Manufacturers are asking for more government support in order to help them overcome the challenges introduced by Industry 4.0. An increased level of support as well as higher investments are thought to be needed in order to help manufacturers manage the skills gap and potential worker shortage that could be encountered after Britain leave the European Union.

The suggestion has been made that automation and digitalisation could be required to achieve economic success is the talent pool it restricted by Brexit. In order to use automation and increasingly make processes more digital will require investment into developments and utilisation.

These comments on the requires assistance have arose following the release of the sixth annual MHA Manufacturing and Engineering report which has been produced by the IMechE and Lloyds Commercial Banking. The report that has been published has highlighted three quarters of the hundreds of manufacturing companies included in the survey have not been able to recruit appropriately skilled staff. 20% of the manufacturers included in the research have said that they have lost staff already or are at risk of losing staff because of the vote to leave the EU.

There are also other challenges faced by the manufacturing industry and it is thought that they country could encounter a range of challenges to find the talent they need. In order to make sure that business doesn’t suffer, another solution must be found. One of the routes that this solution could take is automation. Automation is expected to be adopted more and more, as it has been in Germany. Because of this the Manufacturing and Engineering report has suggested that proactive support from the government will be important to help the industry flourish.

The skills deficit already seen in the manufacturing industry could escalate if EU workers lose confidence in the UK and leave. A number of workers have already left because of the drop in the value of the pound after the referendum.

Despite the gloom it has been found that the outlook for the next 12 months is positive with 69\% of manufacturers reporting growth.