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.file-description { padding-bottom: 5px; } } </style> </head> <body> <table align='center' border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' style='background-color: rgb(245,245,245);' width='100%'> <tr> <td align='center'> <table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' class='main-table' style='border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #fff; max-width: 540px;' width='540'> <tr> <td style='padding: 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(229, 229, 229);'> <table width='100%'> <tr> <td width='50%'> <div data-test='mailing-preview-sender-info' style='font-size: 13px;'><p>Press Release</p></div> </td>
<td data-test='mailing-preview-logo-right' style='text-align: right;' width='50%'> <img src="https://cache.pressmailing.net/thumbnail/836ecaa9-8894-4192-89eb-ef4e49dbd745/MHP19_00012.jpg" /> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr data-test='mailing-preview-teaser'> <td style='padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; text-align: center;'> <div style='margin: 0 auto; display: inline-block;'> <img style="max-width: 520px; width: 100%;" src="https://cache.pressmailing.net/thumbnail/9185d768-779d-4945-9fc6-02b8927a9709/MHP%20Media_Industrie%20~2026_939092632.jpeg" /> <div class='small-text' data-test='mailing-preview-teaser-description' style='text-align: left; margin-top: 6px; max-width: 520px;'> MHP and Prof Dr Johann Kranz from LMU Munich publish eighth edition of the Industry 4.0 Barometer. (Photo: Adobe Stock) </div> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class='main-content'> <div class='body-text' style='margin-bottom: 40px'> <p>PRESS RELEASE </p><p><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">MHP and LMU Munich publish eighth edition of the Industry 4.0 Barometer</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:13px;"><br></span></strong></p><p><strong>UK industry risks falling behind in AI-driven manufacturing as China accelerates</strong></p><ul><li style="font-size:12px;">New study: industrial companies increasingly using Industry 4.0 technologies internationally, with China and the U.S. extending their lead </li><li style="font-size:12px;">The United Kingdom shows low investment willingness and ranks second to last in the adoption of digital twins – which 84 percent of Chinese companies use in logistics </li><li style="font-size:12px;">Software-Defined Manufacturing (SDM) is becoming a key competitive factor: production excellence as a result of software, data, and IT/OT architecture</li><li style="font-size:12px;">Mexico and India included in the analysis for the first time: 61 percent of Indian companies surveyed already using AI in the production environment</li></ul><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>Ludwigsburg / Munich / Reading </strong>– China is designing the factory of the future, while Europe, and the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in particular, are struggling with the past. Established IT and OT landscapes as well as fragmented data structures are hampering progress here. Meanwhile, China is taking the lead in terms of supply chain transparency, digital twin technology, automation, and AI. India, Mexico, and the U.S. are also modernizing and implementing things faster than companies in the United Kingdom, for example. In fact, according to companies’ own assessments, the level of digitalization in the UK’s industrial sector has even declined. These are the key findings from the Industry 4.0 Barometer 2026, which the management and IT consultancy MHP has published in collaboration with Prof Dr Johann Kranz from the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) Munich. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Bodo Philipp, CEO of MHP Consulting UK Limited in Reading: “Our analysis makes one thing clear: China and the U.S. are driving the transformation of their manufacturing sectors with a strong focus on software and data, while the United Kingdom and the German-speaking markets of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have yet to build similar momentum. Only six and three percent of companies respectively are very familiar with Software-Defined Manufacturing, compared to 30 percent in China and India. Without the strategic integration of production control, data, and software, it will become increasingly difficult to remain competitive internationally.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">More than 1,200 people from industrial companies were surveyed for the Industry 4.0 Barometer 2026. Specifically, they were asked to assess the status quo with regard to Industry 4.0 in their own companies in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), the United Kingdom, the U.S., China and, for the first time, India and Mexico. The study highlights successes, but also reveals gaps in the subjects surveyed, including supply chain transparency, digital twin technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Software-Defined Manufacturing (SDM). </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>Degree of digitalization worldwide rises to 66 percent</strong>, <strong>while the UK declines</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Internationally, the degree of digitalization ascertained in industry continues to rise, with the overall barometer figure increasing from 48 percent (2022) to 66 percent today in all subject areas. However, two regions have fallen significantly behind: The United Kingdom declines to 62 percent (-2 percentage points compared to the previous year). T
