Tag: future of manufacturing

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InterAct Blog

Mission to Australia: sharing cutting-edge research from the ‘factories of the future’

Professor Colin Lindsay (University of Strathclyde and InterAct)

The InterAct Future of Work Team visited Australia for an international evidence-gathering mission, seeking to share findings from our research with manufacturing stakeholders and learn from good practice in fostering collaboration and innovation in the sector. As reported in our first blog from Professor Jill MacBryde, our first engagements in Brisbane were really inspiring, as we learned about how colleagues at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have partnered with Australian manufacturers, and we visited the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub, to see first-hand how this collaborative factory space brings together researchers, tech experts and growing manufacturing SMEs to ensure that manufacturers have the support they need to scale and innovate.

Our next stop was Melbourne, where the team hugely enjoyed hearing from Professor Laura Anne Bull (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Education, Experience & Employability at Swinburne University of Technology) and her team about Swinburne’s exciting work around business engagement and innovation, which is realised through impactful collaborations with manufacturers and others, but also integrated in the employability-related provision delivered to students. The jewels in the crown of Swinburne’s engagement with manufacturing stakeholders are their Factory of the Future, Smart Structures Lab and SEAM (Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials) Lab, where we were pleased to spend the morning for a research visit.

Experts in each laboratory walked us through some of the cutting-edge technologies they deploy to support the manufacturing industry in their innovation journeys. Professor Anita Kocsis (Director of Design Factory Melbourne at Swinburne) also helped us understand how the Factory of the Future and other manufacturing-facing initiatives connect with a broader suite of collaborations that place Swinburne and partners at the centre of a burgeoning design innovation ecosystem across Victoria.

We were fortunate to have Dr Avril Thomson (Head of Skills Programmes at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland) as a key member of our Mission team, so that Avril could share insights from the NMIS team’s wide range of impactful learning and technology transfer solutions in Scotland, and compare notes with various factories of the future experts in Australia. There were interesting parallels between the work carried out by NMIS, Catapult network stakeholders and other partners in the UK, and the essential and practically useful support provided by Swinburne’s Factory of the Future, for example through its innovative Industrial Digital Transformation Hub.

The final Australian city stop for the team was Adelaide in South Australia, where we were able to spend time at a second Factory of the Future. Flinders University leads this fast-developing project, and we were able to tour some exciting innovation projects being developed by manufacturers in collaboration with the Factory of the Future. Inspirational Principal Manager Philipp Dautel shared Factory of the Future’s vision for a world-class, advanced manufacturing innovation and training facility that will engage up to 250 companies, a vision that is already beginning to be realised through a range of exciting ongoing projects and a major build underway. Factory of the Future is embedded within the stunning Tonsley Innovation District – a formerly disused automotive manufacturing site that has now regenerated into an innovation and inclusive hub hosting partners ranging from mega-MNEs like BAE Systems to local SMEs.

While visiting Adelaide, the team also enjoyed two excellent research dissemination events kindly hosted by Professor Michael Gilding (Vice President and Executive Dean, College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University). First, we enjoyed a lively roundtable discussion with senior policy and business stakeholders, with Professor Jill MacBryde presenting InterAct research on attracting the next generation of talent to manufacturing work, while we also shared insights on digital ‘dynamic capabilities’ from our research with industry leaders in the UK, and Dr Avril Thomson spoke about NMIS’s impact in collaborating with Scottish manufacturers on emerging skill needs.

Then, we followed a first successful event with a half-day workshop targeting manufacturing managers and stakeholders. This time, I got the opportunity to share research on the importance of effective people management and fair work for the manufacturing sector (drawing on the work of both InterAct and the ESRC PrOPEL Hub). My colleagues Professor Jill MacBryde and Dr Avril Thomson both led interactive workshops on the future of work and skills in manufacturing.

It was great to engage directly with South Australia’s manufacturing stakeholder community, and we’re hugely grateful to Philipp, Michael and their teams at Factory of the Future and Flinders for making it happen. It was also interesting to hear much positivity about the future of manufacturing work from policy, business and manufacturing leaders, but also familiar concerns raised about skill shortages and the challenge of attracting (especially young) people to the sector.

Our take-aways?

Often following the UK (and indeed Scotland’s) example, national and regional policy stakeholders in Australia have invested in collaborative spaces and projects that have the potential to impact significantly on innovation and digital transformation in manufacturing. Just as in the UK, there are really exciting partnerships between higher education, research and manufacturing – something that obviously chimes with the core values of InterAct, and its partners. Finally, there was a willingness to engage with the idea that people – and therefore people’s jobs and experiences in the workplace – are crucial to understanding and fostering the high value, innovative future that we want in manufacturing. Sharing robust research and best practice on ‘what works’ in practices that support an innovative, inclusive and productive future of manufacturing work will remain a key mission of the InterAct team.

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InterAct Blog

InterAct Future of Work Mission to Australia touches down in Brisbane

Professor Jill MacBryde (University of Strathclyde and InterAct)

In November 2024, the InterAct Future of Work Team visited Australia for an international evidence-gathering mission to complement research on how we can ensure that digital transformation in manufacturing is aligned with strategies for workplace innovation and employee empowerment, to benefit businesses, people and build the positive future for manufacturing work that we all want.

The InterAct team – including Professor Colin Lindsay (Strathclyde Business School) and Dr Avril Thomson (National Manufacturing Institute Scotland) – engaged with businesses, innovation hubs and research experts, on a mission to mine the best evidence on ‘what might work’ in supporting an innovative and inclusive future for manufacturing. We learnt a lot by engaging with Australian stakeholders, hearing about how the university sector and manufacturing businesses have collaborated effectively, the challenges faced by manufacturing employers (some of which will be familiar to UK manufacturers) and exciting initiatives to drive innovation and productivity.

First stop on our mission was Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a leading technological university. It was good to meet with Professor Rowena Barrett (Pro Vice-Chancellor for Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation), Professor Glen Murphy, and members of the QUT team, to hear about the important industry engagement work being taken forward by QUT, with collaboration with the local and national manufacturing ecosystem being a key priority. ‘QUT Entrepreneurship’ seeks to inspire and amplify entrepreneurship and business engagement opportunities for students, staff and alumni. We were impressed with QUT’s commitment to supporting business model development, and innovative programmes such as ‘Growth Lab’, which seek to help scaling businesses (including manufacturing SMEs). We met with QUT team members at their ‘Foundry’, a collaborative space where partnering businesses can access learning resources and coaching and (just as importantly) network and share ideas.

The InterAct team were also particularly excited to visit the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub – a fantastic opportunity to learn about the progress made by this exciting manufacturing research and innovation hub. Initially growing from funding from the Queensland state government, ARM has since gone on to establish a national reach, partnering with all universities in Queensland and many institutions across wider Australia.

Professor Cori Stewart (Director of ARM) and Dr Troy Cordie (Mechtronics Lead) explained that in the past five years, ARM has provided the practical space for manufacturing start-ups and scale-ups to innovate, test, and develop ideas in a real factory setting. Clearly, this meets an important need for scaling manufacturers – there’s a big difference between testing a prototype and producing at scale for market, and ARM helps ‘young’ manufacturing companies to navigate this challenge and de-risk the step up to large scale manufacturing. Success means ‘tenants’ outgrowing the ARM facility and securing the resources to establish their own production spaces – tenants generally turnover after 12-18 months.

As well as the practical support, materials, equipment and room provided by ARM, we were struck by the open, collaborative space and culture established at the facility, which has clearly helped different companies to learn together and from each other. ARM and QUT colleagues emphasised a shared commitment to contributing to a collaborative and innovative manufacturing ecosystem, and the University’s undergraduate and postgraduate students benefit from placements with both ARM and tenant businesses. Secondments and collaborative working arrangements between ARM and state universities means that Higher Education staff can share their expertise and learn from working in the ARM environment.

It was good to hear that ARM is actively planning to expand its physical footprint and capacity to support more growing manufacturing businesses. It was also great to learn about the wide range of manufacturing innovators who continue to partner with ARM, from founding partner organisation Urban Arts Project, whose large-scale art projects neatly illustrate the potential for advanced manufacturing to contribute to creative industries and architectural design solutions, to Verton, a current ARM partner whose innovative design and manufacture work is making a key contribution to the renewables sector internationally, including in Scotland.

Our take-aways?

Phase 1 of our Australia mission reminded us of the value of close, constructive and pragmatic collaboration between the university sector and manufacturing. We also reflected on the importance of places and spaces for collaboration and innovation: from ‘foundries’ embedded in universities where researchers and business leaders can share ideas and identify solutions, to fantastically innovative hubs like ARM, providing the space and support for burgeoning success stories to grow.

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Productivity Resources Sustainability

Beyond Ownership: Business models for sustainable, smart appliances

dusanpetkovic1 / Adobe Stock
Watch a short video explaining the potential of shared ownership business models in the manufacturing sector.

Research overview

What factors the drive consumer adoption of digitally enabled products?

This project, from InterAct funded researchers, has investigated the assumption that a lack of consumer demand lies behind manufacturers’ underinvestment in Industrial Digital Technology. It focused on domestic washing machines as a widespread product that could be ripe for innovation, and which is under pressure to improve its environmental performance.

The findings suggest that consumer resistance to digital features stems from a lack of clear perceived benefits. While manufacturers focus on promoting the technological features of their products as a competitive advantage, customers value outcomes and experience offered. Moreover, customers expressed a dislike for refurbished washing machines and scepticism about alternative revenue models as potentially exploitative. Demonstrating value for money and cultivating trust are major challenges.

For manufacturers, the key recommendation is to place the customer’s experience and expected outcomes (e.g. peace of mind and clean clothes on demand) at the heart of their innovation, rather than emphasise product features.

Technology should be harnessed to support delivery of such outcomes and may be enabled through business model innovation. For example, assured maintenance leading to peace of mind can be delivered through a combination of digital technology (condition monitoring, predictive analytics etc) and business model innovation (shared ownership, access-based service etc).

You can find out more about the project, it’s findings and the team’s recommendations in the full report below.

This research was conducted by Ahmad Beltagui (Aston Business School), Ana Isabel Canhoto, Daniela Castillo, Amireza Alizamani (University of Sussex – Business School), Ramin Behbehani (Brunel Business School) Niraj Kumar (Essex Business School), Maren Schnieder (Anglia Ruskin University). This work was supported by the UKRI Made Smarter Innovation Challenge and the Economic and Social Research Council via InterAct [Grant Reference ES/W007231/1].

For further discussions or to propose potential applications/collaborations, please contact Ana Canhoto or Ahmad Beltagui.

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InterAct Blog

Sustainability and supply chains: a fundamental issue of our times

Judith Richardson (Argon & Co UK)

Acting to improve sustainability is increasingly important to forward-thinking organisations.

It is no longer sufficient to see sustainability as an ‘added extra’, distinct from the fundamental needs of a business. The motivation for changing an organisational view of sustainability may differ, but can include:

  • playing a part in a progressive vision, value set, and culture
  • as a tactic to appeal to customers
  • responding to changing climate conditions to maintain access to essential resources
  • ensuring regulatory compliance.

When we consider sustainability, we need to take a comprehensive view, examining not only what it is made of, but also where it comes from, and how it is moved from end to end. Piles of electronic waste or scenes of plastic discarded in the ocean are a testament to the environmental impact once a product has left your ownership.

International standards and regulations formalise the responsibility to act – through initiatives like the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and its Scope 1/2/3 accounting for carbon, or incoming EU instruments like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) or Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD). Delivering your sustainability goals and future-proofing your business means taking action on your supply chain.

The struggle to survive – the problems of today and the challenges of tomorrow

The challenges confronting supply chain leaders are constantly growing:

  • challenging business environment
  • huge complexity and ‘permacrises’
  • global, multi-tiered value chains
  • pace of change in operations and regulations
  • competing priorities
  • lack of quality data and visibility.

With so many urgent priorities, it can be tempting to see the sustainability agenda as another just another complication to throw into the mix. Understanding the business’ place in a changing world and rewiring it to thrive there is a daunting prospect in a reality of short-term targets, annual results cycles, and returns to shareholders and investors.

The world of supply chain management is changing

Driven by these challenges, supply chain management is itself evolving. There has long been recognition that leanness and efficiency can equate to rigidity and brittleness. Relentless focus on profit, and therefore cost, reduces flexibility and pushes every actor in the chain to the brink, with catastrophic effects when a link breaks.

Covid-19, blockages in the Suez Canal, and forced diversions from the Red Sea are all highly memorable recent examples of this disruption. Conversely, some of the world’s most profitable companies have shared a common characteristic, being recognised for their ‘elite supply chains’. Amazon, Nestle, Apple, McDonalds, Scheider Electric, Colgate-Palmolive, and P&G all enjoy this distinction.

Business leaders are increasingly drawn from, or come to focus on, supply chains as a value generator and a business protector that can:

  • Deliver extremes of customisation in the product range, packaging, and presentation, worldwide, on time.
  • Provide ready substitutes to seamlessly switch to when faced with trade barriers, blocked trade routes, or a supply breakdown.
  • Offer hyper-personalisation alongside operational excellence, with impeccable credentials on the provenance of materials.

Supply chain excellence is no longer just about getting the right product, at the right time, to the right place. It is also the ability to configure the chain to withstand volatility, be resilient, and support strategic goals.

What might the successful, sustainable supply chain-oriented companies of the future look like?

From short-term gains to long-term value

The first key consideration is what new strategies businesses are looking to adopt, in which the supply chain is a fundamental enabler. A good illustration is the automotive sector. For large manufacturers, value is usually delivered on the sale of a brand-new vehicle. However, many of these companies are now developing long-term lease and maintenance strategies – promoting long term value and paying for usage, rather than ownership.

This marks an important departure from a total focus on short-term performance goals, where there is little incentive to plan for longevity. As these business strategies change, these new products and services depend entirely on reimagining the supply chain from linear to circular; from a source of costs to a generator of value. 

From mutual suspicion to targeted collaboration

As companies have sought to maintain their edge and provide fair competition, historically, meaningful collaboration has been challenging. However, organisations and coalitions are taking positive steps by pooling resources and information to demonstrate progress. For example, in fashion and apparel traceability platforms like Worldly, or the retail-oriented BRC Mondra coalition which focuses on automated life cycle assessments (LCAs).

Developing staff capabilities for sustainability is rapidly becoming a key area for organisational training. Whilst, each organisation may face specific sustainability challenges, much of the basic knowledge required to address these challenges is common across sectors. Time and effort can be saved by pooling resources, with the added benefits of building connections, expanding collective understanding and setting consistent standards for providers across the chain.

From guarding data to promoting visibility

There is significant complexity in knowing what needs to be shared, transferred, or updated for different reporting or operational control requirements. Data, and the understanding of using it effectively, is increasingly jealously guarded. However, a purely transactional approach is counterproductive when success depends on effective collaboration with value chain partners. Proposed actions to decarbonise freight transport cannot be imposed suddenly by a customer to their logistics provider without incurring service impacts or indirect cost increases.

We need to move away from ideas of one-directional ‘supplier management’ towards meaningful, supportive partnership development. This approach builds in healthy interdependence, commitment and collaboration by design, with multi-year agreements and shared risk/reward contractual agreements. Rather than seeking to out-manoeuvre suppliers, successful businesses should try to align strategic goals for mutual benefit.

From demand-driven to demand-shaping

Consumer consumption patterns are at the heart of the sustainability challenge. Examples such as fast-fashion, with frenzied marketing stoking demand for inexpensive, often synthetic, on-trend products with a short lifetime that results in huge pollution and waste in landfill.

It is often said that the most sustainable product is the one you already have. But how can businesses respond to the challenge to sell less new products? Fashion brand Patagonia offer one good example, seeking to change demand by designing for longevity and offering a commitment to repairs. Even enormous e-commerce companies such as eBay are now offering free sales on second hand clothing in response to the growth from Vinted and other similar platforms that threaten disruption.

What does this mean for the sustainability agenda?

Meeting your business goals means achieving your supply chain goals.; and the evolution of supply chains necessitates putting sustainability challenges and opportunities at the heart of your strategy. We know that the climate crisis will get worse before it gets better, as recent and future mitigating efforts will have a delayed impact, but we shouldn’t let that discourage taking action. We are already seeing the impact of climate change on supply chains, so building in these considerations is also an essential part of creating resilience. As supply chains operations are reinvented from efficiency management to the development of resilient value creation, they can and must incorporate sustainability to shape the business of tomorrow.

This article was published by Loughborough University, read the original version here.

About the author

Judith Richardson leads the sustainability practice at management consultancy, Argon & Co UK, working with clients to operationalise their sustainability strategies, turning long-term visions into tangible action that makes a difference.

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News

InterAct expands global programme with India research mission

At the end of October 2024, the InterAct team continued their series of InterAct Global research missions with a visit to Pune, India. InterAct Global is an expansion of the project, designed to bring insights from international manufacturing and technological innovation in the UK sector. The visit enabled the team to engage with those in the electric vehicle (EV) sector that are working towards making Pune the EV manufacturing hub of the future.

InterAct is hoping to create both local and global impact by exchanging knowledge with international players in the worldwide manufacturing ecosystem. These missions will help to better understand the competitive advantages of other countries, learn from them, and exchange best practices and processes. Providing these insights to UK businesses and policymakers, the project aims to tackle the future challenges of digital transformation across three key areas: ecosystems, economies, and workplaces.

India represents an interesting case study for innovation, with clearly defined priorities in upskilling the future workforce and improving diversity and inclusion in manufacturing. The team had the chance to explore this in more depth through visits to various organisations and companies including:

  • Spark Minda
  • Bajaj Auto
  • ARAI (The Automotive Research Association of India)
  • Tata Motors
  • Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Pune

InterAct had the chance to expand upon these visits and discussions with a round table session and two workshops, hosted in collaboration with Symbiosis International University (SIU). These events brogh together a range of high calibre attendees, including those from automotive and EV manufacturing, artificial intelligence and academia, to collaborate on ‘the need of the hour’ (Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International University).

These engaging sessions offered participants a chance to hear from the InterAct team, SIU academics and industry stakeholders as they discussed:

  • How to make the Pune region the hub of electric vehicle production by 2050: allowing key industry stakeholders to share their expertise and views for the direction of the sector.
  • The role of Pune in the 2040 electric vehicle global value chain: encouraging participants to envision the stages of development needed to succeed in their share regional vision.
  • The future of work in the Pune electric vehicle industry: highlighting the importance of upskilling and education, as well as looking at how to make manufacturing more appealing to gen Z.

Attendees also contributed to an extended shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities for the manufacturing sector through the workshops built around the approaches of the InterAct Future of Work and Future of Digital Manufacturing Ecosystems teams, led by Professor Janet Godsell, Dr. Robert Stewart, Dr. Carolina Marin-Cadavid and Millie Rodgers.

We want to thank all of our generous hosts and partners for the success of this mission, and look forward to bringing more insights from our further global engagement activities.

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Productivity Resilience Resources Sustainability

Remanufacturing in the aerospace industry: Perceptions and practices of circular economy business models in aerospace small to medium-sized enterprises

Research overview

Global aviation currently contributes approximately 2% of greenhouse gas emissions; the projected growth in global aviation will create annual CO2 emissions of 1.8 billion tons by 2050. Consequently, the sector has made a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Government policy strategies such as the Aerospace Sector Deal, Jet Zero and Destination Zero focus on sustainable aviation fuel and aircraft efficiency for the transition to zero emission flight. Although, attention to the whole aircraft life cycle including design, manufacture and recovery has been relatively lacking.

This project sought to support SMEs in the aerospace manufacturing industry by exploring remanufacturing business models, a form of Circular Economy Business Model (CEBM), to help them move towards a sustainable future.

Embracing the ‘Circular Economy’ can minimise the consumption of finite resources as well as the production of waste and emissions. CEBMs, which are often represented as R-imperatives or R-models, can not only contribute to sustainability but also to business model innovation by extending the value proposition to value recreation, redelivery, and recapture.

This project conducted case studies of five SMEs in the UK aerospace industry to explore:

  1. The extent of their current practice of, and plans for, remanufacturing
  2. Barriers they face in their current or potential remanufacturing business models
  3. Drivers for them to engage with a more sustainable business model

Find out more and download the full report below.

This research was conducted by Dr Rachael Lamb (University of Bristol), Dr Eun Sun Goodwin (University of Wolverhampton), Dr Michael Rogerson (University of Sussex) and Dr Alisha Tuladhar (University of Surrey). This work was supported by the UKRI Made Smarter Innovation Challenge and the Economic and Social Research Council via InterAct [Grant Reference ES/W007231/1].

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News

InterAct Co-director named in The Manufacturer Top 100 Awards

InterAct Co-director, Professor Janet Godsell, has been named as a winner for the ‘Sector Activist’ category in 2024 edition of The Manufacturer Top 100.

Now in its 12th year, The Manufacturer Top 100 scours the length and breadth of the nation to find the 100 most dynamic leaders and innovators in manufacturing, nominated by The Manufacturer’s audience, the industrial community and judged by a panel of industry leaders, academics and manufacturing associations.

The Manufacturer Top 100 celebrates the heroes of UK manufacturing and recognises their contribution to Net Zero, Digital Transformation, Innovation and Leadership. 

With an extensive background in industry and academic roles across both manufacturing and supply chains, Professor Godsell has long championed the importance of manufacturing to the economy, society and people’s everyday lives. An outspoken advocate of the integral role of humans within our supply chains and manufacturing businesses, she established the InterAct Network as a co-director in 2021 to develop new research in this area.

Professor Godsell has been deeply involved in sustainability focused research through projects such as CircularMetal and CarbonVue, which aim to reduce the environmental impact of the sector. She has also played an important role in the development of the new UK SCALE Centre, a collaboration between Loughborough University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), focusing on the future of supply chain innovation.

Discussing the recognition of her work in the Top 100, Professor Godsell said: “I’ve wanted to work in manufacturing since I was 15, so being part of The Manufacturer Top 100 is amazing. It really shows that the work I’ve done has been recognised by the community.

“Whilst I’m now working in an academic capacity, I think people can see I’m making use of the skills and expertise I’ve gained over the years to make a difference for the manufacturing sector.”

Hear more about Jan’s career journey and her view on the biggest challenges facing the sector
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News

InterAct attend the Women in Manufacturing Conference 2024

InterAct representatives were pleased to support the Women In Manufacturing initiative’s ‘Changing Perceptions’ conference on 19th September 2024.

Hosted at the state-of-the-art Manufacturing Technology Centre facility in Coventry, the event brought together a range of people within the manufacturing ecosystem to discuss gender diversity and inclusion within the industry.

The event was one of a series organised by the Women in Manufacturing UK Initiative, a network of industrial and academic professionals with a shared interest in encouraging diversity and inclusion in the sector.

Although women represent almost half of the labour force in the United Kingdom, they account for only 26% of all workers in the manufacturing sector.

Gender norms, stereotypes, and even AI biased can divide men and women into different occupations, leadership positions and economic activities, resulting in a lack of diversity influencing decision-making at the sector’s summit.

The morning sessions aimed to tackle this, kicking off with Dr. Jennifer Castañeda Navarrete and Zoi Roupakia presenting findings of their report, co-authored with Dr. Viktória Döme and Guendalina Anzolin:  ‘The Women in UK Manufacturing 2024: Addressing Labour Shortages and Bridging the Gender Gap’.

This was followed by presentations including ‘Driving diversity and inclusion in manufacturing’, a panel discussion on ‘Inclusive innovation in manufacturing’ and ‘Industry best practice’.

Throughout the afternoon, a series of workshops delved into various aspects of women’s roles in manufacturing, covering topics such as career advancement, mentorship programs, and strategies to overcome gender bias.

Attendees had the opportunity to engage with seasoned professionals, share experiences, and gain insights into navigating the challenges unique to women in the manufacturing workforce.

Whilst the conference made it clear that the industry has a long way to go in terms of promoting diversity and inclusion, and solving these long-term issues, the enthusiasm and ideas generated by the Women in Manufacturing initiative was an inspirational takeaway for attendees.

If you want to learn more about how you can take practical steps to help address these challenges, you can read Dr Jennifer Castañeda Navarrete and Zoi Roupakia’s report, co-authored with Dr. Viktória Döme and Guendalina Anzolin’s.

Full report
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News

InterAct researchers present findings at Academy of Management 2024 conference

From 9 – 13 August researchers from InterAct joined academic colleagues from across business, management, and social science at the Academy of Management’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. At this conference, InterAct funded researchers had the opportunity to present the findings of several papers focused on the human challenges of digitalisation. These included:

Envisioning a Socially Sustainable Future in Digitally-Enabled Manufacturing

Presented by:

Janet Godsell (Loughborough Business School)

Co-authors:

Ahmet Onur Agca (Loughborough Business School)

Kamran Ali Chatha (Loughborough Business School)

How will digitalization impact the future of work in global manufacturing?

Presented by:

Carolina Marin-Cadavid (Strathclyde Business School)

Co-authors:

Colin Lindsay (Strathclyde Business School)

Jillian MacBryde (Strathclyde Business School)

Robert Stewart (Strathclyde Business School)

Envisioning digital change: A systematic review of the socio-technical tools literature

Presented by:

Hui Zhang (Sheffield University Management School)

Co-authors:

Carolyn Axtell (Sheffield University Management School)

Vladislav Grozev (Sheffield University Management School)

Karina Nielsen (Sheffield University Management School)

Is the emergence of coworking spaces indicative of a modern industrial organization leading to fostering skills development?

Presented by:

Philip R Tomlinson (University of Bath, School of Management)

Mariachiara Barzotto (University of Bath, School of Management)

Co-authors:

Felicia Fai (University of Bath, School of Management)

Sandrine Labory (University of Ferrara, Department of Economics)

Following these successful presentations, the InterAct Network was pleased to be able to welcome over 80 conference attendees as guests at a networking reception held at Giordano’s restaurant (Gold Coast/Magnificent Mile).

This event brought together a wide range of experts from the social sciences to engage with InterAct staff and learn more about the Network’s agenda of improving human-centric digitalisation in manufacturing.

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News

Made Smarter publishes ‘digital transformation roadmap’ for SME manufacturers

leonidkos / Adobe Stock

The Made Smarter programme has recently published a new ‘digital transformation roadmap’ to support SME manufacturers with the complex challenges of adopting new technology within their businesses.

Made Smarter was created following an industry-led review of how UK manufacturing industries could be supported to prosper through digital tools and innovation. It is comprised of two key elements; Made Smarter Adoption, which offers practical support and funding to assist businesses with implementing new technology, and Made Smarter Innovation which aims to use research to tackle the current and future challenges to successful digitalisation in UK manufacturing.

In their latest whitepaper, the Made Smarter team have highlighted the process of how they support SME manufacturers with digital transformation through grant funding and skills and leadership training programmes. The report showcases some of the hundreds of businesses who have benefitted from their intervention across the country.

The paper also includes features on several partner organisations such as Make UK, the Centre for People-Led Digitalisation (PLD) and InterAct. Find out more about how we, and others, are working with Made Smarter towards a common goal and access links to the best resources available to start your digital transformation journey today.  

Access the made smarter whitepaper