Navigating the Complexities of Manufacturing

UK manufacturers are facing unparalleled challenges in 2025. Despite contributing over £450 billion in output, accounting for around 8 % of GDP and the workforce, manufacturers continue to grapple with rising costs, supply chain uncertainty, and legislative pressures.

Navigating the Landscape

There are escalating costs across the board, for example:

Raw Materials & Components

Global semiconductor shortages and volatile commodity prices continue to disrupt production pathways, especially for electronics and automotive. Export orders have rebounded (+7 % in Q2 2025), yet domestic orders lag (-1 %).

Energy & Fuel

UK industrial energy prices are among the highest in Europe, more than three times those seen in Germany and Frane. The government’s new Industrial Strategy aims to ease bills via levy reductions and infrastructure support, but substantial relief may not take effect until 2027, leaving manufacturers squeezed in the meantime.

Logistics & Transport

Rising diesel, haulage, and import costs (due to post-Brexit tariffs and shifting regulations) are further eroding margins. Brexit-related trade changes have already depressed manufacturing exports.

Labour & Skills Shortages

With 58,000 manufacturing vacancies in Q1 2025, labour resource constraints are hampering production. A lack of skilled workers means higher wages, recruitment costs, and delays in adoption of automation.

Legislation

New clean energy regulations and emissions levies (COP26 targets, UK Net Zero by 2050, industrial decarbonisation), along with environmental standards under ISO 14001, requiring reporting and monitoring, burden SMEs, and of course Post-Brexit customs, tariffs, and SPS complexities in raw material sourcing and export are all challenges.

All this pushes operational demands onto systems that we, at Dynavics, often see as outdated and ineffective.

The Case for Modern Solutions in Manufacturing

In such a challenging environment, lean, data-driven operations are the only way to navigate the outlined challenges. Here’s where integrated solutions (ERP) particularly Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, comes in to play.

Real-Time Energy & Cost Tracking

With high volatility in energy and material costs, transparency across utilities and inputs is invaluable. Business Central provides continuous overview of consumption and cost trends, helping managers adapt production schedules and sourcing.

Agile Supply Chain & Inventory Management

Automated re-order logic, multi-site stock levels, and real-time alerts, help manufacturers buffer against raw material shortages and fundraising headroom when input costs spike.

Workforce & Capacity Planning

With labour shortages, production scheduling tools in Business Central assist manufacturers in aligning available capacity with demand, ensuring workers are allocated efficiently, and overtime costs are controlled.

Environmental & Compliance Reporting

The built-in and fully customisable dashboards, audit trails for material flows, waste output, packaging, and energy use, support ISO or Net Zero reporting; this tuns regulatory burden into performance insight.

Financial Control & Profitability

Fully integrated ERP means that when raw material or energy costs increase, cost-of-goods calculations adjust automatically helping maintain product margins and real-time pricing strategies.

To address specialised needs, Dynavics integrates powerful add-ons to Business Central:

• Tasklet WMS: Enables mobile, real-time warehouse scanning, which is ideal for supply-chain accuracy amid component scarcity for example.
• Continia: Automates AP and AR processes, reducing admin and error-prone manual entries
• Jet Reports: Delivers custom dashboards for cost curve analysis, effective energy use, and stock KPIs
• Yavrio: Provides efficient banking integrations to reduce payment time and cost
• Shopify / LS Retail: Supports manufacturers who sell direct to consumers via showrooms or online storefronts

This toolkit that Dynavics are able to customise for manufacturers, enables lean and transparent business operations, even as costs and compliance demands rise.

Now is the time for manufacturers to modernise. ERP-based operations are not just for large firms, they’re critical for SMEs too, especially in export-sensitive sectors like automotive (£93 billion industry) .

By combining Business Central with Dynavics’ tailored portfolio of solutions, manufacturing businesses can:

• Mitigate cost pressures through data driven insights 
• Automate compliance and environmental reporting
• Plan and deliver production with precision
• Maintain profitability in tight-margin contexts

Rising costs won’t wait. But smart systems and expert implementation will ensure manufacturers stay competitive in 2025 and beyond.

Interested? Reach out to us today, and we can discuss a plan to tackle energy, compliance, capacity, and supply pressures through our award winning solutions. Click here