MARCH 2019 OPINION
One size
doesn’t fit all
How Made Smarter’s pilot is giving manufacturing SMEs
in the North West the confi dence to adopt digitalisation
BY DONNA EDWARDS, DIRECTOR, MADE SMARTER NORTH WEST PILOT
T he North West has a proud
tradition of innovation, advanced
manufacturing and making welldesigned
functional products,
many of which have gone on to change
the world. But compared to other parts
of the UK, we continue to suff er from a
productivity gap. This is where the Made
Smarter programme comes in.
The Made Smarter pilot is about
raising aspirations, encouraging SMEs to
embed new high-tech processes into their
operations and helping to re-energise the
North West’s manufacturing base through
smarter working.
Despite the fact that much of the initial
support we are off ering SMEs is free-toaccess,
and we have a major match funding
grant programme available to support
fi rms ready to invest in new solutions,
there remain barriers to adoption. One of
these is that the ROI from any investment,
even if match-funded, is hard to guarantee
or identify in some cases, and the benefi ts
(at least initially) can be intangible or
hard to articulate.
But having worked closely with small
businesses over many years I know that
the fear-factor goes beyond just the
investment costs, and that this can be a
false assumption which is easy to hide
behind. For example, many companies
think new digital technologies will be
hard to integrate into their existing
operations, difficult to operate, and
runs the risk of interrupting their
already finely tuned processes.
Loss of brand equity
Some are also fearful that if they change
the way they do things they will lose their
‘brand equity’, built up over the years,
which is often based on a sense of heritage
and tradition. We are therefore mindful
not to blind manufacturers with complex
science. Instead, we use our extensive
understanding of the manufacturing
sector to look at what interventions could
make a real diff erence to their bottom
line, while still ensuring they retain their
distinctive character.
We are also working hard to empower
businesses who have an appetite to
be bold. Individuals who do have an
innovative idea that has the potential to
revolutionise their business can often feel
restrained by a company culture which is
traditionally risk-averse.
In this situation we can help give
innovators the headspace they need, sensechecking
ideas and asking them: ‘Why not?’
Bringing staff on the journey
Other areas of support we off er
include how to bring staff along on the
digitalisation journey, and how to help
build the ROI case to convince others in
the business to take the plunge. Peer-topeer
endorsement can also be a powerful
driver of behaviour change, which is
why bringing the impact of what digital
technologies can do for a business ‘alive’ is
a key part of our engagement strategy. This
helps leaders to see the art of the possible
and show them they are not alone.
This was used to great eff ect at a recent
event in Lancashire where several local
SMEs, who had all already benefi tted from
investing in digital technologies, talked
about the benefi ts they had enjoyed.
One, a window manufacturer, described
how demands from clients to off er them
something original, combined with
the commercial risks associated with
developing new tooling, had led them to
adopt additive manufacturing methods.
He then explained how their investment
was a fraction of the cost of traditional
prototyping, and yet the results included
more effi ciencies, cost-savings and far
more opportunity to experiment, innovate
and build his customer base.
Another gave the example of a
toy manufacturer who saved half a
million pounds annually by running a
spatial algorithm on their data, which
fundamentally changed how they
packaged, stacked and transported one
of their most popular products. Such
examples, where a modest investment in
digital has had a transformational eff ect
on productivity, is at the heart of the
Made Smarter proposition.
I’m confi dent that once a business
has had a taste of what digitalisation
can do, they’ll never look back.
Are you taking part in the Made Smarter pilot? Have you progressed your digital journey?
We want to hear from you. Email: chris.beck@markallengroup.com
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 11
arrow/stock.adobe.com
We are working hard to
empower businesses who
have an appetite to be boldÓ
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
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