Turning Fragmented Data Into Strategic Advantage: Reflections from The Manufacturing Leaders Summit

At this year’s Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit in Liverpool, I had the privilege of co-hosting two roundtables on the future of data, analytics and AI. What emerged was a striking consistency.  Across aerospace, defence, food, materials, electronics and packaging, leaders described the same barriers slowing their progress. Not niche problems. Not sector nuances. Structural issues that are holding back the entire industry. If manufacturing is to remain globally competitive, and if AI is to deliver on its promise, these barriers must be dismantled.

Digital ambition is high, but data confidence is low

Almost half of manufacturers told us that digital transformation is now a core strategic pillar inside their organisation. Yet only one in four felt it was truly embedded across functions.  That tension, between the vision and the lived reality, set the tone for everything that followed.  Over 50 percent identified integration with legacy systems as the single biggest barrier to AI adoption, and perhaps most tellingly, three-quarters lack confidence that their digital investments are delivering measurable ROI.  The message was clear: Manufacturers are not short of digital tools. They are short of connected, trusted data.

Why fragmented data is the real bottleneck

Throughout the summit, it became obvious that data fragmentation is no longer a technical inconvenience, it is a strategic risk.  Leaders described:

• Multiple versions of the truth across functions
• Manual re-keying of information between systems
• Inconsistent KPIs that slow decisions
• Engineers checking system data because it doesn’t “feel right”
• Quality standards that vary by shift due to subjective interpretation
• Production issues investigated days late because data was scattered

Even highly mature digital factories acknowledged this gap. One, widely admired for its operational discipline, openly noted that while their systems are advanced, true agentic operations remain aspirational without deeper data unification.  The conclusion is unavoidable:

You cannot automate a broken data landscape.  You cannot scale AI on top of inconsistent foundations.

From data islands to data confidence

The turning point arrives when organisations stop trying to digitise around their data silos and instead begin to connect them.  When production, quality, maintenance, finance and supply chain data flows into a single, governed data core, everything changes:

• Issues become predictable instead of retrospective
• Decisions are accelerated instead of debated
• Root causes become visible, not inferred
• Quality becomes objective, not subjective
• Planning becomes dynamic, not cyclical
• ESG and energy data become operational, not isolated

This is the shift from reactive reporting to proactive, closed-loop insight, the foundation on which modern manufacturing must be built.

Insight must lead to action

We are entering the era of agentic manufacturing: where intelligent systems don’t just highlight issues but take steps to resolve them. These agents will orchestrate quality management, scheduling, maintenance, inventory optimisation and service response.  But they can only do this when the data is unified, governed, real-time and trusted.  This is why Data 360, a platform that harmonises data across the entire value chain, matters because it provides the one thing AI cannot function without: a single, trusted source of truth.  

With Data 360, insight becomes actionable. Tableau provides clarity. Agentforce delivers intelligent action. Together, they form the backbone of the agentic enterprise.  Not a dashboard.  Not a chatbot.  A connected, intelligent operating model.

The human factor: trust is the ultimate accelerator

Underneath all the technology discussion, the most powerful theme from the summit was cultural.  Leaders told us: 

“People don’t trust the data”

“Engineers rely on gut feel because the system isn’t believed”

“If one forecast is wrong, it takes nine correct ones to rebuild trust”

Trust is the cultural currency of transformation.  And this is where visualisation and transparency matter. When Data 360 unifies the data, and Tableau makes it visible and intuitive to operators, planners and leaders, behaviour begins to shift. People stop questioning the numbers and start acting on them.  Empowered people turn trusted data into sustainable change.

A new competitive frontier for UK manufacturing

If manufacturers are to thrive in an environment of rising costs, fragile supply chains and tightening sustainability demands, they cannot rely on linear processes and fragmented insights.

They need connected data.

They need real-time visibility.

They need systems that can sense, decide and act.

They need cultures built on trust and transparency.

And above all, they need a strategic commitment to turn insight into action.

A Call to Action: Build Your Data Foundation Now

If the themes from the Liverpool summit resonate, whether you lead operations, strategy, digital or finance, now is the moment to assess your organisation’s data readiness.  The next decade will belong to manufacturers who move early to unify their data, establish trust, and lay the groundwork for intelligent, agentic operations.  Let’s start the conversation about how Data 360 can help you build that foundation and unlock confident, real-time decision-making across your organisation.