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Last week we joined the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) Assessor Training, delivered alongside Queen’s University Belfast, Irish Manufacturing Research and Invest Northern Ireland. It was an intensive few days spent getting under the skin of a framework that is fast becoming the common language for measuring digital maturity in manufacturing, and, just as importantly, seeing how it applies in a live production environment.
Process: connecting people, processes and technology
Much of the early discussion centred on the Process dimension of the SIRI framework, and specifically how manufacturers can strengthen both Vertical Integration within their own operations and Horizontal Integration across their supply chain.
One of the standout takeaways was that digital integration isn’t simply about connecting systems. It’s about making sure the right information flows seamlessly between people, processes and technology to support better decision-making. Systems that talk to each other are only useful if the information they share reaches the right people at the right moment.
As manufacturers improve their digital maturity, they move beyond disconnected data and manual handovers towards integrated, real-time information. That shift unlocks greater visibility, closer collaboration and faster responsiveness, both across the business and across the wider value chain. And the starting point is always the same: understanding your current level of maturity is the first step to identifying where the greatest opportunities for improvement lie.
Technology Bandings, assessed where it matters
A big part of SIRI is its Technology Bandings, and rather than working through them in a classroom, we took the discussion onto the shop floor, where new robotic cells are currently being installed. That real manufacturing environment turned out to be the perfect setting to contextualise the bandings, from Shop Floor Intelligence right through to Enterprise Connectivity.
Delegates assessed the current state, explored the future state, and worked through the capability improvements that would be needed to progress through the SIRI bandings. Seeing digital transformation happening in real time made those conversations far more meaningful than any theoretical example could.
A live environment makes all the difference
The recurring theme across the training was how much richer the learning becomes when the framework is grounded in reality. Whether mapping information flows or debating a technology banding, standing beside the equipment being installed brought a clarity that slides simply can’t match.
A huge thank you to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC), led by Queen’s University Belfast, for providing such an excellent environment to bring the SIRI framework to life, and to Irish Manufacturing Research and Invest Northern Ireland for a genuinely valuable programme.
If you’d like to understand where your operation sits on the SIRI maturity scale, or where your greatest opportunities for improvement lie, we’d be glad to talk
