The programme, which includes an £8 million government boost, supports up to 1,000 small and medium sized manufacturers across the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands regions in adopting digital technology.
As a result of integrating systems and consolidating data sources, business leaders have achieved real-time visualisation of their processes, been able to spot trends in production and labour, correct maintenance and quality issues, and minimise safety, business risk and operational downtime throughout their production.
The Made Smarter analysis shows one in five are adopting robotics and process control automation, while seven percent are investing in Industrial Internet of Things, using sensors to collect critical production data to gain insights about the efficiency of operations. Others are adopting additive manufacturing to reduce waste and fast track prototyping.
Meanwhile, early adopters who have already captured data are now focussed on analytics and artificial intelligence to get more insight and value from their manufacturing operations.
Among those reaping the benefits are The Cumbria Clock Company in Penrith, which maintains 1,000 church and public clocks. It introduced a digital management system to give the business an oversight over its operation, increase productivity and efficiency, cut costs and reduce carbon footprint.
Precision Card Services, a Macclesfield-based manufacturer of recyclable and eco-degradable plastic cards for household names including Harrods and Cineworld, invested in a solution that can read a card, check against a data file in real time, and then encode it.
Nutree Life, a Burscough-based manufacturer of vegan and free-from protein bars, integrated its systems, enabling real-time visibility of its processes and the ability to respond to and improve its performance.
Organica UK, a Birkenhead-based manufacturer of environmentally friendly household cleaning products for supermarket brands, invested in technology projects which introduced real-time monitoring and analytics.
Mini Gears, a Stockport-based manufacturer of machined parts, gears and gear racks, has embarked on a project to create a digitally integrated factory to drive growth and productivity, and penetrate new markets.
Alain Dilworth, programme manager for the Made Smarter’s North West adoption programme, said: “Capturing the data from across their processes and bringing it all together in one place is a vital first step for many manufacturers looking to solve problems and recognise opportunities. It also becomes a platform for the next step, one which some are already taking, is to analyse the data using artificial intelligence.
“Over the last four years Made Smarter has supported 2,500 businesses with grant funding, skills training and leadership advice. We are keen to start more conversations with SME manufacturers about how we can help them.”