The Manufacturer Q3 2024

WELCOME

Molly Cooper, Junior Editor mcooper@nineteengroup.com

Since our last issue, it’s been an incredibly busy few months for us at The Manufacturer HQ, but there's been no better way to begin my role as the newest member of the editorial team than by diving in headfirst. From conducting interviews on the show floor of exhibitions, to hosting webinars, and attending press trips and site visits, I’ve experienced it all in my first four months.

Shortly after the last issue was published, we headed off to the NEC, Birmingham, for Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024. In our show floor studio, we had a whopping 21 interviews booked in with experts and influencers from across the sector. And we have picked several of those for you to get your teeth into in these pages, including Verge Motorcycles’ VP of Series Engineering, Krishna Mistry in our SME Focus section (see page 70), and ethical hacker and cyber security lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, Katie Paxon-Fear, who talks about cyber security and its relationship to the growing trends around AI (see page 4)

If you were unable to make the event you can check out what you missed in these two interviews, plus, our News Editor, James Devonshire, has put together a round-up of the entire show (see page 8)

The success of this year’s event didn’t stop there, however. Smart Manufacturing Week was recently named Best Tradeshow/Consumer Exhibition at the 2024 Conference and Events Awards in July! Speaking at the awards, our very own Grace Gilling, Managing Director of The Manufacturer said: “Being recognised for this award it is testament to our genuine passion for the sector, and for our commitment to continually improve and grow the biggest festival of advanced manufacturing in the UK!”

It would of course be remiss not to mention July’s general election, which saw a landslide victory for the Labour Party. Response from the manufacturing world called for a stable and supportive environment for businesses, a focus on long-term strategies, skills development, infrastructure investment and policies that recognise the diverse needs of different sectors and SMEs.

In addition, the opening of Parliament by King Charles III shared 39 policies and pledges that the new government hopes to implement. Those most relevant to manufacturing include: the establishment of an Industrial Strategy Council, the establishment of Great British Energy (a state-owned company to invest in renewable energy), and the creation of a National Wealth Fund designed to attract billions in private sector investment in infrastructure and green industry.

Also featured in this issue is my trip to Bologna to visit Visa Cash App RB’s factory where I found out how the F1 team are working with Epicor to use AI in their operations (see page 32) The Manufacturer talks to the award-winning teachers encouraging STEM careers and how you, as manufacturers, can help in the fight against the skills shortage by reaching out and welcoming in young people (see page 44). And Editor Joe Bush paid a visit to well-loved soft drinks company, Britvic, where he found out about the company’s sustainability strategy, its focus on people and managing growth (see page 20)

So, what’s next? Joe and I are hitting the road again in August for a manufacturing road trip, visiting six sites over three days. Keep your eyes peeled for more on that! C D E M

@TheManufacturer www.themanufacturer.com

Jonny Williamson INDUSTRY ANALYST

Henry Anson DIRECTOR

Ashley Oulton

CONFERENCE PRODUCTION MANAGER

Stuart Biddle

STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS

Grace Gilling MANAGING DIRECTOR

MANAGER

DIRECTOR & HEAD OF SALES

LEAD FEATURE FIRST

than

30 Do you have

32 Can AI give you wings? How tech is reshaping F1

ISO Certificates

guide to risk-free, zero hassle transfer

40 Secure collaboration Managing major infrastructure projects

43 Seed to STEM Helping to grow the next generation

54 Going global The time is right for manufacturers to explore export ambitions

56 A Noble undertaking Breaking records and inspiring future generations

Carbon voyage

How a bus manufacturer is decarbonising its fleet

SME Focus

62 Challenges into triumphs The automotive SME that’s on an upward trajectory

66 All part of the masterplan The role of AGVs across manufacturing

70 On the verge of innovation Embracing agility

AI & CYBER SECURITY

HIGHS, LOWS, WOES & FOES

Manufacturers of all shapes and sizes are currently working out how best to leverage AI within their businesses. However, any corners that are cut in the rush for deployment can create risk. Katie Paxton-Fear, Lecturer in Cyber Security, Manchester Metropolitan University, speaks to The Manufacturer about how new AI capabilities can improve security and the vulnerabilities that occur in AI systems

As well as being a lecturer in cyber security, Katie is also an ethical hacker and bug bounty hunter (which she joked is more a hobby than a job). This essentially means she searches for vulnerabilities within systems and is paid for each one she finds. This can take anything from a few months to as little as five minutes, and can range from consumer-focused apps, right up to highend military applications.

At Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week Katie gave a talk focused on cyber security and AI. This covered some of the new cyber security techniques that are being enabled by AI, the new capabilities that exist and how adversaries are starting to use AI to hack manufacturing organisations.

In addition, for any company new to AI she also discussed some of the risks that need to be considered and what the main priority areas should be, looking at a number of AI and cyber security related FAQs.

How are UK manufacturers currently leveraging AI in their businesses?

KPF: It’s been very interesting to attend Smart Manufacturing & Engineering

week as I saw so many exhibition stands featuring AI solutions of one kind or another. One factor that I covered in my talk is that while AI is often associated with relatively new platforms such as ChatGPT, Bing Chat or Meta Llama, the reality is that AI is nothing new to industry.

AI is fundamentally associated with statistics and data analytics, and then assessing how a company not only gathers useful insights from it, but really starts to use them in a meaningful way. And when I say ‘use’, there’s an interesting security question around where and how that information is being exposed and whether there is a safety issue to be dealt with.

There’s also a very interesting legal aspect centred around regulation. We've seen the UK produce the National AI Strategy as well as the UK Cyber Security Strategy. However, we're also seeing regulations in Europe with the EU’s AI Act, while the US is also looking very closely at how to best regulate the technology. The scope and variety of how AI is being used and deployed has expanded enormously, so governments around the world have obviously recognised the need regulate it appropriately.

AI is everywhere, and it's quickly gone from science fiction to a tool some people use daily, whether that's to write emails, generate an avatar for social media, or just edit a photo. With this breakneck speed a lot of people are worried about bias, legal implications or the safety of AI systems, and they're not wrong.

We have an opportunity to slow down and think about the implications of AI before it has the chance to do harm. Similarly, as we extract the possibilities of AI and begin to implement it to help us be more efficient, many are worried about AI being used by adversaries in the same way. While we haven’t yet seen AI-driven attacks on critical infrastructure, AI enabling fake news is something we see more and more often, especially around elections.

It's not all doom and gloom however. AI can do a lot of good and actually most AI isn't even new, it's just statistics and models. We can take the best of AI, detecting cyber attacks when they're in their early stages, to help lift the load in documenting processes and policies.

Are attitudes towards AI technology changing?

The way that AI is being received is undoubtedly changing as people begin to see the benefits, and there’s been a lot of talk around how manufacturers can increase productivity. Indeed, at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week, there's been discussions around using data, actually thinking about the

If you don't know that AI is in use, you have no idea what your attack surface looks like

Katie Paxton-Fear, Lecturer in Cyber Security, Manchester Metropolitan University

There is both a risk and an opportunity in AI, and pieces of legislation being introduced have highlighted this Katie Paxton-Fear, Lecturer in Cyber Security, Manchester Metropolitan University

intelligence that it provides, and then really generating actionable insights to benefit business operations.

Of course, manufacturers have traditionally been quite change and risk averse, and while there is an undeniable desire to be quick off the mark with rapid AI deployments, it's actually quite good that manufacturers are a little bit more circumspect and sceptical. When you're looking at a technology like AI, you could potentially be handing over very sensitive data to a company that you may not trust.

Maybe it's not even the company you think it is, and perhaps they're sending your data on to another third-party.

That perspective is certainly the case when dealing with critical infrastructure, but it’s also true of standard safety infrastructure in general. Many manufacturers operate in hazardous and dangerous environments, so safety procedures are often very thorough and rigorous; that attitude is a good place to start in terms of using AI in a secure and responsible way.

What are the more common mistakes that manufacturers make with AI implementation and deployment?

There are two main issues as I see it. The first is trust; having faith in the output of AI to the extent of not having a human involved in the decision making process. This is something that is becoming extremely prominent with emerging AI regulations – where is AI actually making decisions? And crucially, does the business or organisation even know what decisions AI is making in the first place?

There is a second element around how AI is being used; potentially in a way that is unknown or unplanned for the business.

A manufacturer might have a very clear AI deployment for new robotics for example, but does the same clarity exist around whether HR is using AI and their own decision making? That presents a risk.

And when we start to look at responsibility and regulations there is also the question around third-party risk. You may be deploying AI securely but can the same be said of your suppliers, and your suppliers’ suppliers. We have looked at many cyber attacks over the past few years, and we've heard a lot about supply chain security, where one failure can send ripples down into a bunch of third-parties. I suspect we'll start to see similar patterns emerge with AI.

Are attackers using AI to find vulnerabilities?

I don't think we're quite at the point where AI is going to start finding vulnerabilities, and we're still in an era where we need human involvement. But, I've certainly seen some really interesting techniques that support human decision making. You could have a situation where an ethical hacker like me could attack a system and I’ll be able to show the company that the vulnerability was down to a certain piece of software because it wasn't updated, for example.

That is something AI could feasibly start to recognise. And remember, within cyber security and manufacturing companies, AI is nothing new. There has been a lot of talk in recent years about AI, what it means and, at a broader level, what the consequences of the technology might mean for us humans.

However, the fundamentals of AI are based on data analytics, gathering data from a variety of different sources, displaying that data and making decisions to gain actionable insights; this is nothing new for manufacturing.

What would be your top tips?

The first thing that UK manufacturing can do is really embrace the regulations that have been put in place. We know that safety regulations, for example, are often written in blood for a reason, especially in a sector like engineering and manufacturing. We have the opportunity to make sure AI regulations aren't written with mistakes and potential human cost. So it’s important for manufacturers to engage with the regulations and be open to the idea of what they mean; be part of those discussions and make sure you have a seat at the table.

It's also important within manufacturing organisations to open up conversations around what might be called ‘shadow AI’, where the technology is being used but the organisation at large may not be aware. Perhaps someone in HR has rolled something out or maybe a developer has deployed their own piece of software. If you don't know that AI is in use, you have no idea what your attack surface looks like in regards to security.

So, before you can ever get to the point of asking whether or not your AI is going to get hacked, you’ve first got to ask, am I using AI in the first place? If you are, where are you using it? How are you using it? And I would urge manufacturers to keep an eye out for key legislation that we're going to see coming in around AI, especially around issues of responsibility.

For example, in 2022 Canada Airlines claimed that its own chatbot was "responsible for its own actions” after it had

given incorrect information to a traveller. However, when the case went to court, The British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal rejected the argument and ruled that the chatbot was acting on behalf of the organisation, and as such, the airline was responsible for the output. Air Canada had to pay damages and tribunal fees.

So, if you're going to trust AI to make those types of decisions, manufacturers need to honour its choices. This kind of legal framework is going to become more prevalent over the next 12 to 18 months, and will be key for manufacturers to understand their own responsibilities around using AI and how it will impact their business going forward.

There is both a risk and an opportunity in AI, and pieces of legislation being introduced has highlighted this. Will AI be an ultimate force for good? A tool used by adversaries to enable their campaigns? Or another risk to be accounted for? Only time will give us these answers, but we can take steps to be a part of the conversation and lobby for policies now before we end up with blood on our hands. l Scan the QR code for a video of our interview with Katie Paxton-Fear

of organisations consider GenAI to be a potential risk 89%

see GenAI as more of a threat than an opportunity 48% of businesses allow their use fully 57%

of businesses are using GenAI tools in some guise

Figures from Zscaler

MANUFACTURING A LOOK BACK AT THE FESTIVAL OF

With Smart Manufacturing and Engineering Week over for another year, the focus here at Nineteen is already on making 2025’s edition even bigger and better (if that’s possible). The Manufacturer’s James Devonshire takes a look back at some of the highlights from 2024’s event

When the doors opened on the first morning of the show, I thought to myself, ‘that’s a lot of people’. It was like a sea of bodies flooding through the doors which didn’t subside for quite some time. Then, on day two, we witnessed something similar, which isn’t often the case with trade shows.

However, Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 didn’t just feel busy, it genuinely was. Indeed, this year’s exhibition was the busiest ever, welcoming a record number of 13,428 attendees, an increase of 30% on 2023, cementing the event's status as the largest manufacturing and engineering technology show in the UK.

“The buzz at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week was undeniable” said Grace Gilling, Managing Director, The Manufacturer (part of Nineteen Group). “I don’t know if it was the live music at the entrance, the Graffiti Wall, the number of interactive features or maybe even the specially created Smart Hoperator beer, but the excitement created a perfect atmosphere in which to do business. Exhibitors and visitors alike were having fun and it all just… worked.”

Jon Morris, Marketing Manager from IFM Electronic, highlighted just how busy the show was from the start of each day to the finish. “I was really surprised. I heard The Shadow Monkeys band start the aftershow party at 4.30pm; I looked at our stand and the others close by, and they were all still busy, which is unusual as experienced exhibitors will attest. With so much to see and do visitors stayed on.”

Immense value

The value proposition at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 was significant, what with its numerous Solutions Theatre presentations happening around the show floor; practical workshops by the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge; and cuttingedge technology in the Made Smarter Innovation Showcase and Start-Up Zone.

Meanwhile, industry leaders came together for the co-located

Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit, which focused on the application of digital technologies to enhance the processes, efficiencies and outcomes of the manufacturing industry, including all that entails in terms of automation, digital transformation, supply chain and people and skills.

Some of the fringe activities that took place included Enginuity’s tenth Annual Skills Awards, celebrating excellence in skills development within engineering and manufacturing, and The Manufacturer Top 100 which celebrates the heroes of the UK’s manufacturing sector – see page 14.

BELOW: Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 had a significant STEM programme, Manufacturers & Engineers of the Future including the IMechE Formula One Student Car

exhibitors on their stands, including Infor, Wurth, Ericsson, Mestec and Festo.

Among those we interviewed in the studio were several individuals who gave keynote speeches at the Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit and show floor Solutions Theatres. In addition to the brilliant studio interviews featured in this edition of The Manufacturer magazine with Krishna Mistry (page 70) , Katie Paxton-Fear (page 4) and James Jones (page 66), three others stood out for me.

The human aspect of implementing digital solutions

Claire Bailey, Supply Chain Master Data Manager, Safran Seats, gave a keynote in the Industrial Data & AI Theatre on the human aspect of implementing digital solutions. She spoke with Tom St John about the role that people play in actually getting data into the right state to be able to support those tools.

LEFT: Offering demonstrations on the show floor, the T1-FNY (Tiffany) robot has been modified to do household chores

The team have succeeded in building the fastest growing event for the industrial sector in the UK and we are so pleased to have also won the Best Trade Show award at the recent Conference and Event Awards

Verity Noon, Marketing Director, Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week

“I wanted to talk to people about culture and the challenge of getting the culture right with data-driven processes to help organisations deliver those sorts of tools and solutions,” Claire said.

“One of the things we often forget is that some of the basic steps we need to do are quite key. And really, it's about getting the organisation enabled and upskilled sufficiently to understand how to use those sorts of technologies within the workplace,” she added.

Claire finished by explaining why attending events is so beneficial for manufacturers.

“I think it's really important to look outside of the organisation you work in - particularly as data isn't our core subject matter within our industry - to see what other people are doing to A: find out whether you're doing the right thing anyway, and B: to see if there's a better way you can do it,” she said.

The importance of integrating old and new Jonathan Peedell, Head of Maintenance at Bentley Motors’ keynote session in the Maintenance Solution Theatre, focussed on the importance of seamlessly integrating new and old technologies/solutions.

“Most companies - and we at Bentley are no exception - have aged facilities and legacy equipment,” Jonathan told us. “And as we obviously move towards a very digital and smart innovation world, we will still have to bring some of the older legacy equipment along with us. So, what’s important is the methodology around how we connect non-smart equipment into our digital factories in the future,” he added.

Jonathan said one of the challenges for many companies wanting to take advantage of smart technologies is the rate at which new versions and iterations are released.

“Often the simplest way is to use smart pieces of technology and transducers to upscale your existing infrastructure, to keep it current and connected,” he said. “This gives you the feedback you’re looking for from your production facility without the need for a large investment.”

ABOVE: The Manufacturer editorial team ran a busy studio over the course of the show, conducting interviews with delegates, keynote speakers and exhibitors

Legacy systems and equipment still have a place in most manufacturing facilities, even in the face of advancing smart factory projects, according to Jonathan. “Legacy systems probably make up 30-40% of what our future, ‘Dream Factory’ infrastructure will look like at Bentley, and that’s quite common. They are often the backbone pieces of equipment and they have their place because they are still effective and reliable,” he said.

When asked what his number one piece of advice would be for manufacturers looking to take advantage of smart technologies, Jonathan said: “Be brave and go do it. Don't be scared about Industry 4.0 and don't be scared about the data.”

Why

IT/OT projects fail

Alice Quinn, Senior Manufacturing Technology Engineer at 3M, delivered a keynote session in the Air-Tech Solution Theatre on why IT/OT projects fail. Joe Bush caught up with Alice to find out more.

“My talk highlighted some of the experiences we’ve had at 3M converging elements of IT and OT, with a specific focus on what people can do to ensure better outcomes,” Alice said.

“Oftentimes, projects involve siloed environments, which include different people, skill sets and requirements. Furthermore, the actual process of getting

#SMEW2024

Mark Hughes

Infor

A key factor in UK manufacturing is the quality and the talent of the people. And putting technology in the hands of that talent, who can then do something with it to add value, is what’s going to make the biggest difference over the next 12 months. That’s why we exhibited at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week and why we were next to the Innovation Showcase; an area of the event which highlighted the innovative people who are going to be the future of UK manufacturing and that’s exciting.

Rob Clifford BAE Systems

Both days have been fantastic; there’s been a great energy in the building. Why do I enjoy it so much? Because it's approachable; the people are informed and engaged, and you can walk around the stands and have excellent conversations on a range of topics, some of which I understand nothing about. But you can come away feeling like you’ve learned something.

It's unusual to find such a cross section of industries and the show brings all parts of the UK manufacturing industry together from multinationals through to small SMEs, local businesses and family run organisations. You get so many different perspectives and it’s really worthwhile attending.

Alice Quinn 3M

Events like this are fantastic. And in particular, the piece about keeping people within your team engaged, this is the sort of place that you can come, talk and show off about what you do. You can also learn lots of things about the space that your're working in. I find that this sort of event engages me and makes me really excited. I look forward to it each year and they’re really important.

Krishna Mistry

Verge Motorcycles

I really enjoy these events. I’ve seen some of the same faces from 2023 and I’ve got to hear about how they've overcome challenges that they mentioned last year. And hearing the solutions of what's been done is helpful because we all work for different companies that have different priorities and ideas, and we can go away and try things. It's great to have this network of individuals that can come together to share ideas that will make the industry better and accelerate innovation.

James Jones

MasterMover

It's great to be able to put a product on the show stand and to come and talk about it with people. We're passionate about our product and about the industry. And we’ve had potential future suppliers come and introduce new technology to us which has given our team new product ideas and opportunities. It’s a great chance to meet many people in a short amount of time. People have to see and touch our product and at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week we’ve been able to show them our ranges, and that can really accelerate our communication with customers.

Dr Lynne O’Hare

High Value Manufacturing Catapult

It's a much busier show than things have been in the last couple of years. You could see and feel the energy around the conference and that’s been amazing. And I think it's critical that we give people the space, time and opportunity to come and meet each other. We've talked a lot about collaborationthat happens when people get in the same room, face to face and they find out what's out there. It’s super-critical that we continue that.

BELOW: It was standing room only at many of the show floor theatres

Share knowledge. Celebrate success. Reconnect and grow networks.

26-27 November 2024

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MANU FA CTURING LEADERS’ SUMMIT

Alumni Networking Drinks

data from legacy systems/equipment and integrating it with new infrastructure can be a challenge in itself,” she added.

Alice also spoke about the importance of choosing the right locations for pilot projects. “Where we've fallen down in the past is we've selected our prized sites for pilot projects, which tend to have a wider set of skills, budget and resources available. As a result, we haven’t been able to learn as much about what it’s realistically going to be like when we implement these changes at our more typical sites,” she said.

STEM focus

Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 also had a significant STEM programme, Manufacturers & Engineers of the Future, supported by Champion; Amazon, Partner; FANUC and Supporter; Engineers Without Borders.

Manufacturers & Engineers of the Future has been developed as a key platform for connecting, informing and motivating the next generation of industry talent and for showcasing the digitally-led products and services that will form the future of advanced manufacturing and engineering in the UK.

The programme took place during the afternoon of the second day of the show, and enabled students of all ages to engage with the rapidly evolving world of manufacturing via the stunning innovation, products and services that represent the future of the industry within the exhibition.

This year's programme featured keynotes from Engineering UK, Bloodhound Education, WSH, Enginuity and Make UK.

The buzz at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week was undeniable

Grace Gilling, Managing Director, The Manufacturer (part of Nineteen Group)

Exhibitors highlighted on the tailored STEM Visitor Trail included Coventry University, which showcased AI and Future Transport on its stand with the IMechE Formula AI car and robot dog Faido; LISI Aerospace highlighted the various roles and positions available within a manufacturing business as well as one-to-one guidance for interviews and apprenticeship applications; and Leonardo, the winning team from the Apprentice Automation Challenge 2023, exhibited its innovative project and shared how apprentices will use the knowledge and skills gained in the next steps of their careers.

FANUC and Worldskills UK hosted qualifiers for this year’s Industrial Robotics competition on the show floor, which saw teams complete tasks against the clock using their assigned robot cells. FANUC will be offering all successful teams the

ABOVE: There was a festival atmosphere on the show floor of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week

opportunity for some hands-on training in their world-class academy. The finalists will then come together to compete in the National Finals in November.

Another hands-on highlight was JJA Snack’s working chocolate factory, where students had a unique opportunity to track and monitor the production process from inception to completion. And having sampled some of the chocolate that was produced, I can say they’ve obviously got the process down to a T.

In addition, Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 was once again a carbon neutral event with more trees being added to the Nineteen Group Forest to offset the show’s carbon footprint. l

Dates: 3-5 June 2025

Location: NEC, Birmingham Registration is now open for next year’s Smart Manufacturing Week (there’s been a slight change of name).

Head over to www.mandeweek.co.uk for more information.

A TOAST TO MANUFACTURING’S MVPs

June’s Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week saw the latest instalment of The Manufacturer Top 100 Awards; a night where the sector comes together in celebration of the incredible individuals who make manufacturing tick. Here’s what the evening’s movers and shakers had to say

Swati Patel-Champion Miswa Chemicals

Being recognised as an Exemplar is a great honour as manufacturing is the backbone of industry in the UK. Manufacturers are a rare breed and through events like the Top 100, an array of professionals can discuss how specific skills in their field can be applied to other areas of the industry.

Will King

Evtec Automotive

This has been a real career highlight. I know there are a lot of great people who are nominated each year that don’t even make it to the Top 100, so to be recognised as an Exemplar is really special.

The awards evening itself was great; it was relaxed and it was fantastic to be able to chat to some of the other winners and find out their stories and reasons for being nominated.

Lorena Caires Moreira

JLR

This recognition tells me that I'm on the right track with my work. Putting it simply, everything we see in front of us has been manufactured. This 'everything' is the result of a combination of many inputs, processes, systems and people's contributions. To the UK, manufacturing is beyond the backbone of the economy; it gives a purpose to many people's lives, it is a major driver for innovation and an enabler of global connectivity.

The Top 100 Awards is an incredible initiative. I felt really inspired by the awardees and their stories, and I had a great evening meeting like-minded people, who have a similar level of care for their actions, are impact-driven and willing to go the extra mile.

Krishna Mistry Verge Motorcycles

The Top 100 ceremony was a great celebration of so many talented people in the industry. I was truly humbled to be considered as part of that, but what I really took away was the number of women that were recognised. Compared to when I was at university there are certainly more women coming into the industry, doing really amazing things, which is great to see.

Jean Michel Sintome, Mercian Labels

I felt inspired by the awardees and their stories... a great evening meeting like-minded people

Kirstie Kenedy

LISI Aerospace

Being named as an Exemplar is an immense honour and I feel very humbled and privileged to accept the award (for once I am lost for words). The Top 100 programme plays a crucial part in highlighting the achievements and contributions of industry leaders, inspiring the next generation of manufacturers and raising the bar for future talent. The evening was a fabulous celebration of our collective accomplishments and a reminder of the bright future that lies ahead for UK manufacturing.

This recognition is a testament to the hard work, dedication and contributions of the entire team I’ve had the pleasure of working with throughout my career. It’s incredibly rewarding to see our efforts and commitment to excellence in manufacturing being acknowledged at a national level. Being with the other nominees provided a great opportunity to share ideas, which ultimately helps create and drive a competitive spirit within our own industry. The challenges facing the manufacturing sector as a whole were clearly evident, but hearing how so many have creatively met and successfully beaten those challenges, provides irrefutable evidence that the UK manufacturing sector possesses the intelligence, innovation and resilience to succeed in the modern world.

Continues over....

Renske Hoste

Limbs & Things

Manufacturing is something that will keep its importance in the rapidly evolving world around us and the Top 100 recognises those that are willing to lead and move with the times. For me, this recognition is very motivating; I'm on a good path, and long may it continue.

Madeleine Sessions

Dr Martens

It has only just sunk in what being an Exemplar actually means. It’s truly an honor to be in such an exclusive group. The awards programme is a great spotlight for all things manufacturing. A lot of the public aren’t aware of the work that goes into producing product in this country. Opening doors and giving everyone an insight should make people more appreciative and hopefully shop differently in the future.

Recognising people who are pushing boundaries and delivering success is essential

Michael Worden

The Vita Group

Manufacturing is the lifeblood of the UK, especially in the North West, so to be recognised as an Exemplar shows that my actions and influence within the industry are setting examples for others to follow.

Driving manufacturing excellence secures the industry for generations to come and so recognising people who are pushing boundaries and delivering success is essential positive reinforcement. The Top 100 programme, in particular, offers additional, unique value in that it connects people within a network where we can share lessons learned and steal ideas with pride.

Howard Trotter Shelforce

Being one of the 20 Exemplars in the Top 100 was humbling given the breadth of talent involved. Successful UK manufacturing is fundamental to the future prosperity of our nation, and it is important that we recognise talent and encourage the next generations into an exciting and diverse Industry. The Top 100 programme is a fantastic way to ensure we strive to be the best and recognise the importance of celebrating success across all industries.

It is important that we recognise talent and encourage the next generations into an exciting and diverse industry

Nimisha Raja

Nim’s Crisps

A huge thanks to The Manufacturer for making this platform available to small and emerging manufacturers.

As a passionate and proud British manufacturer, it’s an absolute honour for Nim’s to be recognised among all the giants of manufacturing across all sectors.

The awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the amazing manufacturing industry we have in the UK. The quality of British products is respected worldwide so being recognised as one of the best encourages us to continue to maintain and build on the quality and service we are known for.

A word from our sponsors

John Patsavellas Cranfield University

At Cranfield University, the proud educational partner of the Top 100 Awards, we share a deep-rooted belief in the significance of recognising and applauding exceptional talent.

Jim Collins (of Bulit-to-Last and Good-to-Great fame) once mused, "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline."

These words encapsulate the essence of Cranfield University and The Manufacturer's executive education partnership. We are here to guide and support manufacturing towards excellence, ensuring that the path to success is illuminated with joy and fulfilment.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to each member of the Top 100 class of 2024.

Christipher Gates

Inspire XT

InspireXT was delighted to have the chance to sponsor the Top 100, recognising those individuals who are leading the way for UK manufacturers to flourish. As a digital transformation partner, we are aware that every successful change programme relies on heroes, who can stand in the gap between the new way of working and current processes, and guide their colleagues through that journey.

We decided to sponsor the awards after one of InspireXT's

clients, Gemma Ferris from Dechra, was selected as an ExemplarGemma and her colleagues had a completely memorable evening out, which recognised her contribution to a major manufacturing modernisation programme. We look forward to an ongoing relationship with the event.

Matt Devine

Michael

Page

The Top 100 Awards is one of our favourite events in the UK manufacturing calendar. The awards celebrate a diverse group of people from a wide variety of businesses and job titles that have made a significant positive impact on the sector. The evening itself is a celebration of the industry and the people within it. Many of the winners bring colleagues, friends or family members to share their special night.

The atmosphere is one of positivity in an informal setting that, therefore, encourages people to network, celebrate each other’s achievements and enjoy themselves. Michael Page is proud to sponsor this annual event as it shines a spotlight on the most important resource within UK manufacturing… people.

Duncan Hawkins Ericsson I enjoyed discovering the fascinating individuals together with their work to drive innovation and excellence in UK manufacturing at the Manufacturer Top 100 awards. It was truly inspiring.

Risk and resilience

The Manufacturer, in partnership with the newly launched Digital Catapult Supply Chain Hub, has published the new: Supply Chain Research Report –Risk and Resilience

Transparency and resiliency within their operations is one of the key pain points for manufacturers today. A swathe of varying challenges has impacted the reliability and vulnerability of supply chains over the last few years, which has in turn had a knock-on effect on lead times, inventory, production efficiencies and, in some instances, brand reputation.

From COVID to conflict, UK manufacturers have had to spin a variety of different plates in order to keep operational and profitable over the last few years. A swathe of much needed government support to help shore up manufacturing was pledged at the back end of last year, only to be swiftly followed by a changing of the guard in the recent general election. And while the new incumbent in number 10 is making the right noises, the recent change in government will inevitably bring with it its own degree of uncertainty.

However, manufacturers don’t have to wait to enhance and improve their supply chains and there are strategies that organisations of all sizes, from all sectors, can do to alleviate supply chain pressure and give them greater control and visibility within their processes.

While taking a closer look at the challenges that exist, this report also speaks to some award winning manufacturing businesses on how they’ve faced down these pain points. Via the successful deployment of emerging technologies, these innovative organisations are enhancing supply chain robustness and placing their businesses in a state of readiness for the next disruption – which is a case of when rather than if.

From greater collaboration and transparency with customers, to gathering actionable insights from shop floor data, to connected ERP systems that provide end-to-end visibility of supply networks, there are all manner of future factory strategies that manufacturers are deploying today to give their value chains the robustness they will need going forward.

Speaking in the report, Tim Lawrence, Director of the Digital Catapult Supply Chain Hub, commented: “The increasing globalisation of supply chains in the 21st century has led to more cost

effective supply of goods and services, especially through low cost sourcing policies businesses have employed into Asia and Eastern Europe, but this approach has also increased the vulnerability of UK supply chains to global trade.”

The only future certainty for manufacturers is uncertainty, and prevention is always better than cure, so the report also covers some recommendations and indicators for potential disruption, the trends around reshoring and the role of emerging digital technology. It also discusses the role of The Made Smarter

By

creating a commercially neutral ecosystem,

we

will enable industry leaders, researchers and technology providers to address critical supply chain challenges directly

Tim Lawrence, Director, Digital Catapult Supply Chain Hub

DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN HUB

To coincide with the release of the report, Digital Catapult has launched the Digital Supply Chain Hub, a platform designed to facilitate strategic collaboration between manufacturers and digital solution providers across the country

The new platform will meet industry demand to accelerate the digitalisation of supply chain operations, driving resilience and sustainability through the application of deep tech solutions.

Immediately available to businesses, the hub has been developed by Digital Catapult to tackle problems often encountered during the search for a suitable supply chain partner, such as siloed operations and ineffective information transfer. The platform will remedy these problems by offering bespoke educational modules to address critical skills shortages in the UK, empowering users to leverage the hub’s matching functionality to connect to businesses relevant to their specific challenge areas.

the UK’s overall supply chain resilience and efficiency, fostering greater understanding of new solutions, and enabling technology providers to scale faster with an enriched understanding of the state of global supply chains.

Innovation | Digital Supply Chain Hub, a digital innovation ecosystem that empowers individuals and organisations to work together to make supply chains smarter. l

For businesses keen to commence their digitalisation journey, the hub will have valuable resources available including tools such as the Edge Digital Manufacturing readiness tool and the supply chain resilience navigator by WMG. Both tools will help businesses to better understand how to make their supply chains more sustainable, resilient and efficient, strengthening sectors including advanced manufacturing, energy, food and drink, and more.

Community forums, known as Circles, will also be a feature of the hub, encouraging users to engage in meaningful discussions on supply chain challenges such as logistics optimisation, sustainability and risk management. It is hoped that these forums, educational modules and matching capabilities will enhance

The launch of the hub comes as over 60% of most industrial companies’ CO2 emissions originate from the supply chain, encouraging more businesses to explore applications of deep technology to advance industrial sustainability in their operations. The majority of the UK’s logistics industry is also seeking digital solutions to optimise their operations, with 86.5% planning to invest in at least one digital technology solution over the next two years, fuelling demand for the services available on the platform.

The Digital Supply Chain Hub is now open to users from across the UK’s supply chain ecosystem. To join the platform and start connecting with supply chain leaders, visit hub. digitalsupplychainhub.uk/register

Ravi Gidoomal, Director of Edge Digital Manufacturing, said: “Navigating new technologies can be overwhelming and many leaders we speak with don’t know where to start or what to do next. Others find it hard to maintain momentum and get their team excited about change with all the other pressing demands on their time. We’ve developed the Digital Supply Chain Readiness course to provide real-life examples and practical actions, helping leaders to take their first or next step to digitalise their supply chains.”

SOFT DRINKS SOLID GROWTH

With several sites in the UK, Britvic manufactures some of the UK’s bestknown and well-loved soft drinks brands including Pepsi, Tango, 7Up, Fruit Shoot and J2O. The Manufacturer Editor Joe Bush paid a visit to the company’s Rugby facility to find out more

Britvic has been on a rapid continuous improvement journey since the start of the decade which has seen an 18% increase in production capacity, over £160m of new machinery deployed across all sites and a complete refurbishment of its National Distribution Centre (NDC) which features a fully automated high bay warehouse. The Rugby site now features nine production lines, five of which are canning lines, plus an ultra-clean, zero preservative aseptic line.

In addition, the manufacturer has also sought to enhance its sustainability credentials with an £8m heat recovery system, a 160 acre solar farm which is

providing 75% of the energy the company was purchasing from the grid, and new water pumps to control pressure and reduce consumption.

In response to general consumer trends, the vast majority of Britvic’s portfolio is sugar-free and the company has also invested significantly in reducing its packaging usage. Globally, 86.9% of the portfolio is low or no calorie, with this figure rising to 96.6% of the GB portfolio.

Supply chain strategy

Britvic operates a triple bottom line principle of people, planet, performance, which deals with profitability, the company’s impact on the world around

us and its role with people and local communities.

With regards to performance, Britvic manufacture the vast majority of its products in-house as that's where the company see it can add real value, whether that's in the creation of liquids, the quality of products or the sheer scale of volume. “In order to achieve this infrastructure becomes really important and we've invested heavily in this area,” said Nigel Paine, Britvic’s Supply Chain Director.

“From 2015 to 2020 we implemented our Business Capability Programme (BCP). The company went public and took the decision to invest £250m into the infrastructure of our GB supply chain. And at the time, we also

We’re seeing carbon reducing on a glide path that we've chosen regardless of the growth that we've been through

Nigel Paine, Supply Chain Director, Britvic

consolidated our manufacturing footprint along the spine of the country; as well as Rugby, we have a site in Beckton in East London and in Leeds, and we put in ten new production lines across those sites."

Nigel explained that one unforeseen factor was that the company’s growth since that initial investment has been far greater than first predicted, meaning that on completion, Britvic had actually outgrown the huge footprint that it had just put in. As such, since then Nigel and his team have been on the aforementioned continuous improvement journey.

LEFT: The brands manufactured by Britvic include Robinsons, Pepsi, J2O, Lipton and Tango

A key part of this was a focus on emissions reduction, and with help from a grant from The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), a heat recovery system is now operational at the Beckton site. This is now storing all the heat generated during production meaning the site is very close to becoming a net zero facility – which will be Britvic’s first in the UK.

A priority on people

Within its GB operations, Britvic has over 1,000 people working within its supply chain, from forklift drivers to data scientists. A significant investment in automation has also had a huge impact on the company’s productivity, as Nigel added: “While the number of people continues to increase as we grow the scale of our business, the employee level is growing at a slower rate

LEFT: Britvic’s Rugby factory features a lights out warehouse with an automated storage retrieval system (ASRS)

than our volume. So, our productivity per employee is increasing as we grow, and that’s due to technology.”

Britvic’s investment in its digital programme across all its lines ensures that employees can look at performance wherever they are and instantly see if there’s an issue. This means that people aren’t required to be on the shop floor to merely stare at production units. “One thing that strikes people when they’re on our shop floor is how few people there are actually running the big machines and systems,” Nigel added.

Britvic is aiming to halve emissions by 2025, and key to this is the company’s Healthier People, Healthier Planet strategy. Britvic's people-first approach includes further investment into the local community and in education, and work is currently being carried out with different network groups, particularly on topics such as mental health and autism.

“Wellbeing initiatives are key,” added Paramjeet Pahdi, Director of Operations Continues over...

Every student involved has requested that they come to us for work experience or internships

Adam Barker, Production Unit Manager, Britvic

HELPING WATER FALL

Last year Britvic embarked on a project with Rugby Girls School, in partnership with the Engineering Development Trust, to help build partnerships in the town and give something back to the community.

The tie up with this particular school also helps combat the lack of women that are getting involved in engineering and establish engagement and drive with that population.

The project centred around a real-world problem that Britvic was trying to solve; namely its water consumption. As a business Britvic currently runs at around 1.6 litres of water consumed per litre of finished product. The company uses water in the end product for dilution etc, but also for cleaning lines and for use at hand washing stations. The company aims to reduce that consumption to 1.4 litres per litre of finished product.

Unsure on how to achieve this, Britvic engaged with the students who came to site to develop an understanding of where water was being used. They then built their own project to establish an effective way of measuring consumption, conducting research into different types of flow metres etc.

The upshot of the research was to focus on three specific areas. The first was around washing. Britvic performs a 45 minute conveyor belt clean each day due to the microbiological activity that can build up as a result of the sugar used in the beverages, which provides food for bacteria.

The second area of focus was the rinsing of the finished cans. When a can is filled, in order to keep the carbon dioxide dissolved inside the beverage, the can has to be kept under pressure. When the can is filled and the filling head is removed, the pressure is equalised, going from around five bar to one bar of pressure. This instantly causes the carbon dioxide which is dissolved in the beverage to come out as bubbles, in the same way as when a can is opened by the consumer. This can force the product out of the can causing it to become dirty. As such, Britvic rinses the cans.

The third and final area of focus was around the amount of lubrication used on the transfer chain in the seamer, which is where the lid is placed onto the can. That lubrication goes onto the floor which then goes into drains. The students determined these three areas as being potentially nonvalue added uses of water.

They then designed a series of experiments during a two-day course at Birmingham University to see if water consumption could be reduced. These included changing the regularity of the conveyor washing cycle and analysing the bacterial growth rates; and rinsing the cans with varying quantities of water and swabbing them afterwards.

The end result was a series of recommendations that is predicted to save Britvic 4.6 million litres of water a year across four of its five can lines which equates to around 14 Olympic swimming pools and £87,200 pounds worth of financial benefits.

“This project hasn’t just been a benefit for us,” said Adam Barker, Production Unit Manager at Britvic, who also led on the girls school partnership. “We’ve also been able to give back to the community. This is a group of people that probably wouldn't have been attracted to a manufacturing career before, that are now interested in getting involved.

“You tend to get the same demographic when you go through the regular recruitment process. So, if we want things to change, we need to be part of the process to drive that forward and get people that are underrepresented into the industry.

“Every single one of the students involved has requested that they come to us for work experience and/or internships, and they've really started to get a motivation and a desire to be part of manufacturing. As a result we’ll be doing the partnership again next year, and we've already got a project ready.”

We are working with the Night Club initiative where we have looked at how we can best take care of night shift workers

Paramjeet

Pahdi, Director of Operations, Britvic

at Britvic in Rugby. “This site is a 24/7 operation and we run 362 days a year. The 400 people we have on-site rotate on a shift pattern, and so wellbeing is really important to us.

“We've started to introduce Mental Health First Aiders and we're working with an initiative called Night Club where we have looked at how we can best take care of night shift workers. We have analysed sleep patterns, looked at diet, working conditions etc. This has enabled us to really hone in on making sure that disruption is minimal when it comes to shift patterns.”

The focus for Britvic when it comes to people goes well beyond the here and now and the company is currently asking itself what the operator/engineer of the future looks like. Over 50% of the company’s engineers come from its apprenticeship scheme, providing a healthy pipeline of future talent. The

company’s engineering graduate scheme is also working closely with data analytics to be able to help identify specific opportunities in the future.

“As part of the digital factory operator of the future we've also started to introduce digital apprenticeships,” added

BELOW: Founded in the 1930s, Britvic has grown into a global organisation with 39 much-loved brands sold in over 100 countries

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Britvic has been on a continuous improvement journey since 2021

• The company operates a Healthier People, Healthier Planet strategy

• Britvic aims to halve its emissions by 2025

• Mental Health First Aiders and initiatives such as Night Club have enhanced employee wellbeing

• The Rugby site features nine production lines (cans, aseptic, large and small PET)

Paramjeet. “We've partnered with a company called Multiverse which has given us a real opportunity to pick up on how data works, what AI really means for us and how can we use analytics.

“We've doubled the capacity of the Rugby site within four years, but it isn’t just about growth through infrastructure. We've also had incredible growth through people capability, continuous improvement and our engineering expertise, so we’re a real success story in that way. And the capacity that we generate means that we are one of the top five beverage output sites within Europe.”

3 stages of digital transformation

Part of Britvic’s growth plan and continuous improvement strategy incorporates a three-part digital transformation plan. The first is focused around reduction of energy and water use using effective digital methods of metering, and deploying data to identify opportunities to improve.

This also gives the company an insight into patterns and trends. The next phase will be putting all of that data in the cloud, which will enable the company to be more predictive around energy and water usage.

A second performance-related piece has seen Britvic deploy Lineview on the shop floor to enhance OEE performance. Equally, this is starting to become a method of working which is providing a vision of a typical work day which is leading to greater levels of standardisation.

The third and final piece is around the journey to predictive maintenance, centred around condition-based monitoring. Paramjeet continued: “This involves sensors being placed on some of our critical machines, which will give us a signal or pre-warning of a vibration or temperature change for example. This will enable us to make a change before a failure occurs. It will also save us money by not having to change pieces of kit unnecessarily.”

Balancing growth and sustainability

For any business that is going through a period of rapid growth, it would be natural to assume that as production and volumes increase, so too will emissions and carbon footprint. However, Nigel stressed that this is by no means the case, and in fact, for Britvic, the two go hand-in-hand.

from a 32 to a 54 hour cleaning cycle on our lines which has seen a huge uplift in OEE (and this will be increasing from 58 to 72 hours before the end of the year).”

While there may have been a steep learning curve for many companies a few years ago, the fact that electricity is now decarbonising at quite a rapid rate has helped enormously.

“The more that the National Grid puts into solar and wind farms, the more the grid becomes decarbonised,” added Nigel. “In addition, companies like us are investing privately into power purchasing agreements in solar farms etc.

“If you look at our global footprint, we use non-mineral gas solutions in Brazil for example, and have biomass fuels in our boilers. The UK hasn’t gone that far yet but that's why we've tried heat pump solutions at our Becton facility.

“And, here in Rugby, even though our volume is increasing we're balancing that off with efficiency. For example, we’ve moved

Part of Britvic’s Healthier People, Healthier Planet ethos is focused on how the company manages and reduces its Scope 3 emissions. And while it is making a number of changes within its own supply chain, Nigel stressed that collaboration is key.

Britvic works closely with its suppliers to understand the environmental and social footprint of collective activities. Solutions are found through collaboration to drive efficient use of natural resources, and thereby, reducing carbon emissions throughout the value chain.

This includes encouraging suppliers to sign up to sustainability platforms such as Sedex and EcoVadis and supply measurable feedback on their progress.

“We are all determined to reduce and eventually eradicate carbon emissions,”

Nigel added. “To accelerate this effort, I am very keen on sharing best practices across both our suppliers and customers. Through collaboration, we can all help each other accelerate the reduction in emissions. We’re actually seeing carbon reducing on a glide path that we've chosen regardless of the growth that we've been through.” l

BELOW: The Rugby site has the capacity to process up to 550,000 cans an hour

ABOVE: Britvic has integrated automation throughout its supply chain

TOUGHER THAN THE REST igus bearings

The switch to igutex polymer bearings for long standing customer and agricultural equipment manufacturer, Sumo UK, has allowed the company to produce longer lasting, durable machinery and save on the cost of standard metal bearings that require lubrication

Igus manufactures most lubrication-free plain bearings using plastic injection moulding. However, for extreme heavy-duty applications, such as tillage equipment and cranes with high surface pressures, sometimes a bearing is needed with a higher load capacity.

Finding bearings that are costeffective, tough enough to take on the most heavy-duty loads and run without any lubrication is no mean feat. igus has managed to do this with the igutex bearing range, designed to withstand the pressure of demanding industries such as agriculture and construction.

For applications such as chassis mounts of cranes with surface pressures of

more than 80MPa, the material structure does not offer sufficient mechanical stability, so igutex is manufactured in a two-stage winding process.

To do this, the winding machine first produces an inner layer of filament fabric with integrated solid lubricants. The microscopically small lubricant particles are successively released during operation and enable dry running with low friction coefficients.

The second winding then creates a protective outer shell made of a particularly hard-wearing glass fibre fabric to achieve a maximum surface pressure of up to 200MPa. This makes the polymer bearings robust enough to work

with low wear and fail-safe in ship-toshore (STS) cranes.

Renowned manufacturer of agricultural cultivation equipment, Sumo UK, knows that engineering is fundamental to success and there is no room for error. Producing equipment that often weighs over ten tonnes requires technical solutions that can take high loads frequently and with ease.

A long-standing customer, Sumo UK was first introduced to igus plain bearings in 2017 and they have been installed in some of the heaviest equipment with no complaints. However, Sumo UK wanted to go a step further and assess how igutex compares to other options in high load applications where greased metal bearings are usually fitted. No stone was left unturned as factors such as load, wear resistance, serviceability and cost were all incorporated into the final decision.

As a result of the assessments carried out by Sumo UK, conclusions were made that for a majority of applications, igutex TX1 and TX3 would be the best materials. The bearings are primarily used in the articulation geometry on folding hinge points, running on mild steel connection pins. The igutex TX1 and TX3 materials both have excellent running characteristics in oscillating motion - exactly what is needed in the company’s applications.

LEFT: As a leading motion plastics company, igus has a constant focus on adding value for machine builders through improving all types of motion

As a leading motion plastics company, igus has a constant focus on adding value for machine builders through improving all types of motion

Providing lasting solutions

As a leading motion plastics company, igus has a constant focus on adding value for machine builders through improving all types of motion. One of the underlying strategic drivers is to be able to deliver sustainable solutions that have minimal impact on the environment, which has been happening for years, long before it became fashionable to do so.

These core principles are present in all igus products, including the range of igutex bearings. These high load, dry running bearings are a composite material engineered with fibres and resins which are treated with high temperatures and pressures to create an exceptionally hard-wearing material.

Not only can this range accommodate huge loads, but it also has a very wide window of operating temperatures ranging from -60°C up to +120°C. Combined, these qualities allow igutex bearings to be used in a variety of industrial environments at a reasonable price, reducing cost for customers as well as eliminating maintenance and lubrication requirements.

The range of industries in which igutex can benefit applications extends to shipto-shore (STS) cranes, as well as rubbertired gantry (RTG) and rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes, operating all year round in the harshest conditions – including dirt, dust, salty air, heat and cold.

Some components respond to this extreme load with premature wear, often causing system failure. This is timeconsuming and costly - a big threat as handling capacities increase and competition strengthens. To relieve the burden on crane operators and ports, igus presented the igutex series as an alternative to problematic classic steel bearings at TOC Europe 2024, where issues such as corrosion, rapid wear and

ABOVE: Finding bearings that are cost-effective, tough enough to take on the most heavy-duty loads and run without any lubrication is no mean feat

lack of lubrication are often discussed.

As with all igus products, the igutex bearings do not require any lubrication which presents an immense cost advantage. Every year, billions of pounds are spent on lubrication in industries across the world. In addition, there are extortionate maintenance costs and yet there are always failures and roadblocks due to insufficient lubrication.

The use of lubrication-free plain bearing technology therefore reduces maintenance costs, conserves personnel resources in times of a shortage of skilled workers and increases the service life of machines and therefore has a direct impact on productivity.

Tried and tested quality solutions

A strong relationship has formed between igus and many customers like Sumo UK over the years, with a consistent priority on quality and reliability. The testing carried out on all igus products is thorough. With around 15,000 tests carried out a year, all products undergo rigorous testing, with the added transparency of allowing customers to see the products for themselves before they decide to invest. In summary, igus uses plastic technology to solve engineering problems in the toughest environments, something clearly achieved with the tilling equipment at Sumo UK.

The data supports the benefits of this product range and the fact that the wound polymer bearings are more wear-

resistant than steel bearings has been proven by igus in their in-house, 4,000 square metre test laboratory.

On a test rig, steel bearings with a diameter and length of 40mm each were loaded with 80MPa. They pivoted 50,000 times by 50 degrees – at a speed of 30 cycles per minute. The result; the bearings suffered such massive shaft wear that the engineers had to stop the test after 10,000 cycles.

In that same time, the bronze bearing failed due to wear on the bearing itself. On the other hand, the igutex bearing survived the 50,000 cycles with minimal signs of wear. The benefits of lubricationfree products are being recognised more and more by manufacturers and operators around the world. The company Tan Cang Gantry Joint Stock Company (TCGT) from Vietnam, has noticed these benefits and are equipping RTG cranes with lubricationfree and maintenance-free high-load bearings in collaboration with igus.

This bearing range is not just for new systems, but also for existing ones, and the switch from metal bearings to polymer variants is quick and simple. This is because igus can manufacture the bearings, which usually have a diameter of 100mm or more, with the same dimensions. To further simplify the process, application consultants are available onsite to assist with changeovers and make the transition a valuable step in the right direction for industries looking to improve and modernise their operations. l

As Jagjit Singh Srai (right), Director of Research and Head of the Centre for International Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing explains, in the wake of trade conflicts, Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, the vulnerabilities of global supply chains have become glaringly apparent

FUTURE-PROOFING GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS

There are no short-term fixes to manufacturing supply chain challenges, which means that 'future-proofing' is crucial. Futureproofing means anticipating unexpected disruptions, embracing advanced manufacturing and digital technologies, and factoring in geopolitical dynamics and sustainability.

As Jagjit explains, there have been significant shifts in global supply chains, and he has stressed the need for forward-thinking strategies, and advocated establishing resilient supply chains through collaborative efforts between academia and industry.

What is currently impacting global supply chains, and how can we ensure that supply chains are prepared for the future?

The imperative for future-proofing has emerged from many organisations’ attempts to address recent waves of supply chain disruptions through sub-optimal short-term responses, recognising the need for a more fundamental rethink of their supply chains. Before COVID, there were various trade tensions between the US and China, as

well as discussions about Brexit in the UK. Organisations tended to react quickly to each of these individual disruptions. But post-pandemic, these waves of disruptions have compounded with one another and have since been exacerbated by the Russia–Ukraine and Israel–Gaza conflicts.

In response to these challenges, organisations have had to think beyond quick fixes. The short-term approach has often led to carrying extra inventory and safety stock, which can be costly and result in having the wrong items in the wrong place.

And as organisations start to consider medium-term resilience strategies, such as finding alternative suppliers through second sourcing, the supply chain can unintentionally become even more complicated than it already is.

In contrast to these quick fixes, futureproofing supply chains necessitates adapting them to withstand unpredictable and compound disruptions in the longterm. These disruptions often stem from external factors such as geopolitical impacts on trade, or the purposeful adoption of

technology, such as in digital technologies and manufacturing processes that can change economies of scale, manufacturing footprint and sustainability performance.

Future-proofing means considering a wide range of shocks, such as market volatility, technology disruptions, cyber risks and climate change, all of which affect how supply chains will be designed in the future. As we enter a more uncertain era, we must rethink our strategies to enhance service levels for more time-sensitive and resilient markets (particularly for critical products such as food and medicines) that require planning not just for the next few quarters but looking much further ahead, perhaps even beyond 2030.

How can manufacturers prepare for a new era of supply chains?

First, it is important to understand the factors that need to be incorporated into the design of future supply chains.

This includes considering a broader set of factors; cost yes, but also responsiveness, resilience (for example, security of supply to critical raw materials and digital

infrastructure, including cyber security) and the impact of geopolitics on trade. Some options to consider are more regional manufacturing and/or trust shoring in parts of the world where the reliability of supply is likely to be greater and less vulnerable to geopolitical technology related changes. Also in our considerations should be how new advanced manufacturing technologies can enable smaller scale production closer to the market, resulting in faster and more efficient service.

These are examples where manufacturers need to embrace external factors, technological changes and perhaps new performance metrics that include climaterelated performance or social measures, such as ensuring ethical supply chains.

How are companies successfully adapting their supply chains to become more resilient and sustainable?

One of the key approaches that many multinational companies have taken is to shift from a globalised supply chain model to a more regionalised one. This move towards regionalisation isn't new, but it has gained greater traction in recent years.

Others have considered implementing a more multi-stage, decoupled supply chain, with feeder plants for efficient production of core components and separate finishing plants located closer to the markets they serve. This allows for responsiveness and proximity to the market while preserving economies of scale of key components. It requires us to rethink product design and, in this example, adopt a more modular approach to production. So, reconfiguring both the production process and the supply chain is essential.

How does your work and research impact practical advancements in manufacturing and supply chain management?

Over the last 25 years, the Centre for International Manufacturing at the Institute for Manufacturing has developed expertise in manufacturing footprint design, as well as supply network design. These are strategic processes, frameworks and tools that help organisations explore different supply chain configurations and evaluate how these configurations perform against various performance metrics. We help organisations think about the trade-offs, such as balancing service levels and costs, responsiveness and cost, and the increasingly important consideration of achieving Scope 3 net zero emissions within alternative supply chain configurations.

We've also been developing strategies and tools to help firms with their digital supply chain transformations. Our work has led to the creation of a Digital Supply Chain Consortium, facilitating knowledge exchange between our centre and industrial partners.

However, we don't have exclusivity on knowledge in this space. We recognise that our industry partners will implement some of the best practices. The exchange of knowledge on international manufacturing supply chains between industry and academia is in our centre’s DNA.

Our efforts in supply chain strategy have influenced major multinational companies, many of which are leaders in supply chain expertise rankings. We have also engaged with industrial partners through our frameworks and tools to develop tailored manufacturing supply chain strategies.

What is the Cambridge International Supply Chain Symposium?

The symposium is focused on modern manufacturing supply chains. What makes it unique is the presence of prominent business figures, industrialists and leading academics who share their approaches and experiences in this field.

In light of significant disruptions, such as trade conflicts, Brexit and COVID-19, it is clear that organisations can no longer afford to be reactive. Future-proofing supply chains now involves preparing for unforeseen disruptions, embracing advanced manufacturing and digital technologies, and considering geopolitical and sustainability factors.

The 28th Cambridge International Manufacturing Symposium offers an unparalleled platform to delve into these critical issues. By attending, delegates will not only gain insights from leading experts but also engage in rich discussions and networking opportunities that are vital for future-proofing the supply chains of tomorrow to be more resilient and sustainable.

The symposium is designed for senior executives overseeing manufacturing networks and global supply chains. Attendees can take advantage of numerous networking opportunities, including a symposium dinner at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, which will provide a relaxed and distinguished setting for further professional engagement.

This year, we are excited to have speakers from AstraZeneca on how future supply chains will need to adapt to serve increasingly niche and smaller patient

International Manufacturing Symposium

Dates: 19–20 Sept 2024

Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Network with industry leaders, gain insights from renowned experts, and explore the latest trends and innovations shaping the future of supply chain management.

We have an exciting line-up of speakers ready to share their expertise on this year's theme: ‘Future-Proofing Manufacturing Supply Chains – Navigating Paradigm Shifts in Geopolitical, Technology and Climate Transitions’.

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation and drive the future of supply chain management.

REGISTER BY SCANNING THE QR CODE Join us at the

populations and from Nestlé, on how large multinationals utilise technological advancements and adapt to the changing economic landscape in shaping their future supply chains. A special panel session will also explore circular supply network transformation strategies, asking how we can decouple growth from material consumption.

Whether you are a senior executive or a researcher, the symposium provides invaluable knowledge and connections to help future-proof your operations. Join a prestigious lineup of confirmed attendees, including industry leaders and renowned institutions such as AstraZeneca, Nestlé, Schaeffler Group, Schneider Electric and ZD Energy. l

A complete list of our Day 1 and Day 2 speakers can be found on our website: engage-events.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/ cimsymposium/

CAN AI GIVE YOU WINGS?

The Manufacturer’s Molly Cooper recently joined Epicor to visit its partner, the Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team in Faenza, Italy, to find out about the impact its new AI software is having on the team

When sitting down on a Sunday to watch the latest grand prix, it can be easy to forget the work, power and technology that goes into making that happen. When offered the chance to find out how the Visa Cash App RB team is implementing AI software into its

production strategy, I had to take it. Although very glamourous and exciting on the television, behind the scenes there are huge teams of people working in factories to produce the incredible feats of engineering that are modern Formula One racing cars - each with the same aim, to make the car as fast as possible. Red Bull’s Italian Formula One team,

Visa Cash App RB, is now entering a new era. Since the rebrand in 2020 to Scuderia Alphatauri, it has now rebranded again for the 2024 season to Visa Cash App RB, and the team is powering into competition. As it continues to fight to win races, it is expanding its technologies and introducing systems to make processes faster and easier. Now, alongside Epicor,

the team’s official ERP partner, it has welcomed artificial intelligence (AI) with the target of achieving more efficient production and purchasing.

For over 50 years, Epicor has been supplying enterprise solutions to customers in automotive, building supply, distribution, manufacturing and the retail industries. Epicor Prism is a generative AI service based on state-of-the-art large language models (LLM) that are fine-tuned to create value. Epicor Prism empowers makers, movers and sellers to access the right insights faster to make smarter decisions.

Fast factory processes

Visa Cash App RB uses Epicor Kinetic as its ERP for manufacturing. “We began working with Epicor in 2019 and after a few years together, we have decided to embark on a new collaboration, expanding our systems and introducing AI,” explained Fabia Ferrero, ERP Manager at Visa Cash App RB.

The introduction of AI changed how the programme worked for the users in the factory and improved the system for Fabia and her team. There are now three main processes in which the team uses the AI update.

The first is that AI helps the team write code more efficiently, providing support for Epicor-related tasks and enabling code sharing and comprehensive searches within the Epicor framework.

The second process is RFQ automation, which is crucial for the purchasing office. This system streamlines decision-making by allowing users to request multiple quotations without manually handling each email or attachment from suppliers. It summarises the best responses, enabling the team to focus on evaluating and transforming the data efficiently.

And the third is the searchable element, which is important for the everyday user because it allows them to access reports immediately without the deployment of the ERP team. “They can ask the AI system questions to find out what information they need. It can provide them with the data regarding production, development of the parts, costs, lead time and more,” Fabia said.

Working with a wider strategy

One of the benefits of this unique platform is the database, where all the information is stored in a structured way. This allows the team to perform the analysis that it needs, when it needs it.

As is the case with any team in Formula One, Visa Cash App RB wants development to be consistent and aggressive to ensure it is competing at the highest level. This is certainly the view of Raffaele Boshchetti, Head of IT and Innovation at Visa Cash App RB, but he explains how the $135m cost cap implemented by the FIA can make this tricky. “We know what we can do to develop, and we know our budget, resources and lead time. However, the Epicor platform allows us to understand if we can achieve this or not, depending on how we are specifically developing the car this season,” he explained. This is because each development is a new project, and is never the same. Epicor does this through the relevant intelligence data it has received each time developments have been made.

“An example of this is how the ERP platform can advise us on the best suppliers for our components. This means we don’t need to spend time understanding the assembly which we would require the suppliers for. It evaluates our process and provides the best solutions considering all conditions,” said Raffaele.

Previously, the team had to figure out how to input the correct data to receive the answers they were looking for. Now, it can speak directly to the ERP platform thanks

Everybody must be on top of their game in this sport, so it is vital that we are able to pick the pace in every process. This is why it is necessary that once we have decided on our target, we action it

Peter Bayer CEO, Visa Cash App RB

to the AI upgrade. “With this platform, we can automate a lot of our work, and take our attention and focus to our core business which is ensuring that the car is in the best possible condition to make it race faster,” he added.

LEFT: The Visa Cash App RB Formula One car on the track at the Emilia Romagna grand prix

AI on the track

We have 14,000 parts for each car that need to be made to the exact same quality. However, the budget cap limits resources, making it impossible for us to have thousands of people examining each single component

Raffaele Boshchetti Head of IT & Innovation, Visa Cash App RB

For the team working trackside, Laurent Mekies, Team Principal at Visa Cash App RB, said that all the team is trying to do is make the car go faster. “That’s what drives us every single day. We do this through two criteria; the first is to develop and train as much as possible, through practice and design; and second, is time to race,” he said.

For the team it is about how fast it can develop, and how quickly they can be back performing on the track. “The backbone of being able to achieve that is having a great ERP system in place," added Laurent.

From a business perspective, the time to race criteria creates pressure on the budget. “You can go faster by spending more money and by having more people work on a task. However, in the reality of today's Formula One, this is not possible due to the cost cap,” explained Peter Bayer, CEO at Visa Cash App RB.

When the cap was introduced, there was the belief that it would not be as successful as it has ended up being. When some of the larger teams knew it was coming, they began to put money into new displays and

infrastructure before it was implemented, resulting in the smaller teams now playing catch up. However, this has made the sport more competitive than ever and this year, the overall spread of the Formula One leaderboard is much smaller; which is why companies like Visa Cash App RB feel they should be taking risks to close the gap using new innovations, such as AI.

Using software is currently a great way to aid in competition without eating away at the limited budget. “Right now, when you acquire software licenses, you can keep them for a certain amount of time under CAPEX investments, away from the cost cap budget. However, the FIA is currently discussing a new approach to the cost cap concerning CAPEX and OPEX for 2026,” explained Peter.

A competitive edge

Everything that is going to give the team a competitive edge needs to ultimately, go into the race car. While the team has engineers for speed, the Visa Cash App RB management team need to translate that into efficiency. And this means optimising processes.

“My favourite advantage of the ERP systems and the use of AI is it allows people to focus on what they're good at rather than repetitive tasks that can be timeconsuming. Comparing offers and creating the summary for your line manager can be done by the system. This has allowed us to improve our output without increasing cost and that's a big advantage for the team this year,” said Peter. “The software is opening new doors for the team and leading us to ones we didn’t know existed.”

On the vehicle side, the biggest advantage of the ERP is the time to race. “We look at the cars’ data and talk with the drivers to see how we can improve. When we find a valuable upgrade we can test it in a simulator. It is a very fast paced process.”

At the start of the 2024 season, the team struggled with the steering feel, a crucial aspect for the driver assessing the car's performance and balance. After experimenting with various options to adjust the steering weight, the team determined a new target. Once decided, the implementation was incredibly fast. “We collaborated using the Epicor system, which enabled us to efficiently source and deliver real parts across countries to the track in time,” said Peter. “Everybody must be on top of their game in this sport, so it is vital that we are able to pick the pace in every process. This is why it is necessary that once we have decided on our target, we action it.”

Data and behaviour

It is hoped that using AI technology to detect patterns in competitive behaviour could one day aid in race strategy. “If you could have the means of predicting what your competitor may do, it would be very relevant,” said Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance at Visa Cash App RB.

“Right now, it's difficult to find patterns in the behaviour of the car, tyres and interaction between car and driver over the large number of races. However, we have engineers on duty to look at the live data, allowing a good understanding of what's going on - finding the patterns is the difficult part,” he added. The ERP system allows for constant monitoring of the car configuration. The team can then link this with the collected data and find relevant occurring patterns.

In every race the Visa Cash App RB team is fighting for one hundredth or thousandth of a second, and for a human being to be chasing that constantly can be quite overwhelming. However,

having only fractions of a second to beat its opponents is what drives the team and it continues its development of new technologies to meet this end.

One example of this is the car’s aerodynamics; again closely linked to speed and is key to establishing a competitive edge. “We have thousands of simulations per day, but we are not physically able to test the results of the simulations on the car, on the track. In 2024, we only had a couple of tests in February and the season started in March,” said Raffaele.

The team are currently using an app performance computing system to run the simulation. However, it produces too much data for a human being to number crunch. “We can input this data into the Epicor

ABOVE: Epicor software in action MAIN PIC: (from left to right), Peter Bayer, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and Laurent Mekies BELOW: Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance at Visa Cash App RB

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Epicor is the official ERP partner of Visa Cash App RB, and has recently introduced AI software, Epicor Prism

• The ERP and AI systems from Epicor are used to streamline manufacturing, purchasing and data analysis processes, enhancing efficiency and improving the speed of decision making

• The team uses the Epicor platform to manage the $135m cost cap imposed by the FIA, optimising development and resource allocation to stay competitive

• Technological advancements like AI will trickle down into road vehicles, in the same way as other technologies like seat beats, rearview mirrors and hybrid engines – all of which originated in motorsport

• Although exciting, AI is yet to replace human work. A final decision will always need to be made as it is not always as straightforward as the machine may think

system and it can break down the results of the simulation for our engineers to look at, understand the psychics and work out how to develop performance.”

Taking the technology from F1

A common pattern in the automotive sector is that many of the developments, technology and innovations that begin in Formula One eventually trickle down into regular road cars. Looking at the influence AI is having in the sport, the Visa Cash App RB team believes this will be no different.

Peter recalled previous technologies that made their way from Formula One to the roads. “A few years ago, when I worked with Laurent at the FIA, there was a discussion around autonomous driving and how to get cars to communicate with each other. We launched a project to understand how we could continue the transfer of this idea from the track to the road. Everyday car components such as seat belts, rearview mirrors and even newer systems like hybrids, began on the racetrack. AI is already working its way into mainstream automotive.”

Another example of this transfer of technology was during COVID-19; UK racing teams worked together to help build ventilators, as part of the Ventilator Challenge UK. Not only that, but Peter recalled a project that tested drivers’ blood pressure, oxygen levels, and monitored general driver health through a sensor placed on the finger. “This was then used on patients during the pandemic. However, essentially the technology originated from track safety measures, proving the impact racing technology can have on the outside world.”

Future of Formula 1

The new Epicor systems have allowed the team to continue to be aggressive with its development plans for the car. “It’s a rolling plan with something new on the car in every race. Sometimes this is visible and sometimes not, but Epicor systems have enabled us to continue to do this smoother and faster,” said Guillaume.

Thinking ahead, the team are pushing for Epicor to integrate more platforms like the recent AI roll out. “We have 14,000 parts for each car that need to be made to

ABOVE: The Visa Cash App RB Formula One team outside the head office in Faenza, Italy

the same, best possible quality. However, the budget cap limits resources, making it impossible to have thousands of people examining each single part,” said Raffaele.

Now, Visa Cash App RB has a whole library of images for the correct parts that have been loaded into the software, which has been trained to examine and compare them to the newly produced parts to spot potential defects. This allows the team to discard defects and use the best components, while avoiding the same problem in the next process. Implementing more processes like this continues to push the team to be at the top of its game.

However, AI will not yet replace all human decision making. Despite the numerous applications of AI, the ultimate decision remains with a human. According to Guillaume, determining what needs to be done to make the car faster is never straightforward. “There’s not just one single parameter,” he said. l

Innovating together

VP of Products and Innovation at Epicor, Arturo Buzzalino gave some insight on the Epicor Prism and Kinetic ERP software.

Can you please tell us a bit about the Epicor Prism software?

AB: Epicor Prism is part of the Epicor Grow portfolio. It allows users to access critical insights faster to make smarter, data-driven decisions.

Engaging with Epicor Prism is intuitive and user-friendly, as it functions within the native Epicor ERP platform. Taskspecific agents work behind the scenes to surface the necessary insights or execute actions as prompted. Epicor Prism is designed to enhance efficiency across the board.

Can you please tell us a bit about the Epicor Kinetic ERP software?

Epicor Kinetic is an ERP platform designed specifically for the needs of manufacturers and offers a portfolio of integrated applications designed to manage critical aspects of manufacturing, including production scheduling, supply chain logistics, financial accounting and customer relationship management. Designed with scalability and flexibility in mind, Epicor Kinetic can adapt to the changing needs of growing businesses and evolving

industry demands. Its cloud and onpremises deployment options ensure that companies can choose the most suitable configuration for their specific requirements. By integrating various functions into a single cohesive system, Epicor Kinetic reduces complexity, improves data accuracy and drives operational efficiency, setting the stage for long-term business success.

How has the partnership with Visa Cash App RB grown over the years?

The Faenza-based Formula One team has used Epicor for many years to create efficiency in production and purchasing, which helps the vehicle performance team optimise the car for the best possible results on the track. As the official ERP partner, we are constantly looking for ways to help the team deploy technology to be as efficient as possible. In September 2023, we held a workshop with the team to define use cases for AI. Epicor Prism evolved out of those meetings, and was refined collaboratively over several months of testing.

Visa Cash App RB is an early adopter of Epicor Prism and today, the team is applying it to three use cases that create empowered team members and create efficiency for the production and purchasing departments: conversational ERP, code assistant and automated supplier communications.

How do you hope the partnership will continue to grow?

Our vision is to continue innovating together, integrating advanced technologies to optimise production and empower the team to achieve its goals on track. Our collaboration with Visa Cash App RB exemplifies our shared belief in the power of innovation for a competitive edge.

ISO Certificates

A guide to risk-free, zero hassle transfer

DNV, one of the world’s leading certification bodies, offer some advice and best practice around ISO certificate transfer

For anyone working in the manufacturing sector, relevant management system certification and training are part and parcel of the day-to-day risks across your organisation. For any number of reasons you might find a time when you’re considering transferring your certificates to a new certification body.

There’s a bit of a misconception that the transfer of certificates can be a daunting and complicated process. Here, DNV shares how to ensure that the transfer process is as seamless as possible and provides some guidance on how best to plan and execute in four simple steps. With the following, manufacturing organisations can be safe in the knowledge that their transfer process is efficient and well controlled.

1

Ask yourself ‘why would I transfer?’ Start the process by asking ‘am I getting the best service and value from my current provider?’ Would you like to see more focused management information and insight to help you improve the performance of your management system? Perhaps you feel like you’re not getting the support you need from your current certification body or that audits are more like a ‘tick box’ exercise.

2

Evaluate your goals and needs

So, you’ve made the choice to actually go for it. But, before embarking on the transfer journey, take the time to also assess the wider goals and needs of your internal and external stakeholders. Consider why you are seeking certification from a new body and what you hope to gain from the change. Your motivations will not only guide your decision-making process but also help you articulate your objectives to stakeholders, whether they be employers, colleagues or mentors

3

Let your new provider do the leg work

Transferring your ISO certification requires careful planning and coordination. DNV typically creates a timeline that clearly outlines key milestones to help your internal planning. This level of preparation also helps identify the best time to transfer, whether it be immediately or coordinated with your next surveillance or recertification audit. However, as the transfer plan evolves, the primary focus will always be on maintaining the ongoing validity of your certification.

4

Embrace the journey

Transferring to a new certification body is not like passing an exam; it's about embarking on a journey of continuous systems development and personal learning. Embrace the opportunity to expand your knowledge, broaden your skill set and enhance your own career prospects.

DNV is often asked ‘how long does the transfer period take?’ And the company recommends that one to three months for transfer for an accredited certificate. DNV would support you with gaining a new application. It’s worth noting that you cannot transfer a non-accredited UKAS (or an equivalent) certificate.

So, if the above has whet your appetite then why might you want to consider DNV as your new certification body? DNV has 160 years of experience with being a trusted partner, delivering the best for its clients. While the certificate on your wall or website comes with its benefits, especially commercial ones, DNV is committed to certification delivering a more proactive level of value. Its audits become an opportunity to get a deeper insight into your systems and to identify how these could be improved in order to strengthen your business.

DNV is constantly investing in free smart digital solutions to clients and has been at the forefront of developing transformational concepts and integrated systems for the ISO certification market. The company has designed a unique set of tools to provide its clients with access to live information across the pre, during and post audit phases. This live data relates to their certification programme, its performance and comparative internal and external benchmarking data. In 2023 DNV were awarded ‘Certification Body of the Year’ from the UK Consulting Awards. l If you’d like to know more please email uk-support@dnv.com, visit dnv.co.uk, or call +44 20 3816 6641

TRANSFER FAQs

DNV often gets the following frequently asked questions from customers who are considering transferring. Here are some examples and what the company usually suggests:

Q: When is a good time to transfer?

A: Anytime. It can be done during a surveillance audit, re-certification audit or between the audits.

Q: What do I need to have to transfer my certificate?

A: You will need a report from a previous audit and copy of your certificate. In some cases DNV may request additional reports.

Q: How about my current certification agreement validity?

A: Make sure you review your current certification agreement, and consider your final notice with your certification body.

Q: How quickly can the transfer be done?

A: DNV recommends one to three months for transfer for an accredited certificate. The company will make a suitable plan but note that your current certificate status and any open nonconformities may influence the transfer time.*

Q: What will happen to my current certificate during the transfer?

A: There are different approaches

between certification bodies. DNV will honour the originally certified date and transfer it to a DNV certificate when issued.* When you decide to transfer, DNV will take care of your certificate validity.

Q: Will transferring cost more than a normal audit?

A: Transfer audits will normally cost the same as a regular annual audit. You can find out more information by contacting the DNV team. If possible DNV will integrate its transfer audit with a scheduled recertification or surveillance audit with the potential for saving audit time and associated costs.

Q: Can I transfer all my certificates to DNV?

A: DNV offers many certifications services and can provide integrated audits in order to save you time and money. Speak to the DNV team to find out which ones apply.

Q: After transfer, when can I expect my DNV certificate?

A: You should receive your certificate within a few weeks after any nonconformities have been closed.

The DNV Business Assurance Team

DEVELOPING A SECURE, COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR AN INFRASTRUCTURE

PROJECT

CIOs are rarely asked to create a platform that supports secure collaboration between thousands of partners for one of the UK’s biggest ever infrastructure projects as part of a national endeavour. But it happens, occasionally. Steve Harnett, Digital Lead, AWE explains

In March 2024, the Ministry of Defence published the Defence Nuclear Enterprise Command Paper, setting out the UK’s nuclear programme as a critical ‘National Endeavour,’ vital for our long-term security and prosperity. AWE’s mission within this is to design and manufacture warheads and provide nuclear services that support the UK’s continuous at sea deterrent and nuclear threat reduction capabilities.

This national endeavour represents a new era for AWE that has kickstarted a multi-billion pound, multi-year portfolio of infrastructure investment that will see AWE refurbish, replace and remove existing infrastructure, and create new infrastructure and facilities.

This ‘Capital Programme’, spanning nearly 300 individual infrastructure projects, requires AWE to partner and collaborate with a wide base of construction, manufacturing and other industrial organisations to help create, design and build AWE’s facilities.

A unique challenge: secure, open collaboration

Ensuring every element of this programme is synchronised, on time and on budget brings enormous complexity. Multiple teams and simultaneous projects will need to collaborate on construction estimates, building, plant and equipment design, construction engineering, and business administration, as well as all-important health and safety permits and certificates.

And, given the national security implications of AWE’s work, all this must be done in a uniquely secure environment.

Developing a system with these demands has required AWE to consider aspects such as infrastructure project interdependencies, common system

platforms, standardised data across them, and a single management contract.

To create a unifying system to serve AWE needs, the company began in 2022 by defining a ‘Digital Vision’ and strategy spanning every facet of the business, its operations and partners. AWE required common systems and an integrated ecosystem to leverage data for maximum effect and promote new and collaborative ways of working. However, while the data on the system will be owned by AWE, it was also decided the platform should run independently of AWE’s existing networks.

Partnering for design success

As principal system users, AWE sought input on its design and functionality from its existing tier 1 supply chain partners. While AWE effectively acts as a service provider to them, responsible for

developing and maintaining performance SLAs, it is critical that partners have a platform that works for them. Five tier 1 partners have been involved in its creation, adopting industry best practice from other programmes.

Striking the balance between the need for an environment that is simultaneously open, collaborative, yet secure is no mean feat. But the result is AWE’s ‘Capital Platform’, a cloud-based software-asa-service space that is secure by design. The platform uses industry standards and best practice for data management, and will be delivered and operated by AWE’s supply chain partners themselves, ensuring they retain equity and commitment to its operation.

Developing a future legacy

Striking the balance between the need for an environment that is simultaneously open, collaborative, yet secure is no mean feat

Steve Harnett, Digital Lead, AWE

Phase 1 will onboard early adopters in Q3 this year, prioritising and testing key functions such as document management. Subsequent phases will address a further 30+ capabilities in total. These include automation features as well as ‘digital twin’ capability to visualise and improve infrastructure development, and AI capabilities to modernise working practices.

AWE’s goals and expectations are similar to other projects – increasing resource efficiency, reducing cost, and improving working practices. But the unique nature of AWE’s work adds an additional dimension of responsibility as it forms a key capability that ultimately supports the UK’s national security. This is a unique platform in UK infrastructure development, whose digital strategy outlooks more than 15 years and will serve future employees – many of whom are still in school today. l

2024-2025 EVENTS CALENDAR

Annual gathering of industry visionaries, executives, and thought leaders for 2 days of discussions, knowledge sharing, and addressing challenges.

Delivered in partnership with IMechE, join more than 500 industry movers and shakers for this gold standard in industry awards, (silver winner for Awards Event of the Year). To the manufacturing industry, it’s our Oscars night.

UK’s digitally-minded manufacturers gather to discuss technology’s role in improving competitiveness, profitability, and sustainability.

Join us to celebrate the very best of the UK manufacturing industry. It is one of the biggest nights in the industry’s calendar, attended by the Top 100 brightest manufacturing stars, judges, alumni and the wider community.

Industry’s leading manufacturing exhibition showcasing the latest digital innovations in technology, processes and thinking behind Industry 4.0.

26-27 NOV

27 NOV

4-5 JUN

4 JUN

4-5 JUN

Uniting the community for an innovation festival with dynamic digital and live events, inspiring, informing, and entertaining participants. 4-5 JUN

Sharing input from the industry’s best manufacturers and technology providers to map the technical areas, skills and behaviours that define modern industry. MONTHLY

Exclusive group of senior executives from The Manufacturer’s community, meeting for confidential Round Tables, networking, and sharing insights. MONTHLY

Researched and Produced by:

13,500

450+

Where manufacturers explore digital transformation solutions to gain a competitive advantage. A carefully-curated shop window for manufacturers at all stages of their digital journey. smartfactoryexpo.com

For design and engineering professionals from all tiers of the supply chain looking to reduce costs, streamline & optimise future design and engineering strategy. designengineeringexpo.co.uk

The UK’s longest standing event dedicated to the maintenance, reliability & asset management industry, attracting major buyers from the industrial, buildings, transport & supply chain maintenance sectors. maintec.co.uk

Drives & Controls brings together key suppliers of state-of-the-art equipment representing the multitasking culture of today’s design engineer, covering critical areas such as energy efficiency, machine safety, drives, motion control, robotics and automation plus much more, all under one roof. drives-expo.com

HELPING TO GROW THE NEXT GENERATION SEED TO STEM

Four teachers were recently recognised by the ERA Foundation for their continuous work in and around STEM. The Manufacturer's Molly Cooper spoke to them about their impact in the classroom and what the industry needs to do to help

In June, the ERA Foundation held its annual dinner at The Royal Society, London. Each year it recognises exceptional secondary and primary school teachers who have gone beyond the curriculum to inspire students and show real-world engineering in the classroom. They are recognised by the David Clark Prize, named after former ERA Foundation Secretary Dr David Clark, who presented the awards.

Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor is the STEM and innovation lead at Kirkhill Primary School, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. He won the David Clark prize for reimagining aspects of the school’s curriculum to focus more on STEM and sustainability.

ABOVE: Award winners, from left to right: Becki Price, Kate Finlay, Paul Tyler, Anthony Vaughan Evans and David Clark

Paul’s interest is in exploring why children are not pursing STEM careers, despite enjoying the subjects, and it has driven his involvement within the sector.

Paul co-founded My Science Club, a company that produces science club resources for teachers and schools.

Introducing STEM careers to young children is crucial between the ages of 8 and 12 and Paul believes primary schools need to seek partnerships with organisations and companies to allow children access to a wide variety of role models.

What were the processes and challenges faced while reimagining Kirkhill Primary School’s STEM

I explained to the headteacher how I wanted to add something which gave pupils the chance to be creative

One of the main challenges with a materials-based curriculum is cost. The student/parent council were extremely supportive and at the start of the year, I received £3,000 to buy consumables and equipment. I also went online to find second-hand boxes of building materials, contacted local hardware stores and collected lots of cardboard.

Another challenge has been the safety of the work. When I'm teaching a group of children how to safely use a saw or craft knife, I need to be able to focus on that group. To ensure this, I set them challenges when they come into the classroom, based around STEM skills. Once I encouraged them to take part, I found that they now enter the classroom and begin themselves.

How have collaborations and partnerships with organisations enhanced the STEM curriculum?

To build relationships I reached out to the local community, school community and parents. I got involved in an organisation called SmartSTEMs, which run events to put schools in contact with industries. I also

found that many parents hold roles within STEM and were willing to give up some time to speak with the pupils. I emailed many local businesses stating who we were, what we wanted to achieve and if they could help. We ended up with over 100 partners in STEM and are now working together to develop young workforce programmes.

However, partnerships are a two-way street; it’s not only a matter of what they can offer us, but what we can offer them. An example of this is the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh which use our school to test all their new resources. They will deliver a brand-new project; we test it for three weeks and then give feedback.

My advice would be to be proactive. It's a fabulous way of enhancing the curriculum and providing children with real life context that is often quite difficult to do as teachers; especially in areas where we’re not experts.

Be proactive. It's a fabulous way of enhancing the curriculum and providing children with real life context

Paul Tyler, Kirkhill Primary School

What are your goals for your STEM Innovation Hub? How do you see this influencing the students’ learning and interest in STEM fields?

We have a STEM Innovation Hub for the older children and a STEM Creativity Hub for younger pupils. They are focused around creating a progressive curriculum for children as soon as they begin primary school.

Next year, part of my curriculum is going to be called Sustainable Engineering and will look at sustainability, the problems that we're currently facing, what the solutions could be, and how engineering can be right at the centre of those solutions. We're also getting involved with the Global School’s Partnership and this will help establish international partnerships and let us share ideas and projects.

Anthony Vaughan-Evans

Anthony Vaughan-Evans is Director of STEM at East Point Academy, Lowestoft. He won the David Clark Prize in the secondary school category for his commitment to delivering STEM to young people.

On becoming a teacher after completing an electrical engineering degree from Warwick University, he realised that STEM in schools was only focusing on design and technology. He saw a gap and a need to upskill pupils for STEM roles in the future, and found that most academic pupils working in maths and science didn’t have enough awareness of future roles available to them.

He knew he had to broaden pupils’ horizons as early as possible. And, by getting them locked into a career path early on, they began to focus and follow it throughout school.

Can you explain your ‘STEM in Action’ initiative?

AVE: I’ve run the ‘STEM in Action’ project for a few years and it is a collaboration between industry or an employer and the school.

I develop a curriculum appropriate problem that the pupils will be working on in their GCSE science or maths, but it will also be appropriate to industry.

An example of this is when we went to Sizewell nuclear power plant and the pupils got to look around the site. They then worked on some maths problems to look at how fast the turbines were moving. This gave them the opportunity to go out and actually see these huge turbines in action, and work out a real problem. This has far more impact than showing them anything in a classroom.

Not only that, but I have had engineers come into the school to work alongside

Parental engagement is key. I run several workshops for parents to engage them in the opportunities within STEM careers

Anthony Vaughan Evans, East Point Academy

the pupils on the problem. This provides the link between young people and the real world of engineering, and is more powerful than a lecture as it showcases the day-to-day life of jobs in STEM. After they have found the solution, we hold a celebration event where we all come together, and the pupils present their findings. This also helps with teaching young people how to give a technical presentation and talk to an audience.

You are in the process of creating a ‘Centre of Excellence for STEM’ at East Point Academy. How do you see this centre transforming STEM education?

I have been working on developing a network of other STEM teachers across the local area and we currently have 50 from different schools that meet each term.

One of the biggest problems we face is that teachers do not have time to execute these types of activities regarding STEM. With the ‘Centre of Excellence for STEM’, I'm aiming to make my projects available for all schools. I provide them with contacts for other opportunities, resources, equipment and overall, an opportunity to increase STEM participation at their school.

Your work focuses on delivering STEM education in deprived areas. Can you share some examples of how your initiatives have impacted students in these communities?

The key to this is parental engagement. I run several workshops for parents, to engage them in STEM careers first. In my class last year, I didn't have a single pupil that wanted to be an engineer, but I had two that wanted to be a plumber and a

BELOW: Anthony Vaughan Evans giving a STEM lesson

carpenter. There are no issues with this, but it is clear to see that they are aiming at those careers due to the role models that they are seeing around them.

To aid this, I often bid for grants to take pupils on trips which help them see the bigger picture. It’s about raising the bar for our young people and making them see what's possible.

Can you explain the plan to develop projects that engage parents and highlight STEM opportunities, particularly focusing on female role models?

In these workshops, we look at the skills the pupils have and match them to jobs, and quite often this is linked to what they enjoy doing. I encourage conversations with mothers and daughters about these roles and it has had a huge impact.

I have also had women engineers come in to the school to speak to the young people, so they understand that they have the ability to work in a role within STEM. The parents are then able to see how great their child is at something, and that also begins the encouragement for that path at home.

Becki Price

Becki Price is a part-time year five primary school teacher in Stoke on Trent. On the days she is not teaching she works with The Primary Science Teaching Trust as a fellow providing opportunities for the Primary Science Quality Mark and for the Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC). She was highly commended for the David Clarke prize for her commitment to building positive perceptions of STEM futures for every child.

When becoming a teacher herself and given the role of Science Lead at her school, it sparked her interest in STEM. Becki began meeting people within that sector, learning what STEM was and the impact it can have on children.

RIGHT: Becki Price and a pupil in the classroom

The type of engagement we get can vary from year to year. These are challenges that are yet to be solved, but with collaboration we can

Becki Price, The

For Becki, children need to learn and appreciate themselves as scientists by understanding how they can achieve their full potential. She also added that a national strategy for skills development, and an individual in every school responsible for brokering those relationships between the schools and industries, is key.

What has been implemented at The Willows Primary School to grow positive perceptions of STEM?

BP: Firstly, we have pushed on the skills that we can pull out from the curriculum and focused on what can make the pupil a better scientist in each lesson. Children need to be asking questions and this self-assessment of their skills and encouragement will have a longlasting impact.

We also have a Curiosity Club where the children take part in activities, and then meet the scientists who represent that activity at the end. This is great because they get to meet, chat and quiz a scientist and foster a relationship.

How do you ensure that your STEM initiatives are inclusive and accessible to children from diverse backgrounds?

One resource many teachers use is a website called Explorify which provides prompts for questions. One of these is ‘Have you ever?’ and at the beginning of the lesson I place this on the board and ask questions regarding our topic. For example, if we are learning about medicine, I would ask, ‘Have you ever had Calpol?’ or ‘Have you ever had a cold?’ and immediately the children can relate. It is immediately brokering that relationship between what the industry does and what they could learn, but it is also presenting the children with something they are familiar with.

What strategies have you used to extend your passion for STEM beyond The Willows Primary School?

We've worked alongside the Royal Society, for partnership and seed grants. Part of this included working with around 18 schools in Stoke on Trent. We got involved with scientists and local industries who were willing to meet with schools and turn their proposal questions into partnership grants. By utilising the Royal Society grants, we have been successful in building those industry and school relationships.

Another project we ran was called Adopt a Scientist, where we moved away from the ‘one-stop-shop’ approach that most schools and industries have when looking at careers. We wanted to create a longerlasting relationship for the class. The children meet the scientist, discuss the importance of STEM and give them ‘adoption certificates’. This sees the scientists make a pledge to keep in contact and the school will then share industry relevant activities they have done with them.

What challenges have you faced in promoting STEM education, and how have you overcome them?

School work around careers continues to come up in research and Ofsted reports, but doesn’t fit neatly into the curriculum, so teachers don't plan for it; and it has been a long time since this has been revised. Unfortunately, links with industries can be sporadic and hard to plan for, so the type of engagement we get can vary from year to year. These are challenges that are yet to be solved, but with collaboration we can.

Kate Finlay

Kate Finlay is Head of Design and Technology at Hethersett Academy, a school run by the Inspiration Trust, who she also works for as subject lead for design and technology, alongside primary and secondary school teachers. Kate was highly commended for the David Clarke prize for her tireless work to design a curriculum that enables engagement for all children.

Over her long teaching career, she has seen the rapid pace at which industry and technologies within it grow - including the development of 3D printers, biodegradable materials and CAD software - and how exciting it can be.

For Kate, the reason introducing STEM careers to children is important is due to social mobility. There are huge opportunities such as earning a good salary, travelling around the world and being highly skilled. Companies are always looking for new workers to train and young people are the ideal candidates.

What programmes have you implemented to ensure inclusivity in STEM education?

KF: It is important when engaging with industry that we have a good balance of pupils and for me I want to include a large percentage of pupil premium students. This funding is given to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. The reason behind this is not to ensure they go to university, but to give them the confidence and selfworth around the opportunities that are available. With pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, those conversations aren’t always happening at home.

At the Skills for Energy Conference with the East of England Energy Group, students participated in a competition to solve a water reuse challenge for new hydrogen plants. On launch day, experts,

apprentices and UEA students helped them brainstorm ideas. On the show floor, visitors and exhibitors then listened to pitches and voted for the best ideas.

At first, the children were shy and reserved, so I divided them into groups to present their work to attendees. However, by the end of the day, they confidently shared their projects with experts from major energy companies. This experience was invaluable, helping them gain confidence and receive feedback from those who work in the industry.

What challenges have you faced?

I always assume that everyone can talk to children, but it can be difficult. When having guests in, I often make them work in smaller groups or with a teacher representative to help broker that relationship.

A challenge for the industry is when trying to engage with students; maybe talk to your neighbours - other companies that are offering apprenticeships or working with schools. You may find some things that you could be doing yourselves.

You have significantly increased student enrolment in the Design & Technology GCSE at your school. What helped make it appealing to students?

Talk to other companies who are offering apprenticeships or working with schools. You may find things that you could be doing yourselves

Kate Finlay, Heathersett Academy “

One of the issues with design and technology is that you often work in isolation, so we had to ensure the work in the classroom was being shared. We sent a newsletter home and created our own X profile, @MadeInHethersett, where we tagged teachers and companies so they could interact.

One of the biggest barriers is that although children love the subject, they don't tend to opt for it at GCSE level. I kept hearing from the children, ‘I love your lessons, but I’ll never be a designer, so I’ve chosen something else’. The faculty and I covered the whole department in hearts plus the slogan and hashtag, ‘Choose what you love’, to get the message through to the children. It opened up conversations about what choosing design and technology could do for them and it worked.

How do experiences outside of school, like visiting local workplaces, enhance students' learning and career aspirations?

For me, the best feedback is seeing the uptake in my subject area courses from my students. Seeing someone you taught now working within the sector, and the impact that quality conversations around careers can have on them is great.

From a curriculum level, it is when they start to build things together and see the bigger picture. We currently teach industry level CAD and provide these skills for their CV. They are told how much a CAD designer earns, and it gives them some insight into a role they could do.

CARBON VOYAGE

THE BUS MANUFACTURER DECARBONISING DIESEL FLEETS

Bus manufacturer, Wrightbus, has opened its NewPower facility in Bicester where it will be decarbonising fleets of buses by replacing diesel engines with electric powertrains. The Manufacturer’s Molly Cooper went to find out more

We can give a ten year warranty and an extra ten years of life to that bus, as well as removing 40,000 litres of diesel per year, (74 tonnes of CO2), from the road

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Wrightbus

Visiting the new Wrightbus NewPower facility on Clean Air Day seemed fitting. The European bus manufacturer has begun work on decarbonising Britain’s existing bus fleets in its new 45,000 sq. ft. facility dedicated to repowering. “This is not a fast promise, it works, and you can see that,” said Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Wrightbus, as he showed me around. The UK currently has 34,000 diesel buses on its roads but has insufficient funding to hit the zeroemission targets the previous government has set for 2035.

Inside the NewPower facility, the skilled technicians and engineers are replacing engines within diesel buses with a new battery powered alternative, costing half the price of a brand-new battery powered bus. It removes the diesel engines and puts in an electrical powertrain in its place. “We can give our customers a ten year warranty on the engines and an extra ten years of life to that bus, all while removing 40,000 litres of diesel per year, (74 tonnes of CO2), from the road,” said Jean-Marc.

LEFT: Wrightbus has manufactured 100 battery powered buses this year, and is looking to repower 300 buses by 2025, and then 500 by 2026

Expanding operations

Wrightbus is a UK and Northern Ireland bus manufacturer and operator with the widest range of net zero buses on the market. In addition to the repowering offering, the company is also forecast to manufacture 1,000 buses by the end of 2024 with orders from Arriva, First-Bus and Go-Ahead, all while breaking into the European market. Currently the company is producing single decker hydrogen engine buses and left-hand drive vehicles for Germany. “We have set the new standard for efficiency,” said Jean-Marc.

Currently, Wrightbus is the fastest growing large manufacturer in the UK, with 1,880 employees globally and large growth expected over the next year. It is also UK and Ireland’s leading zero emission OEM. With a manufacturing headquarters in Northern Ireland, a refurbishment workshop in Bicester - serving 22 buses a week with a 24/7 paint shop - a plant under development in Malaysia and the new repowering facility, the Wrightbus team are very busy.

Repower, NewPower

The repowering process is simple and can be done in only three weeks, in comparison to the nine-to-12-month window it takes to purchase a brand-new electric bus.

The facility shopfloor is made up of six static product builds, unlike the standard

Wrightbus engineers at work

process where the product goes along a production line. Once the bus is in the workshop, the team get to work to do a full strip out, removing all the existing diesel engine parts. Repowering a bus will lead to a six per cent cost reduction over the lifetime of the bus.. Bus operators will also see a 41% reduction in incidents and repairs from the engine. “It’s clear to see when you look at all the different parts we remove when stripping the diesel engine, and the fewer number of new components we use in a battery engine,” said Robert Best, Director of Engineering at Wrightbus.

However, it’s important to note that the parts that are removed do not go to waste. These are returned to the original bus operator which can use the parts as spares or repairs for its existing diesel fleets, making it a green process from the start. After this, any issues are fixed before moving on to prepare the space for the new engine. Once the engine is in, the bus will be commissioned and connected hydraulically, pneumatically and electrically. The team on-site is able to mechanically certify and check to make sure that the new engine is present, correct and appropriate for use. Following this process, the vehicle will be moved for quality audit inspection, which represents

ABOVE:

We have a very indepth team based inside our facility and our own bespoke research facility in Queens University Belfast, which is the world's only research facility dedicated entirely to bus technology

Robert Best, Director of Engineering at Wrightbus

the final check. Wrightbus then knows the bus is roadworthy and can be securely delivered back to the customer.

The process is seamless; nothing is touched on the suspension side of the bus and the new engine is fitted in the exact place of the previous one. Not only this, but Wrightbus does not touch the displays at

the front of the bus. The driver’s dashboard stays the same, and a small screen is fitted to feature the new visualisations of the battery engine. This also makes the transition for the bus driver much easier, as nothing has changed from their point of view.

Right location for the right skills

Bicester is the ideal location for the NewPower hub; close to London and in the heartland of the UK’s automotive sector. “We are in a prime location. We have buses coming from London operators, Bristol and Oxford, as well as being next door neighbours to Formula One teams and other engineering companies,” said Jean-Marc.

This proximity to the capital and other engineering companies has proved advantageous for business, but also for people. Due to the saturation of engineering companies in the surrounding areas, it’s an ideal place to find new employees. The NewPower facility has already started production with 22 skilled engineers and is hoping to continue to grow this to 60 employees by the end of the year, sticking to the company ethos of building local communities.

“If we look around, we have seen Williams Racing grow from 400 to 700 employees and we also have the advantage of being close to Oxford

BELOW: The NewPower facility is in the ideal location; close to London and in the heartland of the UK’s automotive sector

University when we need to hire engineers to develop products in the future,” said Jean-Marc.

Despite this, and like many manufacturing verticals in the UK, the sector does suffer from a skills shortage. “Together as a country, we need to be doing more in terms of apprenticeships and to make engineering a more attractive career path for young people.” We need to continue to break down the stereotypes of engineering being unclean work, in dark and dingy factories. For me, when standing in the shiny new Wrightbus facility, it is hard to see why young engineers wouldn’t see this as an ideal place to work, they just need to know that it exists.

Currently, in the UK the share of manufacturing GDP is around 12%, whereas in the 1970s, it was contributing 25%. “We need to show that we can get back there with a new generation of skilled workers - manufacturing is the future,” said Jean-Marc.

Affordable decarbonisation

The easiest way to decarbonise mobility is by public transport. Encouraging people to buy electric vehicles is difficult, but electrifying a person’s public transport that they use every day, comes with no resistance. “Local councils taking this decision is the quickest and most cost-efficient way of doing it - if it is a priority to get zero-emission buses on the roads,” explains Jean-Marc. For many people, especially in cities such as London, buses are their main means of transport meaning government and authorities are responsible for decarbonising their means of travel.

The new repowering model from Wrightbus is a huge step in the right direction for the UK in terms of decarbonisation. Currently, Wrightbus is the largest buyer of batteries in the truck and bus sector in the UK. And, due to the large amount being purchased by Wrightbus, the company can make it affordable to its customers. “We have manufactured 100 battery powered buses this year, and we are looking to repower 300 buses by 2025, and then 500 by 2026,” said Jean-Marc. This scaling of the business allows Wrightbus to make its products affordable to its customers. “We can reduce costs of materials that we are using and that gives us the possibility to grow our business, to hit those targets to get diesel buses off the road.”

To keep up with demand, Wrightbus will be recruiting more technicians and highly skilled engineers to work on the buses. “We have a letter of intent from a bus operator to decarbonise its whole fleet; that will keep us busy at the facility until the middle of next year,” said Jean-Marc.

With the growing workload, Jean-Marc has no hesitation that Wrightbus will be able to handle it. “We are in the process of hiring, and in the future, we may need to extend our working hours, or even look at night shifts. Currently the facility here is only open five days a week, but we could go to seven. In order to further help with the increased workload we are also planning to open another facility.”

The right experience

A unique selling point for Wrightbus is its knowledge and experience in hydrogen batteries as it is part of the HydraB Power family. “We have a very in-depth team based inside our facility and our own bespoke research facility in Queens University Belfast, which is the world's only research facility dedicated entirely to bus technology,” explained Robert. Wrightbus has the same knowledge and experience from its engineers who have worked on the hydrogen powered engines, who now work on the battery engines.

Even though there are smaller companies on the market with all the same capabilities, which are trying to do the same thing, they do not have the longevity in the game like Wrightbus. “We have

worked with electric buses for 15 years and hydrogen for over ten, so we are more than qualified in the technical department to be offering a ten year warranty on each bus we repower,” said Jean-Marc. Plus, while having the engine changed from a diesel to an electric, the bus can also have a face-lift, and any repairs fixed in the company's refurb shop.

European expansion

Every country in Europe has the same issue in that it wants to remove or cut down its large fleets of diesel buses on the roads. “A facility like this one in Bicester, is 45,000 sq. ft. and is a low investment compared to what it would be to build a new electric bus manufacturing facility, and this allows us to expand inexpensively,” said Jean-Marc. As mentioned, the company is intending on opening a second facility in the UK, but also expand into Germany, France and Benelux over the next three years. “After that we will look at other regions as well.”

Another bus market that is global is school buses which are predominately still diesel and are used daily around the world. Due to having existing customers, Wrightbus has already built connections that its new electric engines can be sold in to. “Our customers in Singapore have already asked us to look at their existing fleets and in Hong Kong, they have the same number of buses as London and a market of similar size, making it another area we can expand in to,” he said. l

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Wrightbus has opened its NewPower facility in Bicester, the heartland of automotive, to decarbonise fleets of buses by replacing diesel engines with electric power trains

• The cost of repowering a bus is less than half of what it would cost for a new electric bus to be manufactured, and the process only takes three weeks instead of the nine-to-12 months for a new bus to be manufactured.

• The process is simple and requires minimal modifications to the bus, besides fitting the new engines. The process is also green, ensuring any parts removed from the buses go back to the fleet for spares and repairs

• The company is planning on increasing its employees from 22 to 60 by the end of the year to keep up with demand. Despite the sectors skills shortage, Wrightbus believes it is in the right location for this

• Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales, plans on expansion in the UK, Germany, France and Benelux over the next three years, as well as other continents such as Asia

Inside the new Wrightbus facility

GOING GLOBAL

David Atkinson, UK Head of Manufacturing SME & Mid Corporates, Lloyds Bank asks colleague Ralph Edwards, Head of Trade Sales, why the time is right for UK manufacturers to explore their export ambitions

It’s been said that the glory days of British manufacturing are now behind us. However, as David explained, that’s just not reflected in the facts, especially when you zoom out and take a global view.

“We’re the world’s fourth largest exporter, behind only China, the US and Germany,” he said. “And, while manufacturers may only make up around five per cent of UK businesses, they account for almost half of the nation’s exports.

“It speaks volumes that, while fewer than one in ten UK businesses currently export, more than nine in ten UK manufacturers sell overseas. Yes, there are challenges, but manufacturers are adept in navigating them, and they have a vibrant support ecosystem to lean on.”

What does the current export environment look like?

“Looking at our latest research, there are currently some really encouraging indicators. Our May Business Barometer survey of more than 1,000 firms across the country shows business confidence is at an eight-year high, with business leaders buoyed by rising optimism around both their own trading prospects and the economy in general," answered Ralph.

“The ongoing energy, security and geopolitical issues certainly can’t be ignored, but it’s easy to focus on the negatives. The reality is that manufacturers have been operating under similar conditions for many years

Operating in multiple territories diversifies your customer base and means you are less dependent on any one market

Ralph Edwards, Head of Trade Sales, Lloyds Bank

now, and they are plainly thriving.

“Exporting can be riskier than trading in domestic markets, but the trade-off is that it can also bring higher rewards. Exporters tend to grow faster than those with a domestic focus, for example, and firms who export say it acts as a catalyst for greater innovation, recruitment, diversification and digitisation.

“Manufacturers shouldn’t wait for any of the current risks to fall away, because more will

LEFT: The UK has an ambition to grow exports to a trillion pounds by 2030 and there have been some significant commitments to support the exporting manufacturers who will be vital to achieving this

undoubtedly come along to replace them. That’s not to make light of these challenges, but they can be effectively managed.

“Firms should make building resilience a priority and, actually, exporting is part of that. Operating in multiple territories diversifies your customer base and means you are less dependent on any one market, helping protect your business from any domestic fluctuations.”

Conditions are improving, with inflation on a downward trajectory. How can manufacturers best take advantage of international opportunities?

“Given the volatility and uncertainty that exists, manufacturers must think about these challenges strategically, considering what every variable means for their operations,” continued Ralph.

“It’s important to make sure your finance team are fully plugged in with the commercial and operations team, so you're thinking holistically about any impact.

“That can include everything from how much cash and inventory you hold, to how you negotiate payment terms. Some supply chains remain vulnerable, so consideration should be given to things like reshoring and diversifying suppliers, as well as the terms you agree with your suppliers and buyers.

“Trading internationally can mean longer sales and payables cycles, putting pressure on cash flow. Businesses need to be agile and reactive in order to optimise their working capital. That means continually reviewing inventory levels, lead times, payment terms and the potential for disruption.

“It’s also worth exploring how trade instruments can help mitigate risk if disruption does occur or trade finance to help with working capital.”

Whether you are an experienced exporter or doing it for first time, it can be intimidating to enter new markets. What support is out there?

“Everyone recognises that manufacturing is fundamental to the UK economy and our balance of trade," added Ralph.

Challenges exist but manufacturers are adept in navigating them, and they have a vibrant support ecosystem to lean on

David Atkinson, UK Head of Manufacturing SME & Mid Corporates, Lloyds Bank

“The UK has an ambition to grow exports to a trillion pounds by 2030 and there have been some significant commitments to support the exporting manufacturers who will be vital to achieving this.

“Lloyds Bank is working alongside government and various industry bodies to support more manufacturers to export, because we recognise the important contribution this makes to the UK’s overall prosperity.

“We work closely with the Department for Business and Trade for example, which offers a range of free training courses and has a team of experts who are on hand to answer practical questions on anything from customs rules to taxes and tariffs.

“And we partner with UK Export Finance to provide government-backed support to UK exporters, which can help exporters free up working capital, ease cash flow constraints and scale up operations.

“In terms of identifying the right markets and customers for your products, we’ve created an International Trade Portal, which is available for free to all manufacturers on our website; you don’t have to be a Lloyds Bank customer.

“It includes a database of more than a million buyers and suppliers around the world, as well as a live tender database. We’ve also compiled a library of more than 20,000 sector-specific market reports and over 180 country profiles, including guidance on things like cultural differences, to help firms identify the best opportunities for their business.”

Will the available support help manufacturers overcome any understandable anxieties they may have?

“There are some really good reasons to be positive at the moment. Products with a ‘made in UK’ badge rightly have a global reputation for quality, which gives British businesses a good start when it comes to accessing international opportunities.

“At the same time, experience tells us that those manufacturers that export survive economic ups and downs better than those that don’t. And the support network for exporters is probably stronger than it has ever been. It’s now about exploring the potential to diversify your markets, de-risking your business and improving your profitability.” l

To find out more about the Lloyds Bank International Trade Portal visit www.lloydsbanktrade.com

THE NOBLE WAY TO INSPIRE THE FUTURE

A project to capture the hearts and minds of people around the world –the water speed record. But, as we’re regularly reminded by Richard Noble OBE, this is no easy task. He and the intrepid Thrust WSH team need to keep testing and researching. Not only that, they also want to leave an inspirational legacy for the engineers of tomorrow. Here is Tom St John’s interview with Richard

You're pushing on the most enormous open door… This is the way to really inspire kids

Richard Noble, Project Director, Thrust Boats

In late September, 1952, on the shores of Loch Ness, John Cobb climbed into his jet powered speed boat, Crusader, for the last time. Daredevil, hero, world record holder, Cobb was confident of yet another triumph.

He was no stranger to these daring, death defying missions. He had already set three land speed records, with the world’s press dubbing him 'The Fastest Man Alive.' Now the water speed record was his to claim.

The Queen Mother had visited Inverness two days prior, and had wished Cobb luck on his endeavor. Such was the nation’s excitement, that it should be met with the well wishes of the Royal Family.

Cobb ventured out into the middle of the cold, dark waters of the loch, a crowd of people, including his wife, Vicki, gathered anxiously on its banks and roads, and official time keepers checked their stopwatches.

A shrill blast of Crusader’s jet engine caused the quiet waters of Loch Ness to erupt, Cobb was off, determined for new honours in the world of speed.

Along the measured mile, the boat reached an impossibly high speed of 240mph (386kph) This was the fastest anyone had ever travelled across water and faster, by some distance, than the then record of 178mph.

Perhaps pressured into putting on a show for the crowds, or perhaps longing to set a record for years to come, Cobb pushed Crusader over the edge of her limits. The boat lost stability and disintegrated.

Ried Railton, the designer of Crusader, later concluded that the loss of control was down to an undamped oscillator. Cobb was killed - he was 52.

In the six weeks prior, Cobb had taken Crusader out every morning for trial runs. He had clocked increasingly impressive speeds, reaching a top speed of 185mph (297kmh) during one run. On one of these mornings, a six year old Richard Noble was in the car with his family, being driven around the north side of Loch Ness.

They spotted a huge crowd gathered by Temple Pier. “I have often thought this may have been the day the Queen Mother came to see John Cobb and the boat – this might explain the crowds,” Richard recalled.

“I never saw Crusader run or attempt the record, but I joined the crowd and saw the boat sitting on Temple Pier. It was a huge moment for me. ‘Wow! I want to do that,’ I thought to myself.”

A need for speed

This is the reaction a lot of six year olds would elicit after seeing this. But Richard’s fascination was one that has stayed with him his whole life.

Fast forward 72 years and Richard has broken two land speed records. The first was in 1983, when he drove Thrust 2 at an

ABOVE: Richard on the Thrust WSH stand at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week BELOW: 1978 – current world speed record holder, Ken Warby’s hydroplane Spirit of Australia – 317mph

average speed of 633mph, (1,019 kmh) hitting a peak of 650mph (1,046kmh)

He was then project leader for Thrust SSC, a supersonic car driven by RAF squadron leader Andy Green that travelled faster than the speed of sound and broke the land speed record at 763mph (1,221km/h). A record that still stands to this day.

Richard then turned the teams’ attention to another land speed record attempt in 2019. Once again with a supersonic car, the Bloodhound SSC project aimed to surpass 1,000mph (1,609kmh).

However, the project went into bankruptcy after a ministerial formal offer was defaulted on. Thrust SSC was at an advanced stage, but with the government’s decision final, their Chinese sponsor soon withdrew, and the project was finished.

This is something that still rankles Richard to this day. “They (the government) completely wrecked it,” he said. “Britain is so risk adverse, it’s embarrassing.”

LEFT: The Thrust WSH model at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week

I implore everyone to take ten minutes and fill in the survey. And with a bit of luck we might institute some change

Richard Noble, Project Director, Thrust Boats

Just to put this man’s need for speed into perspective, I’ve heard him refer to Formula One as “really boring.” The Bloodhound car was a supersonic speed vehicle, with rocket motors that could produce 135,000 horse power. As that’s the equivalent power of around 150 Formula One cars, I’m not surprised he thinks F1 is boring.

I went to meet Richard the week before this year’s Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week (where the project was featured in the Best of British Showcase section), and once again, speed was of the essence. We at The Manufacturer have partnered with Thrust WSH, in an effort to push a crucial stage of Richard’s latest project.

I wanted to interview Richard in the build

up to the show, as Thrust had just launched an all-important education survey as part of the project. This will serve as the basis to create a STEM education programme to help inspire the next generation of manufacturers and engineers into the sector. The survey was then presented to the vast manufacturing audience at the NEC in Birmingham.

Richard had been up in Scotland, where the team had been working on the C3.2B model, a 25% model of the Thrust WSH boat. He told me he would be back at his desk on Wednesday that week, and gave me an address in South Oxfordshire. As I followed my satnav up a narrow road, I couldn’t help but think this was a strange place for Thrust to set up an office.

I soon realised I had been invited to meet Richard at his impressive, very beautiful home. I was met at the front door by his wife, Shirley, and when I walked into the front room, Richard was sat busily at his laptop. He stood up and greeted me warmly. “Where do you want to do this thing?” He asked. There are many potential back drops for a video interview in Richard’s house; pictures and models of various high speed craft are dotted everywhere. It’s the sort of house you would expect a world record speed setter to live in.

Something very odd going on I placed a chair in front of the yellow C3.2B Thrust boat replica in the corner of the room. Richard, after Shirley had affectionally fixed his hair, came to take his seat in front of the camara.

We went straight into discussing the Thrust WSH: STEM Education Survey. As was the case with Bloodhound SSC, these projects garner a huge amount of excitement among school children and students.

“In fact Bloodhound was such a success that we were engaging with over 120,000 students and kids a year and our project was being followed in 200 countries,” said Richard.

The interest was huge, with the Bloodhound education programme being used in places like Iran and Yemen. Full scale models of the Bloodhound car have been to Canada and South America as well as the Far East and China. Richard says video footage of the project generated some 80 million views on YouTube.

“You're pushing on the most enormous open door,” said Richard “This is the way to really inspire kids and to enable them to understand their education. And when you find groups of 10 and 11 year olds talking about Mach numbers, you suddenly realise you're making a real impact.”

With that in mind, an education programme, being driven by Bloodhound Education, is currently running during this early research phase of the Thrust WSH project.

There are around 30-40 companies working on this world record attempt, and each company has expressed frustrations over recruitment. In some cases, these businesses are unable to expand due to the lack of young talent coming through to fill available vacancies.

Richard’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head gently as he said: “There's something very odd going on. And of course, nobody seems to know quite what it is.

“So, we thought if we’re going to run this education programme, we need to know what the hell we're doing; we’ve got to focus on this and we've got to have data. Hence the creation of the survey.”

This is being shared to as many companies as possible, as well as education providers. It’s looking for answers to long asked questions.

We, at The Manufacturer, along with Michael Page and Bloodhound Education, have helped Thrust launch the survey. The

BELOW: The Bloodhound SSC. A project that fell through due to lack of government funding

TOP: The legacy that Thrust WSH wants to leave is one of inspiration and a springboard to launch future careers

ABOVE: John Cobb attempting the water speed record in 1952

University of Leeds and The University of Bradford will collect the data and share the findings in a couple of months.

The legacy that Thrust WSH wants to leave is one of inspiration. A springboard to launch future careers that utilise the skills associated with the project. This is targeted at the next generation of innovators, designers and inventors.

Fewer young people are opting for STEMbased careers and the UK manufacturing and engineering sectors are suffering as a result. As we’ve said so often, if they only knew of the projects they could be working on. Undoubtedly, this is one such project.

As Richard puts it: “We’ve got one hell of a team.” Thrust has three naval architects and three Rolls-Royce chief engineers as part of the project. The team recognise that all companies need to inspire young recruits eager to learn and apply these types of high level skills into other engineering and science projects in whatever field.

“Everyone has the same problem,” said Richard. “We might have a solution. I implore everyone to take ten minutes and fill in the survey. And with a bit of luck we might institute some change.”

Mission ‘impossible’

As mentioned, this is a project still in its research phase. Thrust may be determined - having held four land speed records, there is an unmistakable air of confidence within the team. But Richard, while also confident, was quick to remind us of the magnitude of this task.

“Incredibly difficult,” he said, with a raise of his eyebrows. “Because the technology just doesn't exist. You're dealing with the water, you're dealing with the air, and you've got to produce a vehicle which is safe. And it's got to make a major advance on the world record, which has stood for some 40 years, at 317mph (510kmh).”

This was set by the Australian Ken Warby back in 1978. And such a long standing record indicates the daunting difficulty and danger of this attempt.

After his death in 1952, John Cobb was followed by the brilliant Donald Campbell, who had broken six water speeds records and is still the only person to hold world speed records for both land and water at the same time. He was killed in yet another record breaking attempt while piloting the iconic boat Bluebird in 1967.

In fact, Ken Warby is one of the few not to be killed while attempting the water speed record. Since he set that record, Lee Taylor (1980) and Craig Arfons (1989) have both lost

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• These projects are no longer about making the driver the hero. They’re driven by teamwork and the goal is education improvement

• Thrust WSH has gained, and will continue to gain, huge interest from national and global media outlets

• If testing goes well this summer then the team will announce the project’s launch at some point next year

• Projects like this can truly be an inspiration to any future engineers, innovators or designers

We know there are serious recruitment difficulties in the industry and we want to help with a new education programme

Richard Noble

their lives in pursuit of the record, further underlining the dangers of this mission.

“In the early days with people like John Cobb and Donald Campbell, they were doing something incredibly brave and were trying their luck, because they didn’t have the data,” said Richard. “They had no means of knowing what was happening and how dangerous it was becoming.”

Richard himself is no stranger to near misses. Before partnering with John Akroyd, he built Thrust 1, his first jet powered car. The car rolled on its first test run, which could have quite easily been fatal.

Leaning forward slightly, he continued, “You've got to make sure that everything, absolutely everything, is sorted. And if it isn't you're going to kill somebody, it's really as simple as that. We have to be very, very careful and treat this as a high technology experimental project.”

When the full scale Thrust WSH is ready it will have autonomous capabilities, but it will also need to have a driver. Firstly, a human is needed in the information and data feedback loop. Secondly, and most importantly, someone has to pilot the boat to achieve a valid world record breaking run, and Thrust will soon commence a six month programme to find a suitable candidate.

Pushing the boundaries of possibility

The week after this interview with Richard, we met again at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week. He greeted me warmly, once again, as I made my way to the Thrust WSH stand on the show floor.

Richard and his team were engaging with attendees and inviting them to fill in the Thrust Education Survey.

“How’s it going?” I asked him.

“Bloody hard work.” He said, in his low, grand tone. “But people are stopping to talk to us which is the main thing.”

It’s worth mentioning, this is “bloody hard work.” The amount of hours that the Thrust team have put into this so far is staggering.

This was also the case during the Bloodhound SSC project which ended in 2019. “Nine years of effort,” said Richard. “I put in some 50,000 man hours. And the team put in so much determination and drive to get this thing done.”

No wonder Richard felt let down by the government’s U-turn on funding, “It was a terrible situation,” he said. “Everyone's effort and work was just destroyed. Because of sheer stupidity and arrogance.”

The same effort is being exerted to make the Thrust boat a success. More effort, if anything. Given that the water speed record is uncharted territory for Thrust, they had to start from scratch.

Richard is unrelenting. His love for this project has him addicted seven days a week. And it’s a project that’s gaining traction and moving forward.

“Our quarter size model, the 10 foot C3.2, powered by a small drone jet engine, can get up to 200mph, and we're running it this summer,” he explained.

“And from that, we're going get an enormous amount of data which is going to enable us to make that decision as to whether we push ahead with the full

Scan the QR code to

Scan the QR

scale boat, or whether we think it's just too difficult.”

Richard certainly isn’t getting carried away. I suspect partly because he remembers how quickly the Bloodhound project turned from excitement to despair, but also because of the amount of work that is still needed to make this a success.

“The survey is the crucial thing,” insisted Richard. “That's what we're after. We need to tell everybody what we're doing, but the reality is that until we've actually completed all the trials and testing on the C3.2B model, and got it up to 225mph, we can’t actually announce that we're going ahead with the project.”

But he repeated: “The survey, of course, has to come first.”

Not to add to the intense hype that Thrust are trying to temper, but we’re gleefully willing for this to happen.

This would be a truly momentous achievement of British engineering and ingenuity. And undoubtably, it would inspire the next generation. In the same way that a six-year-old Richard was entranced by the sight of the Crusader at Loch Ness, just days before John Cobb attempted the world record.

Designing a stable and controllable craft to travel across water at speeds of 450mph (724kmh) is the impossible challenge. But these projects are all about pushing the boundaries of possibility.

With another raise of his eyebrows, I saw the ever-present twinkle in Richard’s eye when you get him talking about a world record attempt, as he said: “I’m pretty convinced we can pull this off.” l

LEFT: Thrust WSH and Crusader models

participate in the Thrust WSH: STEM Education Survey

code for a video of Tom's interview with Richard Noble

INTERPLAS COATINGS

TURNING CHALLENGES INTO TRIUMPHS

Guided by the mantra of ‘never turning down a challenge,’ Interplas Coatings has successfully reshored work from Asia, retained multiple high-value projects within the UK and plans to open a new high-tech facility. Jonny Williamson reports

Over the past 30 years, Interplas Coatings has grown to become one of the UK’s leading paint spraying partners to OEMs and Tier 2 suppliers. Located in Dudley, West Midlands – the heart of the UK automotive industry – its state-of-the-art facility specialises in water and solventbased wet paint application, spraying plastic and metal components for global auto manufacturers.

Interplas’ client list reads like a who’s who of auto giants, including Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, Nissan and Rolls Royce, to name a few. Beyond automotive, the company extends its expertise to the health and military sectors alongside a range of niche

products, from beauty salon equipment to professional-grade speakers and selfserve vending machines.

Having leased the building since day one, the owners – Narinder and Avtar Kaur Mahi – marked Interplas’ 25th anniversary by purchasing the site with a £600,000 package from Yorkshire Bank. This funding kickstarted an extensive renovation programme, including reconfiguring the internal layout, installing cutting-edge new machinery, improving staff areas and modernising the exterior. These upgrades, coupled with an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement, have yielded impressive results: a 30% increase in production capacity, a 20% uplift in productivity and a 50% boost in turnover. These gains are

LEFT: Interplas uses cutting-edge paint technologies, blending manual and robotic procedures

even more remarkable given the turbulent decade that has buffeted Interplas and the global auto industry.

Sustained strategic investments have played a pivotal role, but so has the company’s strong culture of innovation and proactive approach to challenges, said Phil Stebbings, Sales and Commercial Manager.

“While many shy away from difficult projects, we see them as puzzles to be solved. Just yesterday, I visited a customer struggling to mask a product for painting. Their product development had ground to a halt because they couldn’t find a solution. I looked at the CAD drawings and proposed a solution almost immediately. The look of disbelief was priceless. For us, it’s all about breaking down problems into manageable steps and finding a way forward.”

The power of saying yes Interplas’ refusal to shy away from challenges has not only earned them respect but also secured substantial contracts. One of Interplas’ greatest achievements is reshoring a safety critical camera bracket from Nissan Japan to the UK.

“It wasn’t easy, let me tell you,” Phil added. “The specified paint system didn’t comply with UK REACH regulations, and the masking tolerance was just 3mm. Achieving that level of precision consistently by hand is incredibly labour-intensive.”

To overcome these hurdles, Interplas collaborated with one of its paint suppliers to develop a compliant system, and pioneered a unique vacuum-forming masking method with an innovative clipping feature to prevent paint bleed and maintain the critical 3mm tolerance.

“Previously, these parts would travel from the UK to Japan for painting and back for final fitting at Nissan UK. By streamlining the process, we eliminated a major and unnecessary supply chain loop. Every stage, from moulding and painting to assembly and fitting, now happens here in the UK, generating massive cost, time and carbon savings.”

Another triumph is Interplas’ involvement in the INEOS Grenadier 4x4 programme. Conceived to fill the gap left

by the discontinued Land Rover Defender, the Grenadier was set for production in a brand-new facility in Bridgend, South Wales. But it was not to be.

A late pivot saw INEOS Automotive acquire an existing plant in Hambach, France, previously owned by MercedesBenz, citing strategic advantages. While most of the supply chain followed, Interplas managed to retain a crucial part of production in the UK.

“Panels for the Grenadier’s roof liner and overhead console, which houses switches and controls, posed a tricky problem. Creating them is a complex, multistage process, involving paint and graphic overlays, with no room for error.”

When others hesitated, Interplas solved the challenge by leveraging its expertise

While many shy away from difficult projects, we see them as puzzles to be solved

Phil Stebbings, Sales and Commercial Manager

LEFT: Producing roof panels for the INEOS Grenadier 4x4 is a complex, multistage process with no room for error

and partnerships in the printing industry.

“We receive a blank, flat moulding with various aperture sizes depending on the Grenadier model, which we spray ‘gun metal’ grey. After painting, they go to our dedicated printing partner, where the graphics are applied layer by layer, colour by colour. Panels then return to us for a full inspection before being shipped to Hambach for fitting in the vehicle.”

Interplas’ success with these panels has led to further opportunities, including

nearly a dozen additional part numbers initially destined for Germany. “With INEOS launching several new colour schemes, they’re increasingly trusting us with these parts rather than looking to source everything from Europe.”

Phil is especially proud of the ripple effect in UK job creation this work is having. “Our graphics partner has hired three additional people for this project. Plus, further work we’ve won with INEOS has meant collaborating with two more printing specialists, both of whom have also grown their teams off the back of it.”

One of Interplas’ greatest achievements is reshoring a safety critical part from Nissan Japan to the UK

Phil Stebbings, Sales and Commercial Manager

Redefining paint finishes Interplas doesn’t just apply paint, the company is deeply involved in the entire process, from concept to completion. The team is especially keen on opening eyes to what’s possible with modern formulations, like Interplas’ satin chrome finish, which replaces traditional chrome plating.

“Many manufacturers specify chrome plating by default because that’s what they’ve always used, but our satin chrome offers the same look and feel with significant cost and environmental

It’s crucial we constantly look for efficiency improvements, exploit new technologies and drive forward

Phil Stebbings, Sales and Commercial Manager

benefits. Whenever we present to OEMs, they are blown away.”

“Proposing this alternative led to us winning additional work on the Grenadier, specifically an outer bezel in the console,” Phil explained. “It wasn’t in the original RFQ and was due to be chrome-plated in Europe. We saw an opportunity and seized it. We presented various shades of satin chrome paint to the INEOS design team, who couldn’t tell the difference in look or feel. It was another win for us, and ensured more work stayed in the UK.”

Developing a new paint is an intensive process, usually taking about four weeks.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Interplas Coatings is a leading paint sprayer for OEMs and Tier 2 suppliers

• Strategic investments have boosted productivity by 20% and turnover by 50%

• Recently installed robotic technology has cut cycle time by 15 seconds

• Innovative satin chrome finish offers environmental and cost benefits

• A proactive approach to challenges has helped retain work in the UK

• Interplas’ successes are fuelling job creation in its supply chain

• Future expansion aims to double capacity and turnover

Once the OEM approves a sample colour, Interplas works closely with suppliers to create a paint system that meets the required colour, application, finish and durability.

The recipe is continually tweaked based on Interplas’ feedback regarding adhesion, hardness, spread and gloss level. Once finalised, painted panels are submitted for testing. Following approval, that batch goes into manufacture, establishing the final recipe sprayed.

Harnessing technological innovations

For spraying, Interplas blends cuttingedge paint technologies and human expertise. Recent investments include a £200,000 ABB 6-axis hollow-wrist robot. The robot’s enhanced articulation allows it to efficiently coat complex parts, reducing cycle times by 15 seconds per part. Additionally, a new wet back water wash system provides more powerful extraction, minimising airborne contaminants and improving spraying quality.

In partnership with the IT team, Phil has spearheaded the development of digital systems that have brought significant operational efficiencies. A new touchscreen programme, for example, provides instant Pareto analysis, allowing quality inspectors to quickly and easily log defects via a drop-down menu and highlight affected areas.

“Once logged, this data helps us identify which defects are most frequent or critical, enabling the team to prioritise and address the underlying causes,” Phil explained.

Another recent addition is Interplas’ paint batch management system based on a FEFO (First Expired, First Out) approach. Each batch is logged in a database and assigned a unique barcode. The system automates paint selection, ensuring sprayers use the oldest batches first. This real-time, paperless system not only optimises inventory but also allows customer enquiries to be swiftly responded to at the click of a button.

“It’s crucial we constantly look for efficiency improvements, exploit new technologies and drive forward,” added Phil. “Over the next four years, we anticipate nearly £3.6m in new business opportunities. Despite wild fluctuations in input costs, we stay competitive by focusing on managing controllable factors – reducing cycling times, optimising paint transfer and minimising

ABOVE: Interplas’ client list reads like an automotive who’s who

waste of materials and time. This strategy ensures we meet specifications without passing inflated prices on to customers.”

Looking ahead

The road ahead looks extremely positive for Interplas, with multiple opportunities on the horizon. Having become an approved camera bracket supplier for current Nissan models, Phil is hopeful this will translate to further work on upcoming additions to the Juke and Qashqai line-up.

With Nissan UK projecting it will produce thousands each a week, such a result would represent another major boost for Interplas, with the layout and budget in place for a new three-cell robotic paint system to accommodate the work should the decision go its way.

Similarly, JLR is due to announce new additions to its line-up, with Interplas tendering bids for interior and exterior parts ranging from single-layer to four-layer paint systems. Exactly which suppliers will be granted the work is due to be announced sometime in the next six to nine months.

“I’m optimistic that decision will come our way. If it does, we intend to transform the building opposite our current site into one of the world’s most advanced painting shops to accommodate the work. Housing a new four-cell robotic system, the new facility would double our capacity, headcount and turnover; it’d be huge for us. It involves a massive volume of work but I’m confident we have the experience, expertise and drive to deliver it.” l

ALL PART OF THE MASTERPLAN AGVs

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are finding a growing number of applications within manufacturing companies of all shapes and sizes. The Manufacturer Editor, Joe Bush, sat down with James Jones, Partner at AGV manufacturer, MasterMover, winner of The Manufacturer MX Awards Product Innovation & Design category 2023, to find out more

MasterMover’s range of electric tugs deliver safe, controlled movement of heavy-wheeled loads to a variety of industrial and manufacturing sectors all over the world to eliminate manual handling, protect people and improve operational efficiency.

The company’s wide product range can move anything from 500kg up to several hundred tonnes and, as the

range grows and expands, the company is also incorporating a growing level of sophistication and technology into its offering.

“We've been designing and installing AGVs for several years,” commented James. “So for anyone looking to deploy AGVs on their sites, we can offer a number of key learnings and top tips to help installation, and help manufacturers get to a successful operational state as quickly as possible.”

A ‘guided’ history

Manufacturing is constantly looking for new ways to innovate, and to produce better, safer and more efficient outcomes and operational benefits. And, although AGVs have been around for some time, modern technology is changing the shape and crucially, the capabilities of these vehicles. As such, they can play a significant role in solving operational efficiency challenges that manufacturers are currently facing.

James explained that traditional AGV technologies would have included magnetic tape on factory floors and inducted wires being used to enable navigation. However, today, MasterMover’s AGVs are able to navigate from the natural environment, meaning manufacturers don't have to install equipment into the floor for the vehicle to know where it is, and where it's going. The software behind them is constantly improving and becoming more readily available.

The sectors that are deploying AGVs is also changing. Traditional AGV deployment has typically been centred around lightweight, high volume manufacturing such as food and beverage. However, through the deployment and growth in the market, more heavy industrial manufacturing plants are now benefitting from AGVs and moving away from fixed automation infrastructure.

“We’re seeing a huge amount of interest in AGVs,” James added. “Everyone's looking to improve operational efficiency, and AGVs can help. The motivation behind

AGV deployment is also hugely varied.

“Some customers have a clear ROI target and that will be their area of focus, while others might be looking for secondary benefits such as positional accuracy, efficiency or simply want to use the latest technology available in manufacturing processes. They may even be experiencing a shortage of labour availability in their region due to the current employment market.

“So, there's benefits everywhere. And I think manufacturers from all over the world are starting to broaden the reasons and benefits for looking towards AGVs and automated solutions.”

MasterMover's AGVs are equipped with BlueBotics’ ANTdriven technology, leveraging advanced navigation and control systems to achieve autonomous movement. ANT (Autonomous Navigation Technology) natural feature technology enables precise localisation and mapping. This technology allows AGVs to navigate within complex environments and avoid obstacles through a virtual path.

LEFT: The ability of MasterMover's AGVs to operate outdoors significantly expands their deployment possibilities

The ANTdriven system supports seamless integration with existing infrastructure, facilitating smooth communication between AGVs and centralised control systems. “We can also work with customers to provide different types of AGV navigation technology (e.g. line following, satellite GNSS outdoor navigation) depending on their specific requirements,” James added.

Applications

Any product that is being moved around a site has the potential to have an AGV involved in the process. In terms of where they can be deployed, they have the capability to be integrated into part of the main production line - creating flow lines where before, there may have existed rigid, fixed tracks, cranes and process equipment.

The same can be achieved with a fleet of AGVs creating more modular and scalable flow line potential. There is also the option to have AGVs playing sideline roles within a main production line e.g., collecting kitting or ancillary parts and delivering them to the line.

“There's now huge scope with AGVs,” James continued. “Historically, they were very much geared towards lightweight warehousing (we've all seen footage

Manufacturers from all over the world are starting to broaden the reasons and benefits for looking towards AGVs and automated solutions

James Jones, Partner, MasterMover

of Amazon factories where parcels are moved around in a very clever way using large fleets of small scale AGVs).

“However, big, heavy automotive plants, for example, can now also achieve that same benefit. As AGVs have become bigger, more powerful, and the physical vehicle capacity has increased, so their field of application has broadened.”

The evolution of AGV technology has been marked by significant advancements in sensor capabilities. These improvements have enhanced AGVs’ ability to operate in dynamic environments and adapt to changing conditions such as outdoor weather or slopes. Likewise, as the technology continues to evolve, adjusting routes is becoming even easier.

Traditionally, AGVs have been limited to indoor operations where floor conditions are smooth and typically dry. “More and more, we’re seeing that our customers want to automate processes beyond the factory door – for example, building-tobuilding movements or yard applications,” James continued.

“Our AGVs are available with impressive GNSS outdoor navigation technology as well as a rugged design that ensures weather protection and consistent performance.”

Problems and pitfalls

As is the case when deploying any new technologies, some manufacturers are apprehensive about ROI, are risk averse and can get stuck in ‘pilot purgatory’ as they struggle to move technology from smaller trials to full scale deployment.

However, MasterMover is well-placed to assess the common mistakes that operations make when trying to deploy AGVs, and James offered some top tips on how to make deployment a success.

A fundamental point is that good product specification is a must. So, for the product to work - not only on day or year one, but five years down the line - the product has to be designed correctly.

“At MasterMover, we place a huge emphasis on vehicle design so that the product itself is capable of dealing with the physical world. So, within the operating environment, knowing if there are uneven floors, slopes, expansion gaps, or anything that can impact product performance, is really important. We have seen other sites

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• MasterMover’s AGVs can move product from 500kg up to several hundred tonnes

• AGVs are now being deployed across the sector, including heavy industrial manufacturing

• Their modular nature makes AGVs more flexible and deployable than traditional, fixed infrastructure

• AGV integration and deployment should be done in stages

• AGVs will be a key component of the factory of the future

LEFT: MasterMover won the Product Innovation & Design category at The Manufacturer MX Awards 2023

struggle with vehicle design and durability, so getting the product specification right is key.”

Furthermore, James warned that while having a great product is paramount, installation is also crucial. He added that the best way to achieve this is through a staged process - create a good solid team between the customer and the supplier and roll out installation gradually.

“For example, we've created a highly automated system with Toyota,” James added. “We’ve developed a very complicated system but the process of getting there was very simple. We ran the AGV out of hours, built customer confidence and achieved a big win where the customer enjoyed seeing the product in operation.

“We then brought it alongside other pieces of equipment within production hours. That staged integration process has meant we’ve been able to achieve wins all the way through the process - management and everyone else at the company has bought into it as a result. Both ourselves and the customer felt really empowered.

“It was an enjoyable installation journey, so a big tip from us is to stage the installation process, and don't get too far ahead. Get some wins under your belt, and allow the supplier and the customer to enjoy them. You can then get to the end result a lot faster. Fundamentally, that's worked well for us and it's meant that we've been able to deploy more AGVs on those sites.”

Whether it’s replicating an existing process or bringing something new to the table, when a MasterMover AGV goes into site, it is set up with millimetre accuracy which is highly repeatable, with AGVs capable of hitting the same mark time after time. And if that site is working three, 24/7 shifts, there are huge efficiency gains to be had. In addition, AGVs also have the added bonus of enabling manufacturers to redeploy human labour into more value-add activities.

What does the future of AGVs look like? With the future factory, Industry 4.0 and ever smarter systems and technology, manufacturing infrastructure is becoming more and more integrated, and AGVs have a big role to play in that future. And MasterMover is seeing the technology spin out, with heavy industry now wanting to enjoy the same AGV-related benefits

AGVs are a lot more flexible, deployable and you can move them between sites. There's modularity around the nature of an AGV style solution

James Jones, Partner, MasterMover

which were previously the sole domain of high volume manufacturing.

Traditionally, if a manufacturer had an area of collection which product had to move through, there may well have been a fixed infrastructure which would have involved huge capital upfront investment. And as such, the company would have to achieve a certain number of production units out of that piece of equipment to get the payback.

“The beauty of AGVs is that they can grow,” James added. “You can start small, add more into the fleet when they are required, and you can halve your takt time (the rate at which a product needs to be completed in order to meet customer demand) by putting a second AGV into a single operation. They're a lot more flexible, deployable and you can move them between sites.

“We speak to customers that will set up a production facility with a view to only being there for a year or two, as they have plans to move to a bigger site. However, if that’s the case the AGV system can move with them. There's modularity around the nature of an AGV style solution.

“As we have such a big existing fleet of product installed with customers all over the world, we know there's lots of conversations around how those products could be used in an automated way. We're really enjoying the growth opportunity to go back to existing customers and talk about how can we help automate a process that has perhaps been manually operated for years.

“An operator can add a lot of value driving around collecting parts in an area. But if they then have a 150-200 metre walk out to the production line, that's not valueadd. If an AGV can be deployed to go to the line, deliver its parts and come back, the operators can stay in the right areas and reduce traffic on-site." l

Case Study TOYOTA

Toyota has increased its efficiency through the use of MasterMover's AGVs. Toyota engineers at the Burnaston planta major manufacturing centre in the UK - identified waste in the production and transfer of resin back doors.

Previously, resin back doors were loaded onto dolly trains to facilitate transfers throughout the facility. This transfer process involved an operator continuously driving back and forth while towing laden dolly trains throughout production stages, a process that was both inefficient and costly to Toyota. The driving process was completed using a ride-on-tow tractor and a licensed driver. That meant each shift needed dedicated resources for the transportation process. Identifying this as a non-value adding activity and an area of waste, Toyota wanted to investigate automating the driving process to maximise efficiency.

Toyota’s essential requirements steered its selection criteria, and the company identified four key requirements for its AGV system, which would need to efficiently drive through the facility; interact and mix with other plant traffic; navigate through heavily pedestrianised areas; and seamlessly integrate with existing infrastructure, processes and systems.

Toyota selected MasterMover’s AGV300 TOW, an autonomous solution that would fully automate its driving processes and slimline the transportation of resin backdoors.

“MasterMover were one of the few suppliers willing to customise and change the design of their core products specifically for our application,” said Kevin Jones, Principle Engineer, Assembly Engineering, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK.

Featuring intuitive, natural navigation, the AGV300 TOW is designed to follow a standardised route and deliver the repeatable movement of dollies. The AGV is programmed to stop at specific transfer points. Once it reaches a transfer point, the AGV300 TOW sends a signal to the door transfer system to automatically load the fabricated doors onto the individual dollies. Once the transfer of parts is complete, the AGV takes its command to move to the next station.

“A key point of the process is that the AGV needs to be able to stop very accurately at the transfer points and it can do that repeatedly,” added Kevin. “The AGV runs for around 16 hours a day; each route it runs is around 500 metres and every year it covers around 5,000 miles delivering resin back doors. It has a very busy route, mixing with other production traffic, and it also has to cross an external roadway where shunters and lorries have to pass through.”

Having been in place for two years, the AGV300 TOW has delivered a return on investment and enabled Toyota to unlock greater efficiency and reduce waste. The introduction of the AGV system has enabled Toyota to improve productivity and repurpose operatives to activities with a greater value-add.

“Our members are really confident with our AGV, in particular its safe operation. It’s been running for around two years and during that time we’ve had no safety incidents,” added Ryan Oakley, Engineer, Assembly Engineering, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK.

Toyota selected MasterMover’s AGV300 TOW, an autonomous solution that would fully automate its driving processes and slimline the transportation of resin backdoors

ON THE VERGE OF INNOVATION:

EMBRACING AGILITY

At Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024, The Manufacturer sat down with keynote speaker and Top 100 winner, Krishna Mistry, VP of Series Engineering at Verge Motorcycles, to discuss the start-up’s approach to optimising design, development and deployment

Verge Motorcycles is a Finnish technology start-up company, that manufactures fully electric motorcycles. With a production centre in Estonia, the company currently operates across Europe and other continents, with a talented team of people from across the globe consistently working on new innovations.

One recent development is the company’s new sports motorcycle which it showcased on the show floor at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024. “We have developed a sports tour

motorcycle called The Verge TS Pro which features some key innovations,” explained Krishna.

One of the key features is the hubless motor, which is developed and manufactured in-house. This motor provides high torque density situated in the rear wheel, directing torque with minimum losses to the road surface. “The fact that there is no power unit in the middle of the bike leaves plenty of room for a high-capacity battery, meaning an EV range far superior to most conventional motorcycles,” she

ABOVE: The Verge Motorcycles team

said. As well as the HMI system and fully connected capabilities, this opens up unimaginable possibilities for connected features, riding data and safety in the motorcycle riding experience.

Flavour of keynote Krishna took to the stage of the Drives & Technology Theatre on the second day of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week to discuss agile product development

RIGHT: Any motorcycle is an expensive purchase, so Verge needs to ensure that its customers get the best possible product BELOW: Krishna with her award at the Top 100 ceremony

cycles and adapting to the fast pace of change in the automotive industry. “For me, the industry is constantly changing due to the technological advancements that are happening before our eyes. Take your phone for example, the technology within that is already in our vehicles, and it's getting better and better every month,” she said.

Any motorcycle is an expensive purchase, so Verge needs to ensure that its customers get the best possible product.

During the keynote, Krishna explored that topic based on the experience she had at previous companies and the strategy currently being deployed at Verge Motorcycles. “My keynote looked at a mix of ideas and key themes to explore and consider when you're looking at the traditional product development cycle. It then looked at how you can actually pivot from them to deliver key technologies that need to go into the market sooner rather than later,” she explained.

As a young company there are a few key themes that Verge is exploring to ensure the delivery of its new programmes remain innovative, yet efficient, to support its future models. “Our key philosophies include less rigid upfront R&D so we can explore possibilities without having strict targets set from day one. We’re also looking at reducing waste in the delivery processes, in a similar vein to Lean manufacturing principles, and ensuring that engineers are focused on problem solving and not burdened by administrative actions to support delivery,” Krishna added. As Verge continues to develop its methodology, tools and processes, these are two of the core principles that it looks towards.

Manufacturing agility

Agile product development is about moving at a fast pace, which is what Verge strives to do. For Krishna, this is the ethos a company needs to be able to deliver technology that is quickly adapting and changing. “It’s about having the ability to think outside the norms of what we're used to as engineers. My background is one of a

The ability to be able to think outside of the norms of what we're used to as engineers is vital… For me, moving into a start-up environment has opened my eyes to what is achievable with agile development

Krishna Mistry, VP of Series Engineering, Verge Motorcycles

very traditional OEM culture which includes very fixed processes. For me, moving into a start-up environment has opened my eyes to what is achievable with agile development,” she explained.

At the beginning of developing a unique product or system, there are priorities that must be considered. “You must be able to select the right activities that need to be prioritised in order to get the highest value from the resources that you have,” added Krishna.

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION

One of our key philosophies is ensuring that engineers are focused on problem solving and not burdened by administrative actions to support delivery

Krishna Mistry, VP of Series Engineering, Verge Motorcycles

Falling short

She added that there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to agility. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach. It's got to be right for the company at that point in time. It must suit the business ambitions, and what they need to deliver,” said Krishna.

For Verge Motorcycles, the company wanted to be the first to market with its products. And, to do this, it has had to deploy some unique methods within its development process, while learning on the way.

Now, when approaching its next project, the company is equipped with the knowledge of how best to leverage the tools it has created, and improve. These can be used to make the product more efficient, faster and get the next new technology to market.

“In automotive specifically, customer demand is predominantly driven by advancing technology and regulation. If regulation drives a certain technology which is needed at a certain point in time, that's always a challenge to overcome,” she said.

Rapid prototyping

Technology is constantly driving forward and it's up to companies to explore what it can do to keep up. For Krishna, she is interested in artificial intelligence (AI) within engineering, not to find the final solution, but rather to aid in getting a rolling start. “The possibilities of removing inefficiencies with AI in the engineering process are endless. In some instances engineers are not concentrating on engineering tasks because they're weighed down with administration issues, change management, bill of materials

etc. AI could be extremely useful in those areas.” She added that technology is creating possibilities that will remove the need for engineers to be focused on these activities and spend more on innovating.

Pivoting in a challenging landscape

It is crucial to be agile in the current landscape of automotive. Over the last five to six years there has been more volatility in the supply chain and Krishna believes there are typically two approaches to this uncertainty, depending on the company size. An established manufacturer, like an OEM, that has large volume production, will already have adopted dual sourcing of raw materials from multiple sources from around the globe, which will help mitigate any volatility.

“For us at Verge Motorcycles, we understand that there is a supply chain risk every day for our products, because we're so small right now. There are always factors to be considered when we look at our supply,” explained Krishna. “We will be doing all we can to make sure we have the right level of supply from the different areas where we're manufacturing.” l

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Finnish start-up, Verge Motorcycles, creates fully electric motorcycles, featuring in-house innovations like a hubless motor and advanced HMI systems.

• At Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024, Krishna discussed the importance of agile product development cycles, emphasising the need for rapid adaptation and innovation in the fast-paced automotive industry

• Less rigid R&D, reducing waste in delivery processes and focusing on engineering problem solving is key to support future models efficiently

• Prioritising activities for maximum resource value and exploring the potential of AI to free up time for innovation is key

• Verge faces supply chain volatility and leverages unique development processes to stay ahead

ABOVE: Krishna on a Verge bike at its Westfield Shepherd's Bush pop up store