Made Smarter drives technology adoption among SME manufacturers

from Machinery Update September / October 2023

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The Made Smarter Adoption programme is a government funded, industry-led movement equipping SME manufacturers with the technology and skills to boost growth, productivity, efficiency, decarbonise and create high value, well paid jobs of the future.

Launched in the North West in 2019, it has provided specialised support to over 2,500 SMEs, including expert, impartial technology advice, digital transformation workshops to help them take their first steps to identify practical solutions to overcome business challenges, and embed new digital leadership skills.

Businesses have also accessed grant funding to invest in new technologies. These include: data and system integration tools to achieve real-time visualisation of their processes, robotics and automation to increase productivity and efficiency; Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to collect production data for operational insights; and analytics and artificial intelligence tools to get more value from their operations. Some makers have adopted additive manufacturing to reduce waste and fast track prototyping, while others are using immersive technologies to add value to their services and pave the way for emerging technologies like the industrial metaverse.

This support is forecast to deliver an additional £209M GVA for the North West economy over the next three years, create 1,300 new jobs and upskill 2,400 existing roles.

The successful adoption programme is now active in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, East Midlands, and West of England.

For more information and to contact your region’s adoption programme visit madesmarter.uk

Robotics at heart of flexible manufacturing solution

Brainboxes, based in Liverpool, designs, manufactures and ships 100,000 electronics products globally for a variety of uses including by the British Antarctic Survey and in the Large Hadron Collider. Its challenge was that with 100 different types of products and multiple batch sizes, the task of applying one to eight labels was extremely labourintensive and time consuming.

With the support of Made Smarter, Brainboxes designed a bespoke solution which automated the whole process combining a UV print solution, which prints a label directly onto the product, and an industrial robot to enable high speed and repeatability.

The solution has driven up productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Robotics to load and unload the printer has reduced manual labour five-fold. Meanwhile, visualisation of energy consumption via a dashboard means Brainboxes can drive efficiencies and reduce their carbon footprint.

Brainboxes’ adoption journey is also a great example of the importance of putting people at the heart of change. Production staff who feared what a robot would do to their livelihoods are now embracing the technology.

Savouring the opportunities of digitalisation

Bury Black Pudding, based in Bury, has used its traditional recipe for more than 100 years and has expanded its range to include vegan, vegetarian and gluten free versions.

It approached Made Smarter with a vision of creating the world’s first smart black pudding factory and has created a digital roadmap to get there.

One project has automated a previously manual, inefficient and inaccurate method of producing its main stick and chub consumer packs by introducing a Handtmann Filler VF 838s8/HCU/Weight Regulator Machine, which connects the weighing and filling process.

Now every clipped product that is weighed by the operative will automatically correct the filler machine portion control to a preset giveaway ‘allowance’, ensuring a more consistent product.

The improved accuracy of its process has reduced product giveaway by one percent, a saving of around 750Kg for a 60-ton production run, which can be reused, and improve consistency for the customer. It will also significantly reduce the labour associated with the process, redeploying staff to other areas of the business.

September/October 2023

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