What if your factory could think? That’s the question we explored this month as Therion took to the stage at EMCON 2025, the North’s engineering and manufacturing showcase.
It was our first time at the event, and it didn’t disappoint. With 120 exhibitors and 900+ attendees, we caught up with old friends, met some new ones, and had some brilliant conversations, which reminded us why events like this truly matter.
The buzz was clear: for many, demand is starting to push against capacity limits, shifting the greatest pressure onto scheduling and fulfillment. More than ever, businesses are looking to digital automation and AI to turn that pressure into opportunity.
In our session, our CEO James Hall explored how smart, secure, and connected technology is changing how factories work, and sparked great conversations around real use cases, such as:
Spotting problems before they hit – using AI to pinpoint bottlenecks in job schedules and recommend fixes in real time
Smarter workforce planning – detecting overloaded operators and instantly suggesting reassignments, breaks, or standby staff
Avoiding last-minute supplier shocks – surfacing risks early, with alternative sourcing and costed options
The bottom line: The future of manufacturing in the UK will likely look very different: more technologically advanced, more automated, more integrated with AI.
With the right digital foundations in place, each deployment can build on the others, improve decision-making, and ultimately, compound productivity and margin gains over time.
Factories that win don’t just move faster. They think faster. They see sooner. They act earlier.
Inside Therion
What we’ve been building, launching, or learning.
Therion + SST Group
We’ve teamed up with SST Group for a three-year partnership with big ambition.
Here’s what it means:
We’ll act as SST’s on-demand CTO, steering digital from the inside.
We’re rolling out Therion OS to help boost efficiency and modernise the backbone of their digital operations.
We’ll keep their IT, vendors, systems, and compliance in line so they can focus on building.
This partnership ensures that our digital capability keeps pace with the ambition of our business. Therion brings strategic insight, technical depth and a delivery mindset that aligns with where we’re heading as an organisation.
Why does this matter? Because digital isn’t a side project anymore. It’s core to how manufacturers compete and grow.
What we’re reading
AI In Operations - Early adopters are widening the performance gap.
As McKinsey highlights in Bold accelerators: How operations leaders are pulling ahead using AI, companies investing in AI for operations are already seeing faster payback and compounding advantages. The message is clear: adapt your operating model now, or risk being left behind.
Our thinking from the Therion Blog
Why Smart Manufacturing Fails It’s not the tech - it’s trust, clarity, and action.
In Why Smart Manufacturing Fails, we look at the common pitfalls that stall digital transformation, and how a shift in mindset can turn “data-rich but insight-poor” operations into competitive advantage.
Question time…
Have a question for us? Hit reply or email us at [email protected]
❓At the EMCON event, someone asked: “With AI becoming more common in factories, should managers be worried about being replaced by technology?”
Our Take: AI isn’t here to replace managers, it’s here to free them. In factories, leaders are often buried in admin: logging notes, writing reports, pulling data from different systems. AI can now take that load.
What that unlocks is time and energy for the real work of leadership:
Building trust and psychological safety on the shop floor.
Supporting people through change.
Making judgement calls when things go wrong.
Intelligently designed digital systems handle the noise, so leaders can focus on what only humans can do.
Work with us
At Therion, we help industrial businesses modernise how they work with advanced digital tools, so data flows, reporting is faster, and operations stay competitive.
If you’re stuck with performance blind spots, endless reporting, and disconnected data, we can turn that complexity into clarity.
Until next time,
The Therion Team
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