AROUND THE REGIONS JULY/AUGUST 2019
AROUND THE REGIONS:
THE SOUTH WEST
In its regular column, Make UK profiles the work done in the sector across the
country – this time taking in the South West, where companies ranging from
Airbus to Dyson are making significant strides with the latest technology
BY STEPHEN TULIP, REGIONAL MANAGER FOR THE SOUTH WEST, MAKE UK
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve
received in my career is to be honest
about what you don’t know – and
over the past few months I’m happy
to say that I’ve learnt a lot by
attending events on subjects I didn’t
previously know much about.
Virtually fascinating
Make UK members got the chance to experience
the Fourth Industrial Revolution first-hand
recently at an interactive Virtual (VR) and
Augmented Reality (AR) Manufacturing Connect
event hosted at the Bristol VR Lab. Over 30
manufacturing businesses heard from a range
of specialist speakers, before getting hands-on
with VR and AR demos.
Our first speaker demonstrated the practical
applications of Augmented Reality technology,
including the ability for experts to remotely
advise or check work ‘live’ keeping the technician
focused on the task at hand and increasing
efficiency. Attendees then heard several case
studies of VR applications, including staff
training, virtual testing, product development
and modelling unseen processes.
Attendees then got the chance to try three
demonstrations, Rolls Royce’s AR equipment
inspection tool, Dyson’s VR product testing
environment and a range of simulations from
Render Media, including a trip into space leaving
participants weightless.
People left this Make UK event with an
increased understanding of the potential of AR
and VR technology and some case studies of
how manufacturing businesses have used the
technology to increase productivity, efficiency
and sales. A very useful insight into emerging
technology and its practical application.
High-flying women
In June I attended an event at Airbus Bristol on
International Women in Engineering Day. The
set up was a clever one. On each table there was
a female graduate programme Airbus employee,
stakeholders from industry and
business (the category I fell into)
and crucially, girls from some
local schools.
The purpose of the session
was to share what Airbus is
doing to promote engineering
to young women and to provide
feedback on the methods they
used. It was very encouraging
to see that Airbus is succeeding
in increasing the proportion of
women in its graduate intake
and that the engagement tools
they presented succeeded in
catching the attention of the
pupils in the room. The women
in the graduate programme were
excellent not only at describing
the fantastic support they
receive from Airbus but also at
inspiring the pupils they spoke
to. I’m sure a few young minds
were inspired at the event and
I hope some of them will be
Airbus employees of the future.
US-UK trade
Export and international trade
is a key topic for manufacturing
businesses which is why Make
UK has dedicated an area of
our website to support in this
area. Exporting outside the
The South West
is home to some
of the UK’s
most innovative
manufacturers
EU is of particular interest
because of the current political
climate, so I was pleased to be
invited in July to attend the
fourth UK-US SME dialogue
hosted by the Department for
International Trade and their
US counterparts.
The event was an interesting
one, with representatives from
both sides of the pond agreeing
that there is huge potential for
trade between the two nations
post Brexit. Currently there is
a ‘one size fits all’ approach to
trade, which presents barriers
to large businesses that can be
insurmountable hurdles for
SMEs. There are plans to make
trade easier for SMEs to ensure
that they can enter these
markets, with a particular focus
on frictionless digital trade.
A statistic that stuck with me
was that 98% of exports in the
US is done by SMEs, but only
5% of US businesses trade
internationally.
It’s been a busy few months
with lots of learning. The job
now is to ensure Make UK
members benefit from this
insight to further strengthen
UK manufacturing.
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