Industrialists urged to adopt new technology
Kenyan manufacturers have urged to embrace new digital technologies to help boost efficiency and production during the current Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Experts at PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) say manufacturers need to tap robotics, 3D printing, augmented reality and other emerging opportunities to lift their productivity.
A recent report by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), indicates that Kenya has stagnated in its global industry competitiveness ranking for years. This year, it has been ranked of 115 out of 152 countries surveyed.
The report measures how able a country is, to produce goods that meet the taste of the international consumers, how much value addition is happening, manufacturing sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP), ability to export among others.
Consumer and Industrial Products leader at PwC Peter Mugasa says the Covid-19 new normal is pushing businesses to adopt new innovative tech and digital solutions to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of their production facilities.
Right investments
“We are not talking about laying off everybody and automating but instead upskilling them, making the right investments and necessary changes towards smart manufacturing,” he adds.
Nearly half of the industries in Kenya are resource based while globally, only 18 per cent of the companies are resource based.
About 35 per cent of Kenya’s manufacturing is low technology while only 15 per cent of manufacturers in the world are in low tech production.
Five per cent of Kenya’s exports are in advanced technology compared to a world average of two per cent. It is in this niche that most of the money is made due to low competition.
The poor ranking as per the report is attributable to the low deployment of technology in manufacturing and the relatively low intellectual horsepower of labour in the sector.
Use of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, big data analytics or IoT in production scheduling, real data analytics among others could help improve Kenya’s competitiveness.
“When it comes to technology adoption, you need to sift through the noise and find out what is really relevant to you or get consultants to analyse your processes,” says Mugasa.
The lack of modern technology in most of the country’s manufacturing activities results in low export revenues due to lack of competitiveness on the international market.
“There are so many opportunities of digitisation, there is a lot of manual work, technology could speed up processes and increase turnaround time,” said Vinesh Maharaj, associate director PwC, Kenya.
The industry
Kenya Association of Manufacturers chairman Mucai Kunyiha said competitiveness is absolutely important though players in the industry are not doing very well.
“We are hoping we can focus on the issues raised such as technology, regulatory environment, cost of doing business to improve our scores,” he added.
Kunyiha said there are opportunities in tech manufacturing such as recycling of plastics, electronic waste, organic waste and other emerging sectors.
Analysts, however, warn that deploying technology must be done with things such as return on investment at the top of one’s mind.
There are also risks such as cybersecurity where data could be stolen. Kenya’s manufacturing sector contribution to GDP has shrunk from 15 to eight per cent.
