6 Business DECEMBER 2018
OpiniOn
Juergen Maier, chief executive of Siemens UK
SMEs can be Made Smarter
I’m delighted that made Smarter
successfully launched its pilot activities
last month at the Digital manufacturing
Week in Liverpool, where we
announced that the doors for digital
tech adoption were open for SmE
manufactures across the north west.
I want everyone that reads
manchester Evening News Business to
spread the word that we have a
fantastic opportunity to boost
manufacturing in the region, boost our
productivity and start a new industrial
revolution in this region – letting as
many SmEs know that there is advice
and grants available to boost their
business.
The £20m pilot will reach 3,000 SmEs
supporting their digitalisation journey,
with match funded and expert support
made available. Around 600 will get
intensive support.
This launch comes just a few weeks
after the Chancellor announced a
further £121m for made Smarter.
This is investment in R&D, with up to
£121m made available to support the
transformation of manufacturing
through digitally-enabled technologies,
such as the Internet of Things, additive
manufacturing, and virtual reality –
and many more too.
The pilot, which belongs to all of the
north west, is run by the Growth
Company in manchester will be the
test bed for the ideas we outlined in the
made Smarter review one year
ago. If it delivers its objectives, it
can be rolled out to other
regions too.
To do this it needs to
successfully reach
3,000 SmEs, create
300 student
placements, run
480 funded
projects and help
20 new tech
start-ups – boosting
GVA by up to
£115m.
So, this really is a
critical step forward in the
creation of an industry 4.
vision for the UK.
We still need to catch up with other
countries which have long invested in
these technologies, deployed national
investment strategies and created
brands for their own innovations – thenselling these across the world.
I firmly believe it is not too late for
UK manufacturing to lead a new
innovation revolution.
made Smarter is now becoming a
real movement for the next generation
of industry.
If we set our sights on the end
goal, by 2030 the UK will
measurably be the
global leader in the
creation, adoption
and export of
advanced digital
technologies,
shaping how the
world does
business.
It is ambitious,
but leadership and
ambition alongside
innovation are the key
ingredients for
manufacturing success.
What will make made Smarter
distinct is that we will try to stay
focused on what this means for people
across the country, and that this
movement is truly owned by SmEs and
employees up and down the country.And there is no better place to start an
inclusive industrial revolution that here
in the north west.
It will mean higher wages, better paid
jobs and more creativity - shared
evenly and fairly.
And most of all it should leave no one
behind and make a special effort to
engage young people who are
interested in developing a career in
engineering.
If we can make made Smarter a real
success for companies in manchester- there is a real opportunity to scale this
up nationally and invest more in the
region. What we have is a great start,
but the reality is a fourth industrial
revolution will take time to build – but
also a huge effort to make it well
embedded for decades to come.
As we look ahead to post Brexit
Britain, we need to make sure that the
2020s are about rebuilding and
reinvesting in the latest technologies
that can make manufacturing become
the heart our regional economy.
For that, there must be no
uncertainty and a national endeavor to
put Britain’s economy on a leading
edge.
We still need to catch
up with other countries
which have long
invested in these
technologiesWant to join the debate? Have your say online by joining the M.E.N. Media
Business Group on LinkedIn, or follow @MENBusinessdesk on TwitterSiemens’ CEO Juergen Maier, and
Donna Edwards from Made Smarter
North West, at the launch in Liverpool