NEWS & INSIGHTS

Digitalisation in the bath manufacturing industry involves integrating advanced digital technologies across design, production, supply chain, and customer experience to improve efficiency, quality, and innovation. 

At Trojan, we aim to be at the forefront of this transformation. As Operations Director, I am leading the transformation and has laid out a five-year roadmap planning how we will harness new technologies by digitalising our manufacturing processes. Keep reading to find out more.

As digitalisation in manufacturing accelerates, at Trojan we aim to stay ahead of curve by consistently investing in innovative products and internal processes.  We recognise the benefits that digitalisation can bring in manufacturing, through improving efficiencies, ensuring high-quality products, and fast yet effective customer service to stay ahead of the competition.  

That’s why we have invested in a dedicated team of specialists committed to driving forward our digitalisation journey over the next five years and beyond, led by myself and Project Lead Martin Haban. This starts with investment in cutting-edge technology to enhance our manufacturing capabilities and product quality through digitalisation. 

In the coming financial year, we are investing £180,000 in implementing automation and Industry 4.0 technologies across our production facilities.  This follows a series of investments in relocating our shower tray production facility and streamlining manufacturing processes in 2024. 

This investment will be realised through our digitalisation journey over the next five years: 

We have opted for a phased and practical approach to enable a sustainable, manageable transformation across our sites. Our teams will begin by managing transport and orders, integrating technology to streamline our processes. To align our workforce with more advanced technologies, we will enable auto-scheduling jobs to workstations, allowing staff to track production orders and quality in real-time.  

Following this, our procurement processes will be automated for accurate planning and live stock control, allowing full traceability.  

To streamline our manufacturing process, we are fitting RFID chips in all shower tray production moulds and products to plan and track the production process, based on programming. In theory this will enable customers to track their orders in real time, bringing us closer to our customers by allowing real-time visibility of product orders and potentially automatic re-ordering when their stock levels are low. 

With 41 million tonnes of industrial waste produced in the UK each year, digitalising our stock-take will ensure real-time visibility of every item – cutting inflated inventory and idle materials – and connecting our workforce to accurate digital work instructions and live performance data. The result will be a more efficient, more sustainable manufacturing system: higher productivity, fewer man-made errors, and less waste across assembly, inspection and quality control. 

Following the advancement of our automation systems, which are critical in improving our production line processes and enhancing material distribution systems, we anticipate that our overall efficiency will improve, driving our growth and ensuring Trojan remains at the forefront of the UK bathroom manufacturing industry for decades to come! 

Digitalisation in manufacturing is proven to increase productivity and performance by 20%. Our roadmap is designed to harness these benefits for Trojan, helping to cut waste, reduce curing times and increase production efficiency. All essential as operating costs such as labour, utilities, insurances etc. continue to rise. 

Digitalisation will also enhance our production capacity while maintaining quality standards, meaning we’ll be able to keep up with rising demand for innovative bathroom products and remain a reliable supplier in the industry.  

By implementing real-time performance monitoring and data-driven decision-making, we’ll improve traceability of our manufacturing and quality control, ensuring we can consistently provide top-quality products, on time, every time.

In the future, we hope to further streamline our finance, job costings and KPI setters by unifying reporting digitally, which will close the loop on operational and financial visibility across Trojan. Integrating AI interfaces within our procurement and warehouse management systems is also part of the plan, in order to capitalise on  the benefits it can bring, such as inventory optimisation, which can offer an average reduction of 10-15% in inventory costs. 

Digitalisation is already driving increased efficiency and productivity and reducing waste within the manufacturing industry. To stay ahead, we are committed to consistently driving improvements and investing in the digitalisation of our manufacturing processes, while maintaining the hard work and craftsmanship, which has led us to where we are today.  

Get in touch with our team of experts and begin your journey in partnering with one of the leading bath manufacturers in Europe.