FEBRUARY 2020 IT IN FOCUS
So, what notable changes has Simon
found across UK manufacturing in the last 20
years, and where does he see things going?
“The geographical scope has changed
dramatically for UK businesses,” he says. “At
our inception most of our customers were
serving a local or national customer base,
whereas today international sales are the
norm. The world is certainly smaller. Twenty
years ago, we had the dotcom boom and
bust, and back then most manufacturers
had only a rudimentary online presence.
Nowadays, their website might drive a
largeproportion of new business enquiries
and many will want to link 123insight to an
e-commerce site to manage global sales.”
The fi nancial landscape changed
dramatically in 2008, with the crisis and
subsequent recession, which Simon said
focused the minds of many customers on
their fi nancials; “Having better visibility and
the ability to identify trends is something that
is much more important to companies today.
Response is everything, so knowing quickly
that you can make something competitively
and within a given lead time can be the
di erence between closing or losing a deal.”
Two decades ago, many small
companies were only just getting to grips
with email, but today connectivity is key,
with Industry 4.0 an inescapable buzzword.
Simon explains: “Although some have
embraced Industry 4.0, many smaller
companies struggle to see where it may
benefi t them and are lost as to where to
20 Sasint /stock.adobe.com
even start linking things together. A good MRP system will
allow the free fl owing of information to and from other
systems, quickly becoming the backbone of the company.
We have customers that are displaying KPI information on
monitors on the shop fl oor, linking machine monitoring to
capture manufacturing data or linking weigh scales to quickly
calculate quantities of small items.”
Having now left the EU but in a period of limbo whilst
the political wrangling on a trade deal continues, UK
manufacturers continue to feel unsure about the future,
however Simon feels confi dent for 123 Insight and its
customers. “The reality is that Brexit does bring uncertainty,
but throughout our history UK manufacturing has always
risen to the challenge,” he says. “The key is being able to
react to change – to be able to quickly and clearly identify
opportunities or threats and respond accordingly. We not
only future-proofed 123 Insight as a company through the
low monthly subscription, Evaluation Workshop and
No-obligation Training, but we passed this security onto
our customers.
Simon Badger
“Whatever happens, they already have a system in place
that can help them navigate these uncharted waters. If
business goes up or down, they can increase or decrease
their monthly licence count accordingly. Our transparent
pricing policy means that there are no nasty surprises, and
with a third of our subscription revenue ploughed into
development they can be confi dent that the system will
continue to evolve and stay ahead of the curve.”
www.123insight.com
123 Insight
co-founder Guy
Amoroso (top
left) has become
the company’s
chairman, while
Simon Badger
(below) becomes
the new managing
director
B
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 51
/stock.adobe.com
/www.123insight.com
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk