- Government launches £30 million R&D competition
for projects aiming to radically boost the productivity
and agility of UK manufacturing
- Competition forms part of the Manufacturing Made
Smarter Challenge, funded through the Industrial
Strategy Challenge Fund
- The Fund - a key part of Government’s modern
Industrial Strategy - will support the application of
new digital technologies, including AI and Virtual
Reality, in manufacturing
UK manufacturers wanting to adopt the latest digital
technologies will be able to bid for a new £30 million
R&D competition open today through the Government’s
modern Industrial Strategy.
The R&D competition is part of the Manufacturing
Made Smarter challenge to support the transformation of
UK manufacturing by encouraging the development and
integration of industrial digital technologies.
The Manufacturing Made Smarter Challenge will:
- Provide a collaborative and cross-sector approach
to digital technology R&D and innovation to boost
UK manufacturing productivity and competitiveness;
- Encourage the cooperation of small, medium and
large scale companies throughout the UK supply chain to
develop new digital capabilities and knowledge to
become the recognised global leader in the application
of industrial digital technologies such as data
analytics, immersive technologies, connected
environments and the Internet of Things; and
- Provide the platform for digital technology
companies to engage directly in manufacturing.
Business Secretary said:
We want to support companies of all sizes who want to
develop new digital capabilities, and will support
projects that will help ensure the UK remains at the
forefront of technological developments.
Through Made Smarter and our modern Industrial
Strategy we are committed to making sure
manufacturers are best placed to take advantage of
the opportunities being created by industrial
digitalisation and help our leading advanced
manufacturing sector continue to grow.
UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor
Sir Mark Walport said:
The Manufacturing Made Smarter challenge will boost
the productivity of UK manufacturing by encouraging
the adoption of digital technologies across a wide
range of sectors. It will ensure the long-term
prosperity of UK manufacturing and contribute to an
increase in total productivity, making the UK a
global leader of the 4th Industrial Revolution and
delivering clean growth.
Juergen Maier CBE, Siemens UK CEO and Co-Chair of the
Made Smarter Commission said:
This investment is an incredibly important step
forward, helping our small manufacturers embrace the
latest advanced and digital technologies at a very
disruptive time for the industry. Through this
challenge there is a real opportunity to boost
national productivity and stimulate engineering
entrepreneurship which will create the new high
wage-high skilled jobs of the future.
The first competition of the Manufacturing Made Smarter
challenge, which opens today, will fund projects that
will help transform the productivity and agility of UK
manufacturing, ready for a fast start and with the
potential for rapid impact. Projects must be business
led and collaborative, with all consortia involving at
least one SME.
Notes to editors
This new funding is from the Industrial Strategy
Challenge Fund and aligns with the recommendations made
by Juergen Maier in his review for the government of
industrial digitalisation called Made Smarter, and the
activities of the newly formed Made Smarter Commission.
