issues in communicating with colleagues, while 27% said they have had some issues when trying to access shared files or systems.
The Engineer notes that the survey has highlighted a shift that was already apparent in the sector, pre-COVID, in that some legacy manufacturers are starting to fall out of step with some of the more digitally-minded startups. It gives digital twin simulation as an example of the progress seen in the last ten years, however almost half those polled in the survey (47%) said they were “not yet actively using modern manufacturing and simulation software in their design process".
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