Unlocking productivity in the industries that need it most

Pablo Jiménez de Parga Ramos at Throxy explains why important sectors, including manufacturing, logistics and education, are lagging in the adoption of technology

 

The UK government’s 2025 Industrial Strategy Review earmarked billions for advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and R&D. These measures are designed to tackle the country’s long-standing productivity problem. According to the Office for National Statistics, output per hour in mid-2025 was only 1.5% higher than before the pandemic (2019 average) and 0.8% lower than a year earlier.

 

However, manufacturing, logistics, and education, three of the UK’s most important sectors, continue to lag in digital adoption. The UK government’s SME Digital Adoption Taskforce Final Report shows many small and medium firms have adopted at least one advanced technology, but far fewer use them in ways that improve productivity across operations. The result is billions in lost GDP and a growing divide between companies that benefit from digital tools and those that do not.

 

If the tools exist and the need is clear, the obvious question is: why aren’t they getting into the hands of leaders who could use them?

 

 

The access gap

The answer is short: access. Vendors with strong solutions cannot always reach the people in charge of buying decisions. Procurement in industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and education is fragmented, risk-averse, and often painfully slow. When sales teams do manage to get in the room, they are too often talking to the wrong stakeholders or presenting abstract benefits that fail to land with operational leaders.

 

The outcome is predictable. Technologies that could ease bottlenecks or automate manual processes never make it to the decision table. Boards remain unconvinced, vendors struggle to prove their worth, and the cycle repeats. This is less a matter of technical readiness and more about structural and cultural barriers that keep decision-makers isolated from viable solutions.

 

 

Why this matters

The cost of this gap shows up in hard numbers. In logistics, more than a third of businesses cite poor digital infrastructure as a drag on efficiency. Meanwhile, education providers face their own barriers, with procurement fragmented across local authorities and budgets often allocated without a clear strategy for digital investment.

 

These figures show that productivity loss is not an abstract concept. It can be measured in stalled projects, inefficiencies that accumulate daily, and missed opportunities to redirect staff time to higher-value tasks.

 

 

Barriers to access

There are several reasons why access breaks down. Legacy systems remain a stubborn obstacle, forcing firms to prioritise maintenance over innovation. Procurement chains can involve multiple sign-offs, stretching timelines until vendors give up or competitors move faster.

 

Culture plays its part too. Boards often default to short-term cost concerns rather than weighing long-term productivity gains. This makes them cautious, especially when presented with technologies that are unfamiliar or poorly understood.

 

And then there is the sales process itself. Too many approaches are generic, failing to show leaders exactly how a technology will reduce downtime, increase throughput, or cut costs. Without a link to metrics that matter, even the best solutions sound theoretical.

 

 

When access works

There are examples of what happens when these barriers are overcome. Logistics operators that adopted route optimisation technologies, supported by simplified procurement processes, saw delays reduced and driver productivity improve. These results are tangible and persuasive, showing why direct engagement with the right decision-makers matters.

 

In manufacturing, companies that worked with specialised sales partners capable of addressing sector-specific challenges reported higher adoption and better outcomes. Firms like Imnoo, which connects manufacturers with digital quoting and workflow automation, illustrate how focusing on a precise productivity challenge opens doors that generic sales pitches cannot.

 

 

Closing the access gap

Fixing the problem means rethinking how technology is sold and adopted. Sales teams need sharper insights into the sectors they target. That means identifying not only the right company, but the right person within it, and speaking their language.

 

It also means framing solutions in terms of outcomes boards already track: cost per unit, time saved on manual processes, fewer errors in reporting, and shorter lead times. These metrics carry more weight than generic claims about innovation or transformation.

 

Partnership is another factor. One-off sales rarely deliver the trust required to persuade cautious industries. Long-term engagement, with ongoing support and clear benchmarks, lowers the sense of risk and helps firms move past initial hesitation.

 

Government policy can play a role too. The current wave of investment in apprenticeships and technical training is a chance for vendors to align their message with national priorities. If boards see technology framed as part of a wider push supported by public funds and skills programmes, they may be more willing to invest.

 

The UK does not face a shortage of technology. What it faces is a shortage of access. The tools to improve productivity exist today, but until they reach the desks of the leaders who need them, the country will continue to lag. Closing this gap is not only a challenge for sales teams. It is a shared task for vendors, decision-makers, and policymakers. Productivity growth depends on making sure the right solutions are seen, understood, and adopted in the industries where they matter most. 

 

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Pablo Jiménez de Parga Ramos is the Co-founder of Throxy

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and sankai