The Growth Company play a key role in Made Smarter, which supports businesses to accelerate their growth through digital tools and innovation.
Launched in the North West in 2019, Made Smarter has engaged with 2,500 manufacturers and funded 334 technology projects, which are forecast to create 1,550 jobs, upskill 2,772 existing roles, and increase North West Gross Value Added (GVA) by £242m.
The successful blueprint has since inspired Made Smarter adoption programmes in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, East Midlands, and West of England.
Adoption Awards recognise SMEs pursuing digital transformation
At the start of 2024, Made Smarter launched an awards programme to celebrate digital transformation among SME manufacturers.
Regional winners from Made Smarter adoption programmes in the North West, West Midlands, North East, and Yorkshire and Humber have been selected.
They went head-to-head for the inaugural national award on the 27th June.
The awards are an opportunity to celebrate the growing number of digital champions who've achieved green growth from investing in technology and skills. By this time next year we'll be celebrating SME manufacturers adoption in all remaining English regions, as the success of the adoption model is rolled out nationally.
Made Smarter to feature in ITN Business later this year
Made Smarter will be featuring in the ITN Business upcoming programme ‘Manufacturing: Industry, Innovation and Impact’, for National Manufacturing Day on September 26.
Presented by Nadira Tudor, the programme will look at the organisations at the forefront of the manufacturing sector, the demand for UK manufactured goods and how digitalisation and advancement in technology enable this.
It'll also explore what the sector is doing to meet sustainability and net-zero targets and the variety of careers in manufacturing.
To find out more please visit the ITN Business Hub.
Bite-sized monthly broadcasts on LinkedIn
Made Smarter have also launched a popular LinkedIn Live series which are monthly and are performing well. They had a special on Sunday 23rd June to mark International Women in Engineering Day.
July's discussion (Wednesday 10th July at midday) will cover the role of technology in helping SME manufacturers reach their decarbonisation goals. Manufacturing can be made smarter and greener with technology The decarbonisation of manufacturing is the industry’s biggest challenge - but it is also a significant opportunity. In this session Made Smarter will be joined by manufacturers who are already on their journey to net zero as well as members of the Green Skills team
Generative AI support
Made Smarter Adoption NW have created a new section on their website to document their journey of AI adoption and highlight the support they can offer to their customers.
Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text, images, music, or even video, by learning patterns from existing data. Unlike traditional AI, which is designed to perform specific tasks, generative AI has the ability to generate new and unique outputs, often mimicking human creativity.
This technology is important because it has the potential to revolutionise many industries. It will transform the way Made Smarter provide advice to their customers, and they are committed to being open and transparent about its use.
