You may have noticed in last week’s budget that an additional £121 million has been allocated to Made Smarter, on top of the £20m previously announced for the North West pilot.
The North West pilot of Made Smarter is being launched in the Liverpool City Region as part of Digital Manufacturing Week on the 14th of November.
The scheme will support our small and medium sized manufacturers and boost productivity in the North West by encouraging more manufacturers to adopt digital technologies. This in turn will enable more reliable, efficient and cleaner production systems.
The Made Smarter NW pilot will enable engagement with 3,000 SMEs; with 600 receiving a diagnostic assessment of Industrial Digital Technology (IDT) capability (robotics, 3d printing, AR /VR and IOT) and of these, 480 accessing £20k grant to purchase specialist services and equipment. The pilot will also support student placements and a leadership programme.
Liverpool City Region companies will be eligible to receive this support as well as registering as solutions providers (as can our Universities and research assets).
The pilot will be launched jointly by the Secretary of State for Business, Environment and Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark) and Prof Juergen Maier of Siemens.
Members of the Made Smarter Commission have been invited to attend the launch, as have a number of key figures from LEPs across the North West. The Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, is opening the Conference and will also be attending the Made Smarter launch.
The launch will take place at 10.30am at the Made Smarter stand (D 72).
If you would like to attend the launch in the Exhibition Hall, please register in advance here.
Digital Manufacturing Week is Europe’s biggest showcase for the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a revolution in manufacturing agility, innovation and thinking. This year, the event is doubling in size to include the whole of Exhibition Centre Liverpool and is on track to attract 4,000 attendees from technology, finance and manufacturing.
There will be over 250 exhibitors, and visitors will have the opportunity to choose from over 200 free-to-attend presentations sessions.
The LCR will have a significant presence at the event this year. There will be an Invest Liverpool stand that focuses on inward investment messaging as well as a dedicated LCR 4.0 “Solutions Theatre”, which Sensor City will be taking part in. This is designed to show a national/ international audience impact case studies from the Liverpool City Region.