MANUFACTURING
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is planning a new facility in Liverpool, focusing on areas including improving product development and measuring emotional responses to advanced manufacturing processes.
A new Digital Manufacturing Centre at Silverstone Park is forecast to generate £9m additional economic value for the area.
The project is led by high-performance engineering consultancy KW Special Projects (KWSP) who secured funding from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) for the 1,657sqm facility.
The news about the Silverstone investment comes in the same week as new investment projects involving Siemens, the AMRC, the UKAEA, Dassault Systemes and the Univserities of Sheffield and Newcastle were announced.
The annual analysis of the sector published by Make UK and Santander demonstrates the vital importance of manufacturing to the success of the UK economy overall.
Manufacturing accounts for two-thirds of overall research and development (R&D), almost half (45%) of total exports, and 15% of business investment.
A chronic shortage of suitable people entering the sector is leading industrial businesses to look within their own four walls to achieve their growth aspirations.
More than half of UK manufacturers (54%) believe it is now more difficult to find skilled and motivated people than it was 12 months ago, with 24% describing it as ‘much more difficult’ and a further 30% finding it ‘somewhat more difficult’. Just 4% responded that they found it easier to recruit now than a year ago.
https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/uk-manufacturers-turn-workers-boost-productivity/
Britain’s manufacturers are firmly in a nosedive as Brexit uncertainty, a slowdown in major markets and trade wars takes its toll, according to a new survey.
Government is being urged to “strain every sinew” to reach a Brexit deal that protects UK manufacturing.