Digital catapult embraces partnerships

The company is an authority in the UK relating to advanced digital technology and is now working with five leading technology companies and six pioneering small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). The new programme is part of the Made Smarter Innovation | Digital Supply Chain Hub initiative that supports and helps overcome issues faced by small-to-medium sized manufacturers across the country. Key objectives and aims include:

• Significant investment for innovators: Funding the development of advanced digital solutions with up to GBP £100,000 for each tech company to deploy its solutions into the supporting manufacturer’s businesses, who will receive GBP £25,000 to bolster this activity. 

• Solving pressing manufacturing challenges: Improved compliance and export growth for SMEs through paperless systems, reduction of textile waste by diverting to secondary markets, better supply visibility for SME automotive manufacturers, and greater analysis of purchasing costs to optimise sourcing.

• Leveraging cutting-edge emerging technology: Leverage emerging technologies that can be deployed at scale, to sharpen the UK’s manufacturing edge, including solving industrial challenges by utilising artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, internet of things (IoT) technologies, and blockchain.

Digital Catapult states that the timing of this project comes as a recent survey from Make UK and BDO highlighted the challenges currently facing UK manufacturers, with output growth for 2023 expected to be at -0.3 per cent. Supply chain pressures have been specifically outlined as a key challenge for medium-sized firms, with continued disruption and increased costs in the UK and throughout international markets stalling business growth.

Tim Lawrence, Director of the Digital Supply Chain Hub states: “With around 250,000 SME manufacturers in the UK, it is important that the work that we do as part of the Digital Supply Chain Hub backs these organisations as we introduce advanced digital tools to the supply chain. We’re excited to work on this initial rollout and look forward to introducing the solutions developed to the wider SME community in the coming months.”