If you work in UK manufacturing, there’s a good chance your business is running on software that’s been around longer than some of your team. This could be a legacy system, spreadsheets that have become workarounds, or a database that only one person understands.
We’ve just published a new report looking at the state of legacy software across UK manufacturing, pulling together the latest industry research and stats.
It covers how common the problem is, what it’s costing businesses in terms of time, money, security, and talent, and what practical steps you can take towards digital transformation.
Some numbers that stood out
For instance, according to a survey of over 1,000 UK industrial businesses by Intoware, nearly three-quarters of manufacturing and engineering firms are still relying on old systems and spreadsheets for essential day-to-day work. 86% of those companies believed they were already making good use of their data, when most of it was trapped in fragmented systems.
On the security side, cyber-attacks targeting manufacturers through their supply chains rose by 20% in the past year, with older, unpatched systems a major risk factor.
Why this matters
Old software slows things down, and it also makes it harder to hire good people. Younger workers expect modern tools, and 75% of manufacturers already say finding the right talent is their biggest barrier to growth.
In addition, reporting and automation tools are becoming standard across every industry, but legacy software usually can’t support them. So even when manufacturers invest in new technology, they can’t get the full value out of it. This is how many businesses end up with multiple software systems that don’t communicate with each other.
Although your legacy software might be working for you now, unsupported or unmaintained systems tend to fail gradually, with performance getting slower each year. Workarounds continue to pile up
(we wrote a blog post on the cost of workarounds here), and by the time it becomes urgent, the cost and disruption of moving away from legacy software is far higher than it would have been with earlier planning.
What you can do about it
The full report covers the problem in more detail and gives you an honest picture of where things stand, so you can make informed decisions about what to do next. There are practical steps in there that any manufacturer can take, regardless of budget or technical expertise.
Access the full report below.
Feel free to reach out to us if you’re looking at developing or supporting a legacy system, or head to our software development pages for more information.
