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Made Smarter has launched a 拢1.9 million digital adoption push to drive growth in West Midlands manufacturing and engineering SMEs and help them boost productivity.

Digital experts will provide advice to businesses on how to switch to advanced and automated technologies as well as working to improve employees鈥� overall digital skills.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership () Growth Hub is leading the one-year Made Smarter scheme with its fellow Growth Hubs in Greater Birmingham and Solihull, the Black Country, Worcestershire Business Central, The Marches, and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The West Midlands Growth Hubs are working closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority and their strategic partners WMG, at the 91影视破解版 and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry to tap into the expertise of their digital manufacturing specialists.

Professor David Greenwood, CEO of WMG HVM Catapult centre, comments:
鈥淒igitalisation for smaller companies needs a different approach than for larger companies. It isn鈥檛 about purchasing multi-million pound software systems – it鈥檚 about improvements in design tools, manufacturing, digitalising legacy plant and equipment and integration to supply chain systems.

鈥淲e are delighted to bring the expertise of WMG and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to help transform the productivity of SMEs who are so critical to the West Midlands regional economy.鈥�

Craig Humphrey, managing director of the CWLEP Growth Hub, said there are potentially 14,500 SME manufacturers in the region who could benefit from the National Made Smarter Movement. He said:
鈥淎ll the Growth Hubs in the West Midlands are working together to contact SMEs in our areas who will benefit from this practical help.

鈥淒igital technology can appear daunting and with the day-to-day efforts of owners and senior management teams to keep their businesses going during the pandemic, this kind of activity needs to be pushed to the upper end of their priorities.

鈥淏ut we believe it is key to help SMEs in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector to run more efficiently for their long-term future success.

鈥淭he Growth Hubs will be assessing each business that applies to make sure we provide them with the kind of specialist support they need, which in Coventry and Warwickshire could be in the fields of robotics and automation, and artificial intelligence since we are working with WMG and the MTC.

鈥淲e will then help SMEs to develop an action plan for adopting digital technology in their own detailed roadmap, which could involve participating in a leadership training programme, being offered a student placement, or receiving a match funded grant.

鈥淭he National Made Smarter Movement aims to entice SMEs that are not often reached through the usual business programmes and services, by transforming the digital tools within their companies, which in addition to upskilling their staff and creating jobs, will benefit the regional economy.鈥�

Charlotte Horobin, Make UK Region Director – Midlands & East of England, said:
鈥淭he roll out of the Made Smarter Adoption programme across the West Midlands is great news for manufacturers, which we and our members welcome.

鈥淥ur 2020 Innovation Monitor highlighted that 18% of manufacturers in the West Midlands were not adopting industrial digital technologies, which we hope the programme will help address. Digital take-up will be key to boosting productivity as we come out of the current COVID crisis, creating more highly paid jobs and underpinning the region鈥檚 competitiveness.鈥�

Neill Smith, Head of Manufacturing Support Services at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, said that the Made Smarter scheme perfectly complements its ongoing work to support manufacturing SMEs increase productivity, develop resilience, increase competitiveness and, ultimately, grow their business.

He said: 鈥淲e help introduce digital systems to SMEs, that capture the right information at the right time, to enable them to make the right decisions and manage their companies more efficiently.

鈥淔rom supporting the adoption of process control automation, robotics, and digitalisation tools, to helping SMEs with data or system integration and the adoption of augmented and virtual reality tools, we鈥檙e supporting companies to use digital data to drive digitally controlled equipment in the latest methods of manufacture.鈥�

To register and find out more information, please visit

ENDS

22 JUNE 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

To find out more about MadeSmarter visit

Made Smarter is a national movement to drive growth amongst UK makers and advance the UK economy. Backed by world renowned businesses and the UK government, it will improve the development and adoption of emerging technologies. Making a real, everyday difference to people from the boardroom to the factory floor.

Made Smarter was formed following a nationwide review into UK manufacturing that recommended three key changes: More ambitious leadership. More innovation in developing new technologies. And faster implementation and adoption of those technologies. We鈥檒l be boosting the digital skills of industry leaders, bringing businesses and research development together to develop new technology, and helping makers embrace new digital tools. In doing so, we鈥檒l inspire the next industrial revolution and make the UK a leader in digital technologies.

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager - Science
91影视破解版
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk