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Made Smarter UK recommends North West Industry 4.0 pilot set to bring £70m to the region

The ‘Made Smarter UK’ report was released this week, announcing the findings of the Industrial Digitalisation review. The report has made three recommendations to UK government to develop advanced manufacturing within the UK.

The Industrial Digitalisation Review, carried out by leading business figures to assess how UK manufacturing can benefit from increasing digitalisation and technological change, known as ‘Industry 4.0’. The report has made three recommendations to the UK government about how to develop Advanced advanced Manufacturing manufacturing within the UK.

These recommendations are to:

  1. Create a much more visible and effective digital ecosystem to accelerate the innovation and diffusion of Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs)
  2. Upskill a million industrial workers to enable digital technologies to be successfully exploited
  3. Inspire the UK’s next industrial revolution with stronger leadership and branding of the country’s ambition to be a global pioneer in IDTs.

The report has called for widespread and rapid adoption of IDTs across supply chains and would implement this through schemes that include:

  • A National Adoption Programme to support adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises, with a North West pilot which will bring an estimated £70 million to the region
  • The introduction of Innovation Hubs, demonstrators and research centres to enable innovation
  • The newly established Made Smarter UK Commission (MSUK), which will be responsible for implementing technology and raising skill levels within the sector, whilst also developing a domestic and international brand for Industry 4.0 in the UK.

The report found that small and medium firms were particularly reluctant to adopt new technologies, citing concerns over cybersecurity and a lack of common standards allowing technologies to connect. It is intended that these concerns will be addressed through the North West pilot and through intensive support available from the Growth Hubs.

The 250 page report is the result of eight months' research by manufacturing leaders, which used insights from over 200 organisations including the Productivity Leadership Group (PLG).

The potential outcome for the UK committing to Industrial Digitalisation is a boost of £455bn for UK manufacturing, with a 3% annual growth to the sector, 175,000 jobs created and a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 4.5%.

Read the full report at the Industrial Digitalisation website.

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