Digital Planning’s Chief Technology Officer shared his expertise with a national round table considering skills and AI in UK manufacturing.
Robbie Lewis featured in sessions for Insider Media’s “Bridging the skills gap: AI, diversity and the future of UK manufacturing” roundtables in Liverpool.
The event brought together regional industry leaders from around the UK to discuss how AI and digital transformation can address the sector’s skills gap.
The round tables considered how new technologies and methods of automation continue to reshape modern manufacturing.
Insider Media is the UK’s largest regional B2B publishing and events company.
Founded in 1992 and now part of National World, Insider Media operates six regional B2B magazines and has more than 200,000 subscribers.
Digital transformation in manufacturing
Digital Planning drives change by implementing tailored automations and modernising operations helping clients stay ahead in a competitive landscape.
And one of the issues considered by the round tables was how manufacturers balance the need to attract new talent while retaining experienced staff.
“Working with a lot of companies that are in the process of applying digital transformation, we see young people ready to use new technologies but lacking experience,” Robbie said.
“While seasoned staff have deep knowledge but are less adaptable to digital tools.
“There’s a problem with connecting those two groups.”
The debate went on to consider the importance of bridging generations in order to build a future-ready workforce.
Scaling digital skills
Latest government skills strategy prioritises training in a series of priority areas, with digital and tech running across each.
Sector evidence provided by Skills England in June 2025 found that “AI and automation are integral to the digital and technology and advanced manufacturing sectors which are centred around advanced technologies”.
The report also notes that “To fill technological skills gaps, an increasing number of industries will be competing with the information and communications industry for skilled digital professionals, which already reports a high percentage of vacancies due to skills shortages.”
Progress requires accelerating the adoption of digital tools and AI across organisations of every size. The goal is to make complex sectors like manufacturing attractive, high-tech and inclusive career destinations.
Robbie added: “It’s existential. It’s not that implementing it can help with recruitment, it’s literally that we can’t get to where we want to be without it.”
Secure, productive solutions
Robbie’s contributions also underscored how Digital Planning’s tailored automations and secure digital solutions can help manufacturers to:
- Optimise operations and boost productivity
- Provide central automated dashboards for managing resources
- Protect IP and other sensitive data.
Supply of solutions with industry-grade security and end-to-end collaboration ensures clients can modernise operations – freeing time for manufacturers to focus on innovation and increasing efficiency.
