Issuu

THE

MANUFACTURER VOL 29 ISSUE 3 THEMANUFACTURER.COM

SUMMER ‘26

CDEM @TheManufacturer

SHOOTING STARS

How Promatic went from specialist engineering to global leader

Sustainability

Maintenance

Industry Focus: Textiles

Digital Transformation

JCB’s Hydromax project

Breakdown to breakthrough

Britain’s hidden powerhouse

Brompton: pedal pushers

From Order to Payment:

A Cash Flow Guide for UK Manufacturers. DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

WELCOME Molly Cooper, Features Editor mcooper@nineteengroup.com

t’s hard to believe we’re already racing towards the end of Q3! As we all bake in what feels like an endlessly long, hot British summer, the sector is bracing for its own heatwave as Parliament returns in September. With a new Prime Minister in place, all eyes are on Westminster to see what he will bring to the table for the benefit of UK manufacturing and we'll certainly be keeping our fingers on the pulse as those policies unfold. But before I tell you what's inside this issue, let's rewind a couple of months. Back in June, the team and I headed to Birmingham for the fifth edition of Smart Manufacturing Week at the NEC and marking my third time at the show, I can safely say it was easily our busiest yet! The whole editorial team worked tirelessly to bring you the best from the show floor. Armed with cameras and microphones, James Devonshire and I darted between stands to film more than 14 Platinum Partner interviews, while The Manufacturer Media Studio was buzzing with keynote discussions and conversations with leading manufacturers. This included insightful discussions with British American Tobacco discussing the role data is playing in shaping the company’s vision for the future (page 30) and The Manufacturer MX Awards Winner 2025, in the Achieving Customer Value category, Tornado Wire (page 34). After some well-deserved rest and recovery, at the end of June myself and Editor, Joe Bush, took to the road again to visit some of the UK’s great manufacturers - clocking up over 580 miles in just two days! Our road trip included footwear brand LANX, clay pigeon trap manufacturer Promatic and household giant PZ Cussons, and you can read all three features right here in this issue.

My travels didn't end there though; June also saw me brave a 40°C Central Line tube journey to visit Brompton Bicycle’s headquarters in Greenford. I got a look behind-the-scenes at how its iconic foldable bikes are made - and finally learned what brazing actually is! You can read more about this on page 42. Also in this issue, we reflect on ten years since Britain voted to leave the European Union and how UK manufacturers have learned to live with Brexit (page 50). Summarising the collective sentiment of the sector, John Pearce, Chief Executive of Made in Britain, noted that while trading with the EU has become much harder and brought a "weightier administrative burden," it has ultimately "forced many to look elsewhere or change their plans for growth." Our industry focus this quarter looks at the UK's hidden technical textiles sector, where innovation is powering everything from Mars landings to modern vehicles, which contain around 30 different textile applications. You can read more about that on page 10. And as we know, supply chain resilience remains one of manufacturing's defining challenges, and our interview with Haleon's Chief Supply Chain Officer, Namrata Patel, explores how local manufacturing, regional sourcing, AI-driven planning and consumer insight are creating more agile and responsive supply chains (page 46). It's exactly the kind of conversation we'll be continuing at our new Manufacturing Supply Chain & Inventory Forum on 24 September at The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham, where industry leaders will come together to share practical strategies for building resilient supply chains in an increasingly uncertain world. Whether you're joining us in Birmingham this September or reading from the factory floor, I hope you enjoy this issue.

CDEM @TheManufacturer www.themanufacturer.com

Joe Bush

Henry Anson

Tom St John

Ashley Oulton

Director

TEAM

Editor

Conference Production Manager

Multimedia Editor

Molly Cooper

Stuart Biddle

Features Editor

James Devonshire News Editor

Grace Gilling

Managing Director

Thi Linh Anh Nguyen Senior

Strategic Accounts Director & Head Of Sales

Nikhil Kumar

Digital Strategy Lead

Marketing Manager

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RESEARCH

LTD

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FIRST

04 LEAD

FEATURE The fast and the fossil fuel-less Up close with the JCB Hydromax project

18 Breakdown to breakthrough How Bentley is rethinking maintenance for competitive advantage

30 From tobacco to technology How data is reshaping BAT 34 When customer value is hard-wired Tornado Wire shares its award-winning success

22 Gotta have faith’ful design Observation is the first step to innovation

26 The rise of the hybrid manufacturer Why tomorrow's workforce will need more than technical expertise

COVER: Canva AI

38 Life behind the bubbles Inside operations at PZ Cussons' Agecroft site

PEOPLE & SKILLS

SUSTAINABILITY

INDUSTRIAL DATA & AI

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

10 Industry Focus

TEXTILES

The fabric of modern manufacturing

Referendum to reality

Q3 2026

VOL 29 ISSUE 3

10 years after Brexit

SME Focus

42 Pedal pushers What does it take to manufacture the iconic Brompton Bicycle

62 Shooting stars How Promatic is targeting growth

46 Factory floor to village door Haleon's new model for manufacturing growth

66 Engineering better outcomes Turning ideas into reality

56 Manufacturing's second learning curve Learning quickly, acting faster

70 Northern sole A visit to shoe manufacturer LANX

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

INNOVATION & DESIGN

AUTOMATION & ROBOTICS

SUPPLY CHAIN

INNOVATION & DESIGN

The fast and the fossil fuel-less The JCB Hydromax project has it all; world class, British engineering expertise, cutting edge renewable energy technology, and a record that could stand for years. But there’s a deeper narrative than a car looking to break the diesel land speed record. Through years of engineering, development and investment, JCB is trying to prove that hydrogen is commercially viable, in its own products and on the world's most demanding engineering stage. Tom St John reports 4

runway at RAF Wittering was the spot JCB chose for testing. The press were sat at tables within a large tented area, listening to presentations by JCB engineers. A speaker was cut short, when a woman in JCB branded high-vis walked in and announced, “They’re ready”. We made our way over to a cordoned off viewing point. In the mid-morning drizzle, JCB Hydromax came hurtling down the runway to give the press a photo

opportunity. It went reasonably fast and made an impressive sound. But it was clear more testing was needed to get it to record breaking speeds. This was the one and only time we got to see it in action. Although the day had been arranged for press, we were at the pleasure of the racing team, and indeed, the car itself. This was a live test environment, where things often don’t run smoothly. I’d already been told that the car hadn’t made it onto the test track until 3.00pm the previous day.

“Car seems a slightly odd name for it,” chuckled a well and softly spoken older gentlemen. He was introduced to us as Lord Anthony Bamford, the Chairman of JCB. “That's its classification though, for a land speed record it needs to be a car.” If you’ve seen world record breaking cars like the supersonic Bloodhound and Thrust, and to a lesser extent, the 1935 Bluebird, they look more like planes. The JCB Hydromax is similar - a sleek, 32 foot long, JCB yellow work of art. It’s powered by two

“

INNOVATION & DESIGN

Hydrogen, in the post-carbon era of zero emissions, is quite likely to be the future of the internal combustion engine Andy Green OBE (right), Driver, Hydromax hydrogen digger engines, each tuned to an astonishing 800 horsepower. The hydrogen internal combustion engines drive all four wheels through a twintransmission and clutch system. The man in the car is Wing Commander Andy Green. “I’ve had the privilege of having the world’s best day job – flying fighter jets for the Royal Air Force,” he said. “And I’ve also got the world's best holiday job of driving JCB’s new hydrogen-powered land speed record car.” The attempt is to beat the land speed record for diesel. The all-time record was set by ThrustSSC. Under a team led by Richard Noble OBE, a twin turbofan jet-powered car reached a speed of 763.035mph (1,227.985km/h) – faster than the speed of sound.

The man in the car that day was also Andy Green. At this point, he must just feel uncomfortable doing anything slowly. Beating diesel JCB is trying to beat its own record. Little did I know that the company has a world-record breaking history. In 2019, the JCB Fastrac was crowned the world’s fastest tractor at 135.191mph (217.568km/h), and in 2014, the JCB GT set the world record for the fastest backhoe loader at 72.58mph (116.806km/h). And further back, 20 years ago, the JCB Dieselmax set a diesel world land speed record of 350.092mph (563.4184km/h). The man in the car that day was, yep, you guessed it, Andy Green - I can’t imagine he was interested in driving the backhoe loader; he would have barely been breaking the

national speed limit! Building on the 2006 Dieselmax project, the team believes it’s taken drastic steps in engineering prowess. Aerodynamic developments have been studied meticulously and the body of the car has been engineered to cut through the air more efficiently, while also enabling a more stable drive. So, why hydrogen? The car is powered by the same hydrogen engines that power JCB diggers. To pardon the pun, hydrogen has been the direction of travel at JCB. The company’s Chairman, Lord Bamford, has spearheaded a £100m investment to develop hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines. "Everybody recognises that there is a problem with global warming,” he said. “If you want to prevent it, there are various solutions. One of the main ones is transitioning away from diesel and petrol fuel.” He continued: “We know how to make engines and we manufacture 400 diesel engines a day, here and in India. How do we make that engine equally as efficient, but with far less emissions? The way to do that is to power it with hydrogen." Sure enough, despite the challenges (which we’ll go into), JCB diggers powered by hydrogen engine technology are now rolling off production lines. Lord Bamford continued: "We've now made a few hundred hydrogen engines, and we've also sold engines in machines and as

INNOVATION & DESIGN

“

How do we make the internal combustion engine equally efficient as it is today, but with far less emissions? The way to do that is to power it with hydrogen Lord Anthony Bamford, Chairman, JCB 6 ABOVE: Wing Commander Andy Green OBE has spent most of his life at the helm of jet-powered aircraft and cars BELOW: Lord Anthony Bamford with the JCB Hydromax team

generators to end customers – and they are actually using them." Convincing a speedster Wing Commander Andy Green admitted his initial cautious scepticism toward the JCB Hydromax project. As mentioned, he has no problem with going fast, and years on from setting world records in speed he is still hungry for a challenge. "I'm a pilot by training; aviation has been my life. Aviation and hydrogen have had a chequered history,” he explained. “As most of what I know about hydrogen is 100 years old and involves the Hindenburg, I was still thinking, ‘Are we sure about this?’" Andy was also concerned about safety, as the driver of any high-speed vehicle should be. Hydrogen atoms’ impact on metal, fuel

storage and reliability were at the forefront of his mind. "I then found myself delving into information a couple of decades old about hydrogen embrittlement, storage and taking the universe's smallest molecule and trying to keep control of it in a confined space. “It's incredibly difficult. It gets out all over the place and presents an unseen explosive hazard because you can't see a hydrogen flame." However, those concerns began to fade after JCB engineers explained the extensive work behind the programme. And again, this links to the manufacturing of production vehicles - the company has spent five years developing hydrogen combustion engines. They’re used in vehicles that are sold to demanding construction sites where they operate safely every day. Andy was reassured: “If it's builder-proof, it’s indestructible because construction sites are really hard places for technology." The real turning point for Andy came when he inspected one of JCB's hydrogen engines that had already completed more than 1,000 hours of testing. To his amazement, the engine looked almost untouched. "I pulled the dipstick out of the engine and it looked like the oil had just been put in. We pulled out one of the spark plugs, and it looked brand new." He explained: "All of the dirt and oil degradation that you see on a regular internal combustion engine spark plug comes from burning chemicals and carbon, which is simply not present in a hydrogen engine. The only chemical the engine burns is hydrogen itself, a process which produces water. Everything still looks the same as the day it was made because the engine runs so clean." And with that, a man that has spent most of his life at the helm of jet-powered aircraft

NNOVATION & DESIGN

RIGHT: The race team were hard at work during testing at RAF Wittering and cars, had his revelatory moment. "I suddenly realised why this wasn't just an affectation of a different kind of fuel. Hydrogen, in the post-carbon era of zero emissions, is quite likely to be the future of the internal combustion engine." Making hydrogen work on-site So, the Hydromax driver was convinced by hydrogen but the bigger challenge has been at a business level. JCB customers needed to be confident also. And indeed, JCB engineers needed to assure themselves, having spent many hours assessing and testing hydrogen as a viable option. It was made clear to the press in attendance at RAF Wittering, that the transition from diesel to hydrogen has been a challenge for the business. Significant research, as well as engineering trial and error, has gone into fuel cell production and engine development. As Cameron Scott, a Senior Engineer at JCB pointed out, it’s never been about following one technological path, but rather, finding the right solution for the right machine. "To be honest, we've tried a bit of everything,” he said. “We're now an 80 year old business and we've been involved with diesel for quite a while. We also produced the world's first electric mini excavator, the 19C-1E, which works really well. It has its own niches as a product." However, battery electric becomes more challenging to scale for larger equipment with higher energy demands. From there came the investigation into hydrogen fuel cells, developing prototype 20-tonne excavators powered by the technology. Although the concept delivered zero tailpipe emissions, engineers concluded it wasn’t the right solution for the harsh realities of construction sites. The cost of producing green hydrogen using renewable energy sources was also proving impractical. Hydrogen production vehicles are more expensive to produce than their diesel counterparts. An explicit instruction from Lord Bamford was to ensure any new hydrogen machines were not an inflationary product for customers. Cameron continued: “It would have cost over three times the price of a diesel machine to productionise, which we thought was astronomically expensive. “There were lots of durability concerns as

well. We found that fuel cells didn't really like dirt, dust and vibration – factors that tend to be quite prevalent on an excavator." But that didn’t stop JCB and the company continued to persist with hydrogen. So, the focus moved from fuel cells to a technology that the company already understood better than most manufacturers - internal combustion engines. "We make our own diesel engines,” said Cameron. “So, it was a case of developing a new engine technology that became the engine we have today - a 55-kilowatt, fourcylinder internal combustion engine, with the only emission being steam." To mitigate cost, the machines and engine models are based as closely as possible to existing diesel products. “This means we can build them on the same production lines with the same personnel,” said Cameron. “And by using the same suppliers as much as possible, we're getting the cost control that we want.” Another challenge to overcome was the current infrastructure for hydrogen refuelling, with limited stations available globally. As such, JCB has developed a mobile hydrogen refuelling unit which stores hydrogen in cylinders and can be towed on public roads before refuelling machines on-site, in much the same way as conventional diesel bowsers. "It can fill up a machine in around 10 to 15 minutes,” said Cameron. “Then you get a full day's work out of the machine before it needs topping up again." The ability to refuel quickly while maintaining a full day's operation is one of hydrogen's biggest advantages,

“

74 horsepower is great for an on-site machine, but you need a lot more power to get up to that 350mph mark Mark Richards, Principal Engineer, JCB according to Cameron. "Hydrogen definitely has a place, particularly for lager equipment that needs mobile, flexible fuel. Batteries simply don't cut it.” He continued: "This is one of the few examples of where we actually want our competitors to do the same as us. When we started this programme there were only a handful of hydrogen internal combustion projects, and now there are hundreds. We see a vast growing interest in the technology." 350mph digger engines The industrial product transition and the JCB Hydromax land speed record programme are seen as part of the same journey. And as mentioned, the car shares fundamental technology with the hydrogen machines being developed

“

Hydrogen definitely has a place, particularly for larger equipment that needs mobile, flexible fuel. Batteries simply don't cut it… Cameron Scott, Senior Engineer, JCB 8

for customers, demonstrating that the innovations being pushed to their limits to attempt a world record have relevance to equipment operating on construction sites around the world. Cameron beamed, standing in front of one of JCB’s hydrogen diggers: "It's fantastic to see the parallels between the machine behind me and JCB Hydromax. The fuel system is the same on both vehicles. It has the same base engine which has obviously been fine-tuned to get the speed that we want; there are a lot of parallels.” JCB Hydromax is attempting to push hydrogen power to its absolute limit. While the production hydrogen engine produces 55kW (74hp), each race engine has been re-engineered to produce an

astonishing 800 horsepower - more than ten times its standard output. Mark Richards, a Principal Engineer at JCB was standing next to one of the bright green production engines. “74 horsepower is great for an on-site machine, but you need a lot more power to get up to that 350mph mark.” Achieving that increase has required significant engineering changes while preserving the engine's fundamental architecture. Mark explained: “The engine speed has doubled from around 2,200rpm to almost 4,500rpm, prompting the move from a traditional pushrod valvetrain to a twin overhead camshaft design for greater control at high speed.” Hydrogen delivery has also been completely redesigned. "This engine here is what's called a port fuel injected engine,” said Mark, pointing to and moving around the engine. “With the Hydromax race engine we've gone for direct injection. That means we can rapidly get a lot more fuel into the combustion chamber, so we effectively get a larger bang. We make more power from the same engine displacement." The engineering team has also reduced weight throughout the engine, introduced water injection to improve combustion, adopted dry sump lubrication borrowed from endurance racing, and increased oil and coolant flow to cope with the significantly higher power output. Despite those changes, Mark was particularly proud to point out that one of the engine's most important components remains largely untouched. "The crankshaft actually remains almost exactly the same as our production engine - the same as we did with Dieselmax 20 years ago - to showcase that the engine can get to those power levels, but remain largely unchanged in terms of its DNA."

Mission accomplished The final test for JCB Hydromax came at Bonneville Speed Week on 1–7 August. JCB returned to the famous Salt Flats in Utah, where Dieselmax set the diesel land speed record with Andy Green at the wheel 20 years ago. The record-breaking attempt came ahead of the opening of JCB’s new $500m, one million sq. ft, 400-acre factory in San Antonio, Texas, which will employ 1,500 people, manufacturing machines for the US market. Again, demonstrating how linked the Hydromax project is to wider company strategy. The car ran on the Salt Flats at 8:05am on 6 August, and reached a top speed of 368.347mph (592.797km/h) to set a new world record. Andy and the team were unsurprisngly delighted: "This record has given all of us huge confidence in the car, the team and the quality of the engineering," he said. "With our first record in the bag, we're now turning up the power on the engines, aiming to go even faster next week.” He’s travelled faster than this. Twice as fast in fact – he’s the only person alive to have broken the sound barrier on land. But he gave the impression that this is something bigger than another world record. “This is not about race car production and advertising. This is about advertising the technology," he said. “We’re going to showcase Great British engineering on a global stage, and help to promote, and make people think about, the zero-carbon alternative for the internal combustion engine of the future. “That is incredibly exciting, and I'm very proud to be part of this team." l

BELOW: JCB Hydromax managed a top speed of 180mph during testing

EVENTS CALENDAR An invitation-only afternoon event for senior UK manufacturing and supply chain leaders, designed from the ground up to be a working session rather than a passive conference. Each November, the UK’s top manufacturing minds gather in Liverpool for The Manufacturer Live - a prestigious series of award-winning events driving innovation, strategy, and recognition. Where UK Manufacturing Leaders Come to Solve Their Toughest Business. This award-winning Summit is the forum for manufacturing executives navigating an increasingly complex and unpredictable operating environment. Exclusive insight, senior connection and real conversations. A private dinner for senior manufacturing executives to network, share challenges, and gain strategic insight through high-level discussion. Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony - The Oscars of UK manufacturing. 400 manufacturers. One of the industry’s most rigorous and prestigious awards programmes. And this year, the launch of the People Awards creates an even more powerful platform to celebrate manufacturing excellence.

WEBINARS

Expert voices. Timely insights. Real impact. Our webinars spotlight leading manufacturers and tech providers, offering practical knowledge on the tools, skills and behaviours shaping the modern industry. The festival of industrial innovation. Four expos, one summit and dozens of fringe events unite the industry for cutting-edge thinking, smart technology and the latest hardware driving real world results on the factory floor, and the people and businesses shaping the future of manufacturing.

An impactful gathering for industrial digital leaders. A strategic opportunity to stay ahead of the curve in a fast shifting industrial landscape.

themanufacturer.com/events

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LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

INDUSTRY FO CUS

TEXTILES

Beyond fashion 10

The fabric of modern manufacturing Many people associate Britain's textile industry with fashion, heritage mills and traditional craftsmanship. Yet behind that perception lies one of the UK's most innovative manufacturing sectors. The Manufacturer’s James Devonshire explores how Britain's technical textile manufacturers have established themselves as world leaders in advanced materials, which underpin everything from aerospace and defence to healthcare and infrastructure

hen NASA's Perseverance Rover descended through the Martian atmosphere in February 2021, it was a critical component manufactured on a Devon industrial estate that ensured its safe landing. Said component wasn't an engine, sensor or computer; it was a parachute made from a hi-tech fabric which had been developed to withstand extreme temperatures and be strong enough to float the £1.93bn rover down safely. Having travelled more than 140 million miles, the parachute bloomed open, slowing the rover's descent onto the Jezero Crater. Cameras caught the moment and something that caught many people’s attention was the canopy’s seemingly random orange and cream markings.

However, the design was anything but random. It was a binary message that once decoded, read ‘Dare Mighty Things’. It's as good a starting point as any for understanding an industry that has spent decades quietly achieving extraordinary feats while often remaining in the shadow of its fashion counterpart. But technical textiles don’t necessarily want to be seen. They're built into aircraft seats negating the need for foam; laminated onto military vehicles to conceal them from drone surveillance; and woven into bearings so quietly effective that engineers forget they were ever made from anything else. As Adam Mansell, CEO of the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT), put it: "Technical textiles are unseen because predominantly, the actual material itself is unseen. But they feature in pretty much every part of our lives."

The irony is that the more successful technical textiles become, the less visible they are. Unlike fashion brands, the sector rarely appears on the high street or in consumer advertising. Its customers are engineers, defence contractors, aerospace manufacturers and infrastructure companies rather than shoppers. That lack of visibility has created perhaps the industry's greatest misconception. "When people hear 'textiles', they often think it's just clothes," said Tara Hounslea, UKFT's Director of Communications. "But actually, technical textiles are tackling big global challenges. They're performing structural necessities and life-saving operations, but because they're not visible products, people simply don't know they're there."

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY MAIN PIC: With more than 75 years of manufacturing expertise, Arville specialises in engineered woven textiles that solve complex technical challenges

Beyond the catwalk Ask most people what the UK textile industry looks like today and the answer will likely involve catwalks, high street brands, or perhaps a fading memory of northern mill towns. It's an understandable assumption, but an increasingly erroneous one. Paul Daynes, Sales Manager at Toray Textiles in Nottinghamshire, put a number on just how far the dial has shifted. Lightweight fashion textiles now make up just ten per cent of the company’s sales volume, compared with 100% 25 years ago. That side of the business has migrated to Asia, as it has across much of Europe, with Italy remaining the last significant European stronghold for high-value fashion textile manufacturing. What's replaced it in Britain is something

far less visible but considerably more valuable. According to UKFT, the UK's technical textiles industry was valued at c. £3.6bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to c. £5.3bn within a decade. "There is virtually no part of life where textiles don't come into play," said Adam. There is somewhere between 750 and 1,000 technical textiles companies operating in the UK, and they are not small operations by textile industry standards. He pointed to the 40 companies the UKFT took to an international textiles trade fair this year alone, whose combined turnover topped £850m. The everyday scale of the sector is easy to miss precisely because it's designed to be. The average car contains around 30 different types of technical textile, from seatbelts and airbags to the materials

inside its battery. The transatlantic cabling that carries internet traffic between the UK and the US is wrapped in a textilebased product before it goes beneath the ocean. Roads and railways sit on geotextiles that keep the ground beneath them stable. Even food manufacturing depends on it - one UK company supplies fabric for the conveyor belts in the factory that manufacturers Mini Cheddars. Katie Robinson, UKFT's Textile Membership Manager added: "There are fibres used in the manufacture of Elon Musk’s rockets… that is precision engineering." It's a deliberate corrective to the industry's other image problem, as she framed it: "When I have historically spoken to people about textiles in the UK, they think of tweeds and tartans."

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

“

Technical textiles are unseen because predominantly, the actual material itself is unseen. But they feature in pretty much every part of our lives Adam Mansell, CEO, UK Fashion & Textile Association

BELOW: Innovation in material science and fabric engineering has positioned Carrington Textiles as a leading manufacturer of highperformance technical textiles

The new demand curve If there's one sector every company featured in this piece points to as their biggest growth driver, it is defence, closely followed by aerospace and medical applications. What's striking is how consistently that shows up at every level of the supply chain - from raw material science to finished products - regardless of company size or specialism. At Arville, a third-generation, 75-year-old family weaving group based in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, CEO Steve Gill lists ejector seat components, flotation tanks for aircraft that land on water, and ballistic textiles for helmets and body armour among the company's core defence output. The firm has also become one of only two global suppliers of the trilaminate materials used in dry suits for special forces and whitewater rescue teams. Elsewhere in its range, firefighter suits have moved beyond simple flame resistance to tackle a problem that can be deadly. “One of the highest fatalities for firefighters is a phenomenon of severe steam burns that occur when trapped sweat or exterior moisture rapidly turns to steam inside a firefighter's protective gear,” Steve said. Redesigning that moisture management, he said, is now as important as the flame protection itself. At Carrington Textiles, part of the RTS Textiles Group, Sales and Marketing Director Paul Farrell described military fabrics that go well beyond conventional

camouflage. "Modern military fabrics actually incorporate highly specialised performance characteristics that include elements such as infrared reflective properties to help conceal personnel from surveillance, drone technology, and surveillance technology that's built into the textile." The same technology extends to shelters and vehicle wraps used to camouflage battlefield assets, from lightweight vehicles to helicopters. The pattern holds even where it's inconvenient: automotive demand, once the sector's bread and butter, has weakened over the past decade squeezed by EU competition and the shift to Chinese electric vehicles. Defence and medical are filling the gap, not adding to steady growth elsewhere. What unites all three accounts is a sense that this growth is being driven by something bigger than commercial appetite; a geopolitical shift toward resilience and domestic capability that none of them expect to reverse any time soon. Which raises an uncomfortable question: if defence is where the growth is, why does the UK make it so hard for its own manufacturers to win that work? Britain’s own worst customer Government procurement policies is a topic that unites everyone named in this article, and one where the industry's frustration perhaps runs deepest. Steve said the Ministry of Defence predominantly buys based on price, “even if there's a much greater total value to the economy to use a UK company,” pointing to the tax and employment that a domestic manufacturer generates and a lowest-price tender ignores. But there's a sharper edge to his argument too. As technical textiles increasingly incorporate embedded electronics and nanotechnology for defence applications, he said manufacturing those products overseas, "is clearly a security risk. We should be looking to do that ourselves and keep it here." Steve drew a direct comparison to the US’ Berry Amendment, which requires the US military to buy domestically produced clothing and textiles, a protection that does not have an equivalent in the UK. Paul sees the issue in similar terms, while recognising the complexity of public-sector procurement. “There is a real opportunity for UK government and defence

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

procurement to place greater value on domestic manufacturing capability, particularly where resilience, innovation, security of supply and SME participation are important,” he said. “We would like to see more of that value return to the UK supply chain, and as an industry we continue to make that case constructively.” The clearest comparison comes from Washington. Adam highlighted the Berry Amendment's role in building a substantial US technical textiles industry supplying its own military, and to an EU-wide public procurement regulation due for publication in September, which will weigh quality and performance far more heavily than cost alone - something the UK has not committed to matching. He's also blunt about a missed opportunity: "COVID, very, very briefly, lifted the lid on technical textiles for government. The fact that they then went away and purchased from the Far East was massively disappointing."

“

We aren't going to compete with the Far East on price, and we don't need to. But we can create new technologies, better and more productive ways of working, and the next generations of products Katie Robinson, Textile Membership Manager, UK Fashion & Textile Association

RIGHT: Technical textiles now account for the vast majority of Toray Textiles' UK production, supplying advanced materials for a wide range of industries

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

The consequence, as Adam described it, is that UK-purchased defence textiles increasingly aren't UK-made at all: "Pretty much everything that our armed forces wear is made abroad,” he lamented.

From supplier to partner Away from policy, the commercial relationship between technical textile manufacturers and their customers has changed markedly over the past decade. The industry's real value lies not in what its products are, but in what they enable. As a result, technical textile manufacturers are being increasingly asked to solve engineering problems rather than produce materials to a specification. Steve outlined how Arville’s customers increasingly want a single, capable partner rather than a transactional supplier. "The biggest play that we have is they want a one-stop-shop," he said, "someone with the technical capability to keep them ahead of their competitors." That extends to the relationship itself: "It's no longer a salesman talking to a buyer. Customers are now seeking a multi-level partnership." He also pointed to a tangible shift toward onshoring, as customers

ABOVE: Carrington Textiles produces advanced performance fabrics for the workwear, defence and protective clothing sectors BELOW: Toray Textiles has successfully transitioned from fashion fabrics to highvalue technical textiles serving global industrial markets

actively try to de-risk overseas supply chains. "We're noticing a lot of onshoring now coming back to the UK," though he was careful to add that this doesn't mean that customers will simply pay more. At Carrington, the defining shift is sustainability, moving from what Paul calls a “nice to have” five or ten years ago to a core requirement today. Customers increasingly want greater transparency around fibre origin, manufacturing processes and the carbon footprint of finished products. Alongside that sits growing demand for garments that deliver more comfort, stretch and appearance, while still maintaining durability and performance. “Customers are rightly looking for products that deliver across a wider range of requirements, while remaining commercially competitive,” Paul said. However, that sustainability picture is more complicated than it first appears. Paul frames Carrington’s own approach around durability and circularity. "We engineer products to last, first and foremost. And when they reach end of life, we strive to ensure they can be recycled back in a circular economy in some way," he said. But UKFT is quick to point out that a fashion industry lens on sustainability doesn't always map neatly onto technical textiles. "If you take products like Kevlar and stab vests, which are all textiles, it is extremely difficult to think about recycling at the end of life," the UKFT team explained. Tara added the underlying reason: "Performance is the priority, rather than designing for end of life." Performance must come first, even when it sits awkwardly alongside sustainability goals. The textiles talent gap Another pressing issue facing the UK technical textiles industry is skills and specifically, the age of the workforce. At Arville, the picture five years ago was stark: an average workforce age of 56. Through a concerted apprenticeship effort, run in partnership with the Textile Centre of Excellence, that figure now stands at 43. Steve is candid about why this matters beyond simple headcount: "The biggest threat to the industry is the failure to extract expert knowledge from people's heads, and that knowledge is usually tacit. They can feel a problem - it isn't something they can necessarily write down."

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LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

Losing that generation without a deliberate handover plan means losing knowledge that can't easily be rebuilt. Arville has also begun introducing digital shop floor technology, partly for efficiency, but partly, as Steve put it, because "younger people understand the digital element" and it helps make the work "more attractive." Carrington is wrestling with the same problem from a different angle. "This can be an older, traditional industry, with people who've worked here for 30 or 40 years," said Justin Price, RTS Group's Head of Global Brand and Communications. "They need to be replaced to keep the knowledge going - that's what we're continuously trying to do: get the next generation in to learn the technical side and keep it going." The company's answer is a placement scheme launching this summer: five students rotating through R&D, the lab, manufacturing and marketing over 12 months. "We've got interns and students coming in to learn about every side of the factory," Justin said. Both he and Paul see the scheme as being about more than succession. As the industry becomes less commoditised and more technical, bringing in people who've

never worked in textiles is one of the few ways to stress-test the business's own assumptions. Justin is confident the interest is there: "Young people want to come into this industry now. These are highly engineered, technical fabrics - not things from the past. They're still evolving generation to generation, and that's what keeps it cutting edge." UKFT carries the formal responsibility here: as the government-appointed sector skills body, it oversees 14 separate manufacturing apprenticeships, and helped establish the UK's first undergraduate degree in textile sustainability and innovation at Leeds University three or four years ago, funding bursaries for its first three cohorts. However, the deeper obstacle isn't funding, it's visibility. Many companies, Katie said, “see themselves as part of the end use supply chain, so they won't necessarily see themselves as textile companies... when there's medical, defence, aerospace, automotive, that's what they see - they don't see the textiles within.” The result, as she put it, is “a double-down challenge with attracting new talent” - an industry that's hard to recruit into partly because most of the people in it don't think of themselves as working in textiles.

Staying competitive Underneath the skills and procurement challenges sits a more familiar manufacturing problem: cost. Paul is frank that the UK's high standards around quality, compliance, sustainability and worker welfare are genuine strengths, but they come with a cost base that can be difficult to compare directly with manufacturers in Asia or Latin America operating under very different conditions. “Customers are understandably under pressure to manage cost, and lower headline prices from other regions can be compelling,” he said. “The real challenge is ensuring that best value is recognised - encouraging procurement professionals to consider innovation, resilience, compliance, security of supply and longterm performance, rather than focusing on unit cost alone.”

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

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UK technical textiles is a high tech, exportdriven sector built on innovation and engineering capability, and that's what the UK was famous for and world leaders in Steve Gill, Group CEO, Arville

LEFT : Arville develops highperformance technical textiles for demanding aerospace, defence, medical and industrial applications

Katie believes the UK shouldn’t strive to compete on price, and that its advantage lies elsewhere, predominantly in innovation. “We aren't going to compete with the Far East on price, and we don't need to," she said. "But we can create new technologies, better and more productive ways of working and the next generations of products. That's what we want to compete on rather than price and volume." Adam named three further pressures: rising energy costs, difficulty accessing R&D support, and a government Industrial Strategy built around eight named key sectors that inadvertently squeezes out companies that don't sit neatly inside one of them, making it harder for parts of the technical textiles sector to access funding intended to support advanced manufacturing. Nevertheless, Steve is careful to note that Far East competition isn't insurmountable: "We've just won a significant contract where we were

cheaper than a Chinese company," he said, of a highly technical product line - something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. "That may be an exception rather than the rule, but it's good to see." It's proof, he argued, that targeted innovation, rather than trying to compete on volume, can still win. An industry of the future, not the past For an industry with a genuine list of structural problems - procurement policy stacked against it, an ageing workforce, a cost base under constant pressure - the tone across technical textiles is strikingly optimistic, and consistent in where that optimism comes from. The UK will never compete with China, or some other locations, on volume (and often price), and nobody seems to want to. The shared bet is on innovation, speed and technical capability instead. "Textiles is not an industry of the past; it's an industry of the future," said Paul. "Really technical textiles is where material science, manufacturing and innovation intersect." Steve framed Arville's growth in almost identical terms: "We're combining 75 years of family heritage with technical excellence and the speed to become that fast end-to-end partner for customers,” - a company built on being fastest and best rather than cheapest. His own summary of the industry, offered as the one thing he'd want readers to take away, is this: "Technical textiles is a high tech, export-driven sector built on innovation and engineering capability, and that's what the UK was famous for and world leaders in." UKFT, perhaps inevitably, summed up the sector's frustration and its self-image in a single phrase used repeatedly across the interview: an "enabling technology" - invisible by design, indispensable in practice, and still waiting for the recognition that comes with being seen. That recognition may be closer than it's been in decades. Between a geopolitical push toward domestic resilience, an EU procurement overhaul that finally weighs quality over cost, and a generation of manufacturers betting on innovation rather than volume, the conditions the industry has been asking for are starting to align. Whether Westminster follows is another matter.

Full circle Which brings us back to a Devon industrial estate, and a parachute that carried a message across 140 million miles of space, made by a British company most of the country has never heard of, doing exactly what the rest of this industry has been doing for decades: extraordinary work, quietly and mostly unseen. The difference now is that the industry no longer seems content to stay that way. l

KEY TAKEAWAYS • H idden talent: Technical textiles have become one of the UK's most innovative and strategically important manufacturing sectors • Setting high standards: Innovation and engineering expertise, rather than low-cost production, are driving the industry's global competitiveness • New opportunities: Rising demand from defence, aerospace and healthcare is creating significant new growth opportunities for UK manufacturers • Support from the top: Industry leaders say government procurement must do more to support domestic manufacturing and supply chain resilience • M aking the sector attractive: Addressing skills shortages and raising awareness will be critical to securing the sector's longterm future

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Breakdown to breakthrough Rethinking maintenance for competitive advantage At Smart Manufacturing Week 2026, The Manufacturer caught up with Bentley Motors’ Head of Maintenance, Jonathan Peedell, to discuss the major issues facing maintenance today from the cost of downtime, reliability and data integration challenges to workforce gaps, legacy systems and infrastructure constraints

echnology is impacting every area of manufacturing operations, and the maintenance realm is no different. As a business function, maintenance has shifted from a supporting role to a strategic priority in manufacturing. Unplanned downtime alone costs billions annually and can halt production, disrupt supply chains and erode brand loyalty

and competitiveness. To that end there are numerous trends in the space that are helping to redraw the map around what industrial maintenance means in a modern manufacturing setting. There is an ongoing shift towards predictive and prescriptive maintenance; the rise of AI, advanced analytics and IoT are driving the connected factory; while sustainability and asset longevity

are becoming key business performance indicators. Driving change Jonathan explained that there are predominantly two driving factors behind maintenance evolution into a strategic business function rather than a reactive support role. These are adaptability and, unsurprisingly, money.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

ABOVE: Open-mindedness and a holistic approach will separate manufacturers with world-class maintenance strategies from those that continue to struggle with downtime

He cited that UK manufacturing is currently in its most cost-conscious period of the last 20 years. The variety of road bumps in that time – from the economic slump of the late 2000s, through to Brexit and COVID, and on to conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East – have meant that we are in an economy of constant flux, where the only certainty is uncertainty. He commented: “In terms of productivity, no one really knows where they're going to be, and what investments they're going to be able to make. That’s intrinsically linked to the profit margins of a business. Crucially, a manufacturer’s facilities are increasingly being looked upon as possible asset generation, and maintenance functions have the ability to capitalise on that and go beyond the function of merely maintaining the technical uptime of an asset.” Whereas in less frugal times, businesses would think little of purchasing new pieces of equipment, there is now true value to be had in businesses investing in the capability that will enable them to

sweat their assets a little more. And, the homegrown experience to be able to do that – which comes from the maintenance function - combined with their ability to push any investments out a little further, is becoming far more prevalent and valuable within manufacturing businesses. Downtime dilemmas Unplanned downtime remains one of the biggest operational risks in manufacturing. However, there are some organisations who are still falling short when it comes to reliability and resilience. Jonathan believes that much of this shortfall is down to the fact that many manufacturers are still only part way through their digital transformation journey. Many businesses have machine learning and/or AI models that can inform when to expect failures or schedule maintenance. “Right now, not all manufacturers have something conjoined that can go away and actually take action. In some cases you may know that there is something that needs doing, but what we don't always have is the investment available. We may need to spend money to change the asset or make it future ready and increase its reliability. “So, at the moment, it's that end-toend connection that many manufacturers lack; the knowledge of the problem may

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Rather than replacement it’s advisable to look at an existing asset and see what can be done to make it more efficient; maintenance people are fantastic at doing that Jonathan Peedell, Head of Maintenance, Bentley Motors

be there, but there’s not always a defined route to fixing it.” Similarly, many manufacturers struggle with disconnected systems due to poor data visibility. This lack of connectivity is currently adding to the labour intensiveness of maintenance functions because ultimately, there is still a reliance on a manual intervention to make something happen.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

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If you're an individual working in a maintenance function, and you have a keen eye and understanding of digitisation, you have a very healthy career ahead of you Jonathan Peedell, Head of Maintenance, Bentley Motors So, the role of data integration in enabling effective predictive maintenance strategies will become critical in the long-term. And this will be an area where AI will have a definitive role in enabling manufacturers to be more dynamic and increase the capability to join together what are now separate, isolated and individual platforms, systems and pieces of equipment. AI potential Like many areas of manufacturing, AI and advanced analytics promise major improvements in maintenance performance. But it’s certainly nothing new for Bentley, as Jonathan explained that the business has been working on and

ABOVE: Across manufacturing there is an ongoing shift towards predictive and prescriptive maintenance; driving the function from one of support to one of strategy priority using predictability algorithms for around three years. “On their own they are strong and very competent examples of where AI has given tangible benefits,” he added. “We have mitigated several quite sizable potential breakdowns using exactly that. In a standard machine learning environment, we would have just been waiting until we hit an upper or lower control limit. “Now we've got a piece of AI that can recognise an anomaly, and can tell us, for example, whether we need to go in and do something over the weekend, or whether we should take action immediately. That’s how AI is working right now, but integrating it into something wider that actually takes action is the next stage.” Justifying investment Of course, when budgets are squeezed, it’s hard for manufacturers to justify investment in predictive or prescriptive maintenance. Technology should never

be introduced for the sake of it and it’s always important to have a business case that underlines the value. But as Jonathan explained, as long as manufacturers have that business case in place and understand the problem they’re trying to solve, achieving predictability within maintenance is no longer as daunting and expensive as it once was, and it’s possible to deliver results with a moderate amount of investment. “It’s only when you start getting into ecosystems, and taking on lots of the other functionality, that the cost begins to ramp up,” he said. “Particularly within maintenance functions, there is typically a reasonably healthy skill set in situ. Within the maintenance section of a business there will be some very curious and interested people, and there will be myriad platforms that they could potentially start using alongside some of the data that you collect. “Of course, a lot of that data has to go through compliance routes within the businesses, but the data isn't GDPRbased so it’s not data that’s going to trip you up further down the line. So, my advice would be to go away and have a look at the solutions that are available; they're not as expensive as you think.” Beyond the AI During Smart Manufacturing Week Jonathan took part in a panel discussion around the key trends and themes within the world of manufacturing maintenance. Predictably, AI emerged as a key discussion topic. However, it certainly wasn’t the only subject on the agenda. Beyond the AI buzz, there were lengthy conversations around the maintenance training journey, and how to get people to stay within maintenance functions. He explained that there's a general appreciation for the fact that maintenance professionals are sought after assets. That means they can be hard to retain, and so consequently, the quality of experience they can be given in a role directly correlates to their time in a function, and the time they want to stay with a given business. “We’ve known for quite some time that we’re heading towards a digital world, with app-based solutions and connected technology,” he continued. “What we have within maintenance is curious people. What we need to do is keep them that way; get them excited to work with technology, and be hands on with AI and

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION digitised solutions. If you can't offer them those things, they have the ability to find jobs elsewhere. “But there’s no doubt that if you're an individual working in a maintenance function, and you have a keen eye and understanding of digitisation, you have a very healthy career ahead of you.” Another key consideration within the world of manufacturing, and maintenance in particular, is legacy architecture and how organisations modernise maintenance practices without completely replacing existing assets and systems. And in the modern environment, it’s here where maintenance professionals can truly earn their spurs. Cost complexities are often forcing businesses to stall the replacement of ageing assets, and in some instances, postpone investment in new machinery all together. Therefore, the importance of maintenance functions is made even more apparent as they are the ones who hold the key to being able to sweat existing assets to their full potential. “If you look around Smart Manufacturing Week, we are surrounded by hundreds of companies that offer haptic sensors, IoT devices and all manner of technology that can be configured and bolted onto old pieces of equipment,” Jonathan added. “We've done the same with 35 year old pieces of equipment, and it's been very successful. In a cost-conscious world it’s the best way to go. “As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. There are a lot of devices out there, so look around and see what you can implement yourself. You don't necessarily need third-parties to come in to install and integrate them. There will be elements that your own maintenance functions can implement very easily. And that will allow you to have a better understanding of how much life you still have within an asset and whether you can continue to sweat it.” Evolution It’s clear that rip out and replace is simply not an option for most manufacturers, particularly in the current climate. Therefore, asset sustainability and longevity are becoming more important. As such, maintenance is evolving to support both operational performance and environmental goals, and it’s clear to see why its role is so vital in this regard. Maintenance is very good at looking at equipment through the lens of energy

management and optimising it in the most effective and efficient way. “This can sometimes be down to something as simple as the spare parts you stock,” Jonathan continued. “The difference between IE2 or IE4 motor technology, for example, is an indication of how technology always moves on.” And just because a core asset is of a specific age doesn't mean that it can't be cost effectively and sustainably upgraded moving forward. As Jonathan explained further, swapping a complete asset out for a replacement that is, on paper, more energy efficient isn't necessarily the most sustainable path to take. “The cost of scrapping an asset and the waste that this could potentially generate, can in itself be counterproductive. So, rather than replacement it’s sometimes advisable to look at an existing asset and see what can be done to make it slightly more efficient; maintenance people are fantastic at doing that.” Looking ahead, it’s open-mindedness and a holistic approach that will separate manufacturers with world-class maintenance strategies from those that continue to struggle with downtime and inefficiency. Companies will need to leverage the skill sets they've got in order to get a full understanding of their environment and ensure everyone is bought into the mission to keep technical uptime where it needs to be. And while it’s easy for many businesses to be seduced by the promises and potential of technology and AI in particular, Jonathan explained that over the next five years, success won’t necessarily be centred around who has the best AI solution. Rather, it will hinge on the organisations that have a comprehensive understanding of their environment. l BELOW: Bentley Motors has successfully used AI-driven predictive algorithms to detect anomalies before traditional monitoring methods would

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Maintenance has become a strategic business function: Maintenance is no longer just about fixing equipment when it breaks. In today's cost-conscious manufacturing environment, it plays a critical role in supporting overall business competitiveness • The biggest challenge isn't predicting failures - it's acting on them: Many manufacturers have AI and predictive maintenance tools that can identify potential failures, but they often lack integrated systems, investment or processes to automatically turn those insights into timely action. The gap between knowing and doing remains a major obstacle • AI is already delivering measurable value, but integration is the next frontier: Bentley Motors has successfully used AI-driven predictive algorithms to detect anomalies before traditional monitoring methods would. However, the next stage is integrating AI with maintenance workflows so it can trigger and coordinate actions across the business • Modernising existing assets is often more practical than replacing them: Rather than investing in expensive new machinery, manufacturers can retrofit older equipment to improve reliability and extend asset life. This approach is often more affordable and sustainable than replacing entire systems • People and organisational understanding will determine future success: While AI will continue to evolve, the companies that succeed will be those that combine technology with skilled maintenance teams, integrated data and a deep understanding of their operating environment. Retaining digitally skilled maintenance professionals and fostering continuous learning will be just as important as investing in new technology

INNOVATION & DESIGN

'Gotta have

Faith’ful Design 22

Fujifilm has built an entire design philosophy around uncovering needs users never explicitly express. From office printers to life-saving medical imaging systems, the company's Faithful Design methodology doesn’t begin in the studio or factory but in hospitals, workplaces and everyday environments. Tom St John reports LEFT: CLAYSTUDIO Hall, where Fujifilm's designers collaborate across one of the world's most diverse technology companies.

ilan is a great city to be during Milan Design Week. Fujifilm invited members of the international press to the Segreen Business Park in Segrate, a few of whom expressed a desire to spend some time in the city taking in the event. There were a number of journalists from fashion magazines, so I was beginning to

wonder if I was in the right place. As the day went on, and we learned about Fujifilm’s design philosophy known as ‘Faithful Design’, it became apparent that this is very much an engineering story, albeit, with a designled product innovation element to it. Fujifilm's designers explained why observation, empathy and continuous iteration have become central to innovation

‘Bring more smiles to the world’ Before delving into this philosophy, Luana Porfido, European Head of Corporate Communications and ESG Management at FUJIFILM Europe, wanted to begin with some important context. Fujifilm remains synonymous with photography, and while it continues to innovate in photographic products, the business has undergone a reinvention over the past two decades. This was evident during another visit last year, when we covered the various sustainable manufacturing initiatives at its Tilburg site in the Netherlands, which is one of the most impressive facilities I’ve visited. It’s all part of an evolution that centres around a sense of purpose; one that extends well beyond commercial success. As Luana explained: "We are fully committed to people. We want to engage with customers and all of our stakeholders to create experiences that are meaningful for society, with the intention to bring more smiles to the world.”

The philosophy emerged from a fraught and dramatic period in Fujifilm's history. As digital photography accelerated at the turn of the millennium, demand for photographic film collapsed at a pace few could have anticipated. “This was a turning point for our company,” said Luana. “At that time, photography-related business accounted for approximately 50 to 60% of our turnover. Today, photography is 17% and film is just one per cent. “Our portfolio changed dramatically, but thanks to the vision of our management and the technology that we had cultivated during the photographic years, we were able to approach other markets." Today, those same core technologies including materials science, nanotechnology, image processing and precision manufacturing - support Fujifilm's growth in healthcare, semiconductor materials and life sciences, alongside its traditional imaging business. The reason for Luana setting the scene in this way was to demonstrate the company’s mindset. It has combined long-term thinking, technological innovation and, as Luana put it, “Our North Star”- a commitment to understanding the real-world needs of customers and society. That philosophy now extends beyond the products Fujifilm creates to the way it designs them. Across every business, from consumer imaging to medical diagnostics, the company follows a single approach known as Faithful Design. Observe to innovate For Fujifilm's designers, Faithful Design is a philosophy that begins long before a product is conceived. It's rooted in observation; assessing how people behave, understanding needs that users themselves may not articulate, and refining ideas through continual testing in real-world environments. As Sumire Kuroda, known as Sumi, User Interface Designer at Fujifilm Corporation pointed out at the event: "Today is not a product briefing, it’s about exploring Fujifilm's design philosophy, and it consistently shapes the experiences we create across a wide range of businesses.” She continued: “We hope you will focus not on what the product is, but why it exists and how it was shaped." The process of Faithful Design begins by studying real people rather than imagining hypothetical users. "It involves identifying users' unspoken, latent desires through interviews and other

methods, and faithfully bringing them to life,” said Sumi. “The most important thing we do is observe the actual site - people's behaviour in real-life situations. We translate these observations into design ideas, validate them together with users and refine them through repeated iterations." The process of creating a product is almost done in reverse order. Instead of working with manufacturing and engineering teams to create a product to fit a working environment, the environment informs how the product is made. Turning philosophy into product My assumption was that surely all manufactured products are designed with environments in mind. Is having knowledge of your customers’ work spaces and user experiences not just a part of standard customer care? Surely this is central to how products are designed, and therefore already commonplace in the industry. The difference with Faithful Design became clearer to me when given examples of products. As mentioned, Fujifilm sells into a variety of markets, and so operates across an extraordinarily diverse portfolio - from instant cameras and diagnostic imaging systems to semiconductor materials and office technologies. “The products you see today are all designed through the same Fujifilm design philosophy, applied consistently regardless of category," said Sumi. Two products that demonstrate Faithful Design in action are a new generation of multifunction printers (MFPs) for modern workplaces, and a lightweight mobile X-ray system developed for emergency care. This is where Masahiko Yamamoto came in, the Industrial Designer at Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp: "We asked ourselves, how will people work in the future, and what will workplaces look like? “With that question in mind, we began our design journey by interviewing people with a variety of different work styles. Our goal was to explore how a multifunction printer fits into existing work styles and how these workplaces might change in the future." This revealed two insights that fundamentally challenged the team's assumptions. The first was that traditional offices are evolving. Older offices have always been designed with efficiency in mind, so printers were placed out of the way, to the side of the room, or sometimes hidden in corners or behind partitions.

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INNOVATION & DESIGN

We want to engage with customers and all of our stakeholders to create experiences that are meaningful for society, with the intention to bring more smiles to the world Luana Porfido, European Head of Corporate Communications and ESG Management, FUJIFILM Europe

LEFT: The creation of the FDR Nano mobile X-ray system began inside a US emergency department

The solution was a distinctive sloping front surface that visually unifies the scanner and printer into a single form while naturally guiding users towards the controls. Frequently used elements, including the scanner handle, card reader and control panel, were consolidated into one intuitive operating area, while colour was carefully employed to highlight points of interaction. Masa explained further: "Our design considerations were not limited to the exterior. We paid equal attention to the inner details of the machine. “The yellow knobs and handles were selected after careful consideration of human colour vision, dimly lit environments and different lighting conditions. “We conducted usability tests many times to refine the user experience. It helps users quickly understand where to interact and what steps to take with just a glance." Every design decision had to justify its existence by making the product easier to understand and simpler to use. This goes some way beyond standard customer care that I mentioned earlier. In this case, the design philosophy completely redefined the product. The printers have been observed in their offices environments, Fujifilm’s designers have assessed their actual uses and capabilities, and now the products are designed and manufactured to a new specification.

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We hope you will focus not on what the product is, but why it exists and how it was shaped Sumire Kuroda, User Interface Designer, Fujifilm Corporation Modern offices, by contrast, are increasingly open, flexible environments where employees are encouraged to move freely and collaborate. The second finding came about through proper examination of the existing product. Modern multifunction printers are intelligent devices, connected to cloud services and digital solutions. “We had to rethink the very role of the MFP,” said Masa. “It shouldn't just be a device for copying, scanning and printing.

It should become an intelligent partner for people at work." From there came a redefining of the product’s design concept. The printer was no longer seen as a machine, but an assistant. Rather than beginning with technical specifications, the designers considered the emotional reaction users were having when they first encountered an office printer. "We realised that what shapes people's impression the most is its silhouette,” said Masa. “So, we tried to simplify the traditional form as much as possible. We wanted to create a silhouette that conveys clarity, intelligence and progressiveness."

Mobile X-ray If the printer demonstrated how Faithful Design could improve everyday office life, the second case study illustrated how the same philosophy could ultimately save lives. The story of the FDR Nano mobile X-ray system began inside a US emergency department, where Fujifilm's designers accompanied engineers to observe clinicians at work. Again, the process began in the environment where the product is being deployed. The team were taken aback by the sight of medical teams surrounding critically ill patients while attempting to manoeuvre large mobile X-ray systems through already crowded treatment spaces. The equipment frequently collided with staff and other devices, delaying examinations during situations where every second mattered. "For a long time, this situation had simply been accepted as normal,” said Sumi. “But by witnessing it first-hand, we began to rethink the design of medical equipment, starting with how it should function in real

INNOVATION & DESIGN This distinction is fundamental to Faithful Design. The objective is never to create a more attractive product, but to observe how people work, identify frustrations that have become accepted as inevitable, and redesign the experience around real human behaviour. Whether designing an office printer or a medical imaging system, Fujifilm begins from the same place; understanding the context in which people live and work, uncovering needs that often go unspoken, and refining solutions until they feel intuitive enough to disappear into everyday use.

ABOVE: Apeos C3067 sketches - with a distinctive sloping front surface that visually unifies the scanner and printer emergency environments." Rather than immediately searching for technical solutions, the team returned to observation. "Our goal was not simply to reduce size or weight,” continued Sumi. “We started by carefully observing real emergency environments - how doctors and technologists move, and how equipment is handled. These observations were tested and discussed repeatedly, allowing the design to evolve step-by-step." The result was a complete rethink of the system. Advances in detector technology allowed Fujifilm to maintain image quality while dramatically reducing radiation dose. The reduction in overall weight of the X-rays came through redesigned generators and batteries within the machine. "By reducing the weight from around 500kg to only 90kg, we achieved a breakthrough in lightweight design,” said Sumi. “This enabled the system to accelerate and stop instantly, move straight or diagonally and rotate on the spot. These were capabilities that simply didn't exist in conventional mobile X-ray systems." The redesign went far beyond mobility alone. The detector and image monitor were repositioned to streamline examinations, while a rotating arm allowed clinicians to view images more naturally during procedures, reshaping the entire workflow rather than simply improving the machine itself.

Designing the designers Rather than seeing design as a department, Fujifilm positions it as something that shapes every aspect of the business. This is demonstrated by The Design Centre, that has been based in an independent design studio since 2017. To further inspire designers and encourage creative leaps, the CLAYSTUDIO, the company’s current design hub, was opened in Tokyo, in May 2023. The space has been created for designers to collaborate not only with colleagues across Fujifilm's businesses, but also with artists, musicians, craftspeople and researchers from outside the company. “By engaging with forms of creativity beyond design, we gain new perspectives that rarely emerge from our routine work,” said Sumi. “These shared experiences are essential for building stronger engagement among our designers." Since establishing dedicated design studios in 2017, the company has seen a steady increase in international recognition, consistently collecting between 80 and 90 major design awards each year across competitions including the iF Design Award, Red Dot and Japan's Good Design Awards. Although, it is also true that Fujifilm measures the true success of its centre in its designers, and whether they’ve truly understood the people they’re designing for. A new way to design It was a genuinely fascinating window into how product design can inform everything; not only from the perspective of designing the most optimal application, that almost comes as an inevitable by-product of the approach. Faithful Design is a truly people-centric approach. To hear it explained merely in presentations makes it sound quite abstract and hard to fully conceptualise. But hearing examples brings the idea fully to life.

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Faithful Design starts with people: Fujifilm begins every project by observing real-world environments and uncovering users' unspoken needs • One philosophy, many industries: The same design approach underpins products across healthcare, imaging, office technology and beyond • Observation drives innovation: Designers work alongside users, continually testing and refining ideas before products reach the market • Design goes beyond aesthetics: Every decision is guided by usability, workflow and functionality, not simply visual appeal. • Challenge what's considered 'normal': By questioning accepted ways of working, Fujifilm's designers uncover opportunities to create more intuitive, effective products

Which is fitting because examples and real-world exposure is at the core of the philosophy. Fujifilm’s designers and engineers wouldn’t have noticed and understood the struggle of moving critically ill patients to a radiology suite if they hadn’t been in the room. In the case of the multifunctional printers, many designers in that field would instinctively come up with something that looks better, smarter or more in-keeping with office aesthetics. But if Fujifilm hadn’t assessed the users emotional reaction to the product they wouldn’t have noticed the significance of its shape, and how much that appeared to resonate with people. This felt like a uniquely Fujifilm philosophy, but its focus on people’s reactions, experiences and unspoken needs makes it a potentially attractive approach for any company claiming to be truly customer-driven. It’s centred entirely around observation and understanding, and only once those steps are made can product innovation truly begin. l

PEOPLE & SKILLS

The hybrid manufacturer

Why tomorrow's workforce will need more than technical expertise

As digital technologies proliferate throughout the manufacturing industry, a significant workforce shift is needed to ensure that organisations are getting the most from their investments. Dr Awinder Kaur of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), University of Warwick, believes the key lies in what she calls the ‘hybrid manufacturer’, professionals who have both deep technical expertise and the digital prowess needed to drive the next generation of industrial transformation. The Manufacturer’s James Devonshire sat down with Awinder to find out more

I, automation and other connected factory solutions are reshaping manufacturing. But the challenge now isn’t adoption. It’s developing a

workforce with the skills to use these disruptive technologies to their fullest. As a result, manufacturers are beginning to recognise the need for a new type of employee, one who combines deep

technical expertise with a broad understanding of digital technologies, data and business strategy. For Dr Awinder Kaur, Associate Professor in Data Science and AI, and Head of Digital Technologies and Machine Intelligence Education Group at WMG, that evolution represents one of the most significant workforce shifts manufacturing has experienced in decades. “It’s something I’ve seen first-hand through delivering leadership training in digital transformation with organisations and my work with manufacturers at WMG,” Awinder explained. "The biggest challenges were not purely engineering or technology problems, rather they required people who could connect engineering, business strategy, digital technologies and people." It is a philosophy she describes as “digital skills stacking”, developing complementary skills that allow professionals to work confidently across disciplines while maintaining expertise in their own specialism. For manufacturers operating increasingly connected factories, those combinations are

RIGHT: Tomorrow's manufacturing workforce will need to combine technical expertise with data literacy, AI awareness and crossdisciplinary collaboration

becoming invaluable. "The competitive advantage comes from combining skills, not simply accumulating experience in only one area," Awinder said. As manufacturers grapple with skills shortages, accelerate AI adoption and attempt to improve productivity in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, developing these hybrid capabilities may prove just as important as investing in the next generation of technology. The emergence of the hybrid manufacturer Traditionally, manufacturing has been built around specialist expertise. Mechanical engineers solved mechanical problems. Production managers focused on operations. Quality teams ensured products met specification. IT departments managed digital infrastructure. Each function operated largely within its own discipline. Digital transformation has fundamentally changed that model. Today's production environments are built around connected systems that generate vast amounts of operational data. Equipment is monitored continuously through sensors, production performance is visualised through live dashboards, quality inspection increasingly incorporates AI-powered computer vision, while supply chains rely on predictive analytics and digital twins to optimise inventory and logistics. In this environment, no department operates in isolation. Instead, engineers are expected to understand the data generated by the machines they maintain. Production managers need sufficient digital knowledge to interpret operational dashboards and identify opportunities for improvement. Quality engineers increasingly work alongside AI-assisted inspection technologies, while supply chain professionals are using predictive modelling to make faster, more informed decisions. This convergence of engineering and digital capability is where Awinder’s ‘hybrid manufacturer’ comes in. "A hybrid manufacturer isn't an expert in everything; that is a common misconception," she said. "They have deep expertise in their own discipline, but enough understanding of digital

technologies to collaborate effectively and make informed decisions." Rather than expecting every engineer to become a data scientist or every production manager to become an AI developer, manufacturers should instead focus on building enough digital capability across the workforce to improve collaboration and decision-making. "Manufacturing expertise plus digital capability results in greater value," Awinder explained. It also reflects the reality that many of today's manufacturing challenges no longer fit neatly within a single department. Implementing predictive maintenance, for example, requires engineering expertise, sensor technology, AI models, cyber security protections and business leadership working together. Introducing AI-assisted quality inspection similarly requires collaboration between production teams, quality engineers, software specialists and operational leadership. The organisations most likely to succeed are therefore those capable of breaking down traditional organisational silos and encouraging collaboration across multiple disciplines. Manufacturing jobs aren't disappearing, they're evolving Few developments have generated as much debate as AI's potential impact on employment. Predictions

The future of manufacturing isn't about having the most advanced technology. It's about having people who know how to use that technology effectively Dr Awinder Kaur, Associate Professor in Data Science and AI and Head of the Digital Technologies and Machine Intelligence Education Group, WMG, University of Warwick that automation will replace workers have dominated headlines for years, fuelling understandable concern across manufacturing. However, Awinder has a different take. Rather than eliminating jobs, she believes AI will fundamentally redefine them. Technology, she argued, should be viewed

The real shortage isn't AI specialists. It's people who can bridge engineering and digital technologies Dr Awinder Kaur, Associate Professor in Data Science and AI and Head of the Digital Technologies and Machine Intelligence Education Group, WMG, University of Warwick as an enabler rather than a replacement for human expertise. Maintenance engineering offers perhaps the clearest example. Historically, maintenance teams responded when equipment failed. Planned maintenance schedules reduced risk, but interventions largely remained reactive. Today, connected assets continuously generate operational data via sensors embedded throughout manufacturing equipment. Combined with predictive analytics and AI, that data enables engineers to identify potential failures long before production is disrupted. The bottom line is rather than replacing maintenance engineers, digital technology is enhancing their ability to make better decisions. Awinder explained how a similar transformation is taking place within quality management. Where inspections once relied primarily on manual

visual assessment, manufacturers are increasingly combining experienced quality engineers with AI-assisted computer vision capable of identifying defects in real time. Production management has evolved in much the same way, according to Awinder. “Where previously production managers focused on managing people and scheduling, it's now increasingly about managing connected operations using live operational dashboards to inform decisions,” she said. But whether it’s maintenance, quality, production or another area of manufacturing, the digital shift being witnessed can only happen with a solid data foundation in place. Data before AI Whether discussing predictive maintenance, digital twins, cyber security or workforce development, Awinder emphasised that while AI is an important driver of digital transformation, highquality data is the foundation on which its success depends. It is a distinction often overlooked amid the current enthusiasm surrounding AI in manufacturing. Faced with mounting pressure to adopt AI, many manufacturers have focused their attention on identifying use cases for the technology. Yet, according to Awinder, too many are attempting to deploy AI before establishing the robust data foundations needed to support it.

BELOW: The rise of connected factories is creating demand for workers who can bridge engineering, digital technologies and business strategy

"Organisations often want to begin with AI. But my advice is always start with your data," Awinder said. "Technology is only as good as the information it receives, and without good data, AI produces poor recommendations, automation becomes unreliable and decision-making suffers." As generative AI has become increasingly accessible, businesses of all sizes have felt pressure to demonstrate they are embracing the technology. For many SMEs in particular, the conversation has quickly shifted from whether to adopt AI to how quickly it can be implemented. However, Awinder believes organisations risk treating AI as a destination rather than a tool. Instead of asking which AI platform they should purchase, manufacturers should first ask a far more fundamental question: what problem are they trying to solve? If production inefficiencies stem from inconsistent processes, disconnected systems or poor-quality operational data, simply introducing AI is unlikely to resolve the underlying issue. In some cases, it may even amplify existing problems. "AI is not a magic solution," Awinder said. "Technology alone does not transform any organisation." For that reason, she believes data literacy is becoming one of manufacturing's most valuable workforce capabilities. Data literacy extends well beyond collecting information from machines or dashboards. It involves understanding where data originates, assessing its quality, interpreting its meaning and recognising when results should be questioned. As manufacturing environments become increasingly connected, employees across every department, not just data analysts,

PEOPLE & SKILLS

will need the confidence to work with information effectively. That represents a significant cultural shift for an industry where data has historically been viewed as the responsibility of specialist teams rather than the wider workforce. Cyber security must become part of manufacturing culture The same principle applies to cyber security. As operational technology becomes increasingly integrated with enterprise systems, cloud platforms and AI applications, cyber resilience has moved from being a technical consideration to a fundamental business requirement. For manufacturers, the consequences of a successful cyber attack extend far beyond the loss of data. Production can grind to a halt, supply chains can be disrupted, customers affected and reputations damaged… often simultaneously. Yet Awinder believes many organisations continue to approach cyber security too narrowly. "Cyber security isn't just the responsibility of IT," she said. "Everyone plays a role; operators, engineers, managers and senior leaders." Importantly, many cyber risks originate not from sophisticated technical attacks but from human behaviour. Whether employees unknowingly expose sensitive information, fall victim to phishing attacks or use unsecured AI platforms with confidential company data, awareness across the workforce has become just as important as technical security controls. Awinder highlighted the growing concern around employees entering proprietary business information into publicly available large language models without fully understanding how that information may subsequently be used. As AI becomes increasingly embedded within manufacturing workflows, organisations will need to establish clear governance alongside technical implementation. "Cyber security and AI go hand-inhand," she said. "You can't do one without another." Embedding cyber security from the outset, rather than treating it as an afterthought, therefore becomes essential to building trust in digital transformation. Closing the digital skills gap The evolution of manufacturing roles presents employers with another pressing challenge. Who possesses these hybrid skills? According to Awinder, the answer is

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Hybrid skills are the future: Manufacturers need people who combine engineering expertise with digital capability • AI enhances, not replaces, workers: Technology is reshaping roles and improving decisionmaking, rather than eliminating jobs • Data comes before AI: Highquality data is the foundation of successful digital transformation • Cyber security is everyone's job: Building cyber awareness across the workforce is as important as technical defences • Upskill before you recruit: Developing existing employees is the quickest path to building a digitally capable workforce

not enough people. "The real shortage isn't AI specialists," she said. "It's people who can bridge engineering and digital technologies." Those individuals require a combination of capabilities that have not traditionally been taught together. Data literacy, cyber security awareness, AI implementation, systems thinking, digital leadership and change management all complement core manufacturing expertise, yet few professionals have developed all of them throughout their careers. It’s a reality that begs the question: should businesses recruit entirely new talent, or invest in developing the people they already employ? Awinder believes the answer lies firmly in workforce development. "I would prioritise developing existing employees," she said. "Existing staff already understand manufacturing processes, products, customers and organisational culture. Those aspects are extremely valuable." Experienced engineers understand why production processes evolve in particular ways. Maintenance teams possess years of practical knowledge about equipment performance. Production managers understand customer expectations, operational constraints and organisational culture.

Decades of manufacturing experience cannot be taught, but digital skills often can be. But that’s not to say recruitment has no role to play. Fresh perspectives remain valuable, particularly when organisations require specialist expertise or new thinking. Manufacturers that successfully combine experienced operational staff with targeted digital upskilling are likely to develop more resilient workforces than those relying solely on external recruitment. Building the workforce of the future Manufacturing has continually reinvented itself throughout history. Mechanisation transformed production during the Industrial Revolution. Electrification reshaped factories during the 20th century. Automation accelerated productivity in the decades that followed. Today's digital revolution represents the next chapter in that evolution. Yet unlike previous technological shifts, competitive advantage is unlikely to belong simply to those organisations with the largest technology budgets or the most sophisticated AI platforms. Instead, it will belong to manufacturers capable of developing workforces that combine engineering excellence with digital confidence, curiosity and adaptability. The factory of the future will undoubtedly contain more connected systems, more intelligent automation and more AI than ever before. But those technologies will only deliver their full potential if the people using them possess the skills to interpret the data, question the outputs, collaborate across disciplines and continue learning as technology evolves. Awinder also believes the organisations achieving the greatest success are those treating digital transformation as a business strategy rather than an IT initiative. Technology implementation, she argues, is ultimately a leadership challenge. “Successful transformation depends on leaders who understand the business implications of technology, ask the right questions and create a culture that is conducive to their people delivering successful projects,” Awinder said. "The future of manufacturing isn't about having the most advanced technology," she concluded. "It's about having people who know how to use that technology effectively." In the race towards smarter factories, that may prove to be the industry's most important investment of all. l

INDUSTRIAL DATA & AI

Tobacco to technology How data is reshaping BAT

At Smart Manufacturing Week 2026, Alex Lee, Data Governance Lead, Ops, British American Tobacco (BAT), sat down with The Manufacturer to discuss the role data is playing in shaping the company’s vision for the future 30 smokers, who would otherwise continue to smoke, from cigarettes to smokeless alternatives responsibly. Science will be a primary driver of BAT’s efforts, supported by more active external engagement with regulators and other key stakeholders, while embedding sustainability across the organisation. And this is built around the third pillar of Dynamic Business; building a future-fit, organisation and ensuring the business is efficient and effective in all its operations. To achieve its mission, BAT is focused and has invested heavily in becoming a truly data-driven organisation. And it’s here that Alex picks up the story.

t the turn of the decade, BAT launched its A Better Tomorrow vision to build a smokeless world, where smokers have migrated from cigarettes to smokeless alternatives. The company aims to be a predominantly smokeless business - and have 50% of revenue in non-combustible products - by 2035.

This strategy is built around three pillars of priorities: Delivering Quality Growth emphasises the transition to a more balanced focus on top-line and bottom-line delivery, centred around BAT’s brands and innovation, and continuing to seek longterm opportunities beyond nicotine. Building a Sustainable Future is focused on seeking to actively migrate adult

What does good data governance look like and what metrics are used to measure success? AL: We use traditional KPIs and data quality reports. Every member of our business has access, so anyone can measure their own data quality and feed it into the leadership teams and systems. We also have our corporate identity elements, where we will look at improving the quality within those data sets, rather than just looking at completeness rules, and we’re using a variety of tools to help us do that, deploying AI and self-healing data models etc.

INDUSTRIAL DATA & AI We’re obviously a huge company, with many different cultures and regional barriers, people working across borders, etc. As such, we have found that our data maturity within different areas varies, and so currently, we're undertaking a really large upskilling project across the workforce, in particular within our factories. Over the last three years, I've been working heavily on bringing all our factories up to the same base level of data maturity, and making sure that all our data sets are aligned. This will ensure that we're measuring the same rules for each data set across the factories, so we have one source of truth for the organisation as far as manufacturing is concerned. How is the use of data changing with the increased volumes being created? We’re always increasing our data sets, so when new technology comes into a factory, there's obviously a new set of characteristics that we'll need to maintain against, so that we have the required visibility of what that particular machine is doing within the manufacturing setting. In addition, various end markets will have individual challenges; different legislation can come in, for example, where we’ll need to track the data and make sure that it’s adhering to that legislation. It’s these increased data sets that are essentially driving our programme of upskilling across the business to ensure we have the necessary capabilities to manage that extra workload. And of course, a key part of that is around the ownership, responsibility and accountability for business critical data. Therefore, we've identified our critical data elements (CDEs), and we have clear owners and maintainers all mapped out within our global processes, top level domains (TLDs) and global standards. This means that, within our business, we know precisely the owner and maintainer of any given data set, and where that sits within the business. So when we come to spotting issues within that structure, we know who to go to straight away to get that corrected. We have very clear governance around our data, which is backed up by global standards and the individual teams managing it. As data governance lead, if anything new comes into the business, it will pass through my team to create the governance frameworks around that and to back up any new data set.

What role is AI playing around data quality and governance? At the moment we are operating quite traditionally, measuring compliance to certain rule sets. However, we're also starting to deploy AI tools within our systems, not just to measure the quality of our data, but actually whether it’s the correct parameter to be maintained in the first place; it’s not just something that's passing a rule. We're also working on process improvements within our material supply teams. For our ESG reporting, for example, we're going out to our suppliers prior to SKU creation to get weights, dimensions etc, and that then feeds into our Scope 3 reporting. It’s part of our mission to try and do everything smarter and using AI to do the heavy lifting is a key part of this. We're not deploying what I would call ‘pretty AI’. Everything we do has to serve a purpose within the organisation. And, prior to deployment it will also need to pass through a rigorous and clear governance process. That means that the sign-off for any AI deployment won’t be the sole domain of the data team. Rather, there will be a variety of different departments across the business who will be involved to ensure we have something that is fit for purpose, has a clear business case backing it up, and is suitable and future-proof for the business moving forward. How is the workforce changing to adapt to an increasingly data-driven business? We aren’t just administering training to certain areas. We are upskilling every member of the workforce, from our line leads in individual factories, all the way up to site managers, and then on to the leadership team. Everyone has to do a set amount of training. This is also backed up by focus groups. These are both cross-functional, which will share best practice within departments, but will also be deployed across other areas of the business. We also have lead SMEs and what we call ‘SPOCs – single points of contact’, which are sat within geographical locations. They are the real oracle of the data and are the ones that will assist with training and deploying new platforms, etc. within our wider teams. It’s fair to say that everyone sees BAT as a tobacco company. In actual fact, it’s the data that is the backbone of our business, and without good data, we won’t be able to produce our products and get them to the consumer. As mentioned, we now have a far greater

“

Over the last three years I’ve been focused on bringing all our factories up to the same base level of data maturity Alex Lee, Data Governance Lead, Ops, British American Tobacco (BAT)

LEFT: BAT is positioning itself to take advantage of the opportunities that digital transformation presents

“

We're not deploying pretty AI. Everything has got to serve a purpose within the organisation Alex Lee, Data Governance Lead, Ops, British American Tobacco (BAT) emphasis on upskilling and training people, so that we are equipped with the necessary skills to be able to deploy these new tools and planning systems. We're also on the verge of migrating our planning system to one that is more fit for purpose, with our current legacy system approaching the end of life. This will enhance our ability to knowledge

share across different teams and global locations, to gain business-wide access to process improvement ideas around key functions such as plant maintenance for example. As a result we’re at a place where we’re collecting huge volumes of geographical information from all our facilities, handpicking what would fit best within the

wider industry, and then deploying it. BAT is a really collaborative place to work at the moment, with lots of knowledge sharing, and cross functional teams working together on different projects. We’re really not a tobacco company anymore; we're more into digital, as that is what is driving our products, and moving us towards our better tomorrow.

INDUSTRIAL DATA & AI

ABOVE: BAT’s Sacheon factory in South Korea LEFT: Launched in 2018, Velo has grown to become a leading oral nicotine product now sold in 49 markets

A data-driven future BAT’s ambition is to have 50 million consumers of its smokeless products by 2030 and the company has already made good progress towards these targets, with 34.1 million consumers of smokeless products thus far and revenue from these accounting for 18.2% of group revenue, as at 31 December 2025. For some time manufacturers have known that data is the fuel that powers any digital transformation strategy but it’s clear that the focus has migrated beyond the mere numbers. A particularly insightful quote heard during Smart Manufacturing Week was that: “It used to be all about data, data, data. Now it’s about context, context, context.” For BAT, data is becoming a critical enabler of the company's transformation

into a future-focused, predominantly smokeless business, but governance, quality and ensuring that the data is fit for purpose has shifted the whole conversation into another sphere of importance. Data is proving to be far more than a supporting function; it is becoming a strategic asset that underpins decisionmaking, operational performance and future growth. From establishing robust governance frameworks and improving data quality to deploying AI-driven tools and building workforce capabilities, BAT is creating the foundations needed to operate effectively in an increasingly digital manufacturing environment. For Alex, the success of this journey is not solely dependent on technology. Equally important is ensuring that employees across the organisation understand the value of data, have the skills to work with it effectively and take ownership of the information that drives business-critical processes. By creating clear accountability, standardising data across its global manufacturing network and investing heavily in upskilling programmes, BAT is working to embed a culture where trusted data sits at the heart of every decision. The company's approach to AI also reflects this philosophy. Rather than adopting new technologies for their own sake, BAT is focused on deploying solutions that solve real business challenges, improve efficiency and deliver measurable value, all within a robust governance framework. This disciplined approach ensures that innovation remains aligned with wider business objectives and long-term strategic goals. With new planning systems on the horizon, increasing collaboration across global sites and a growing emphasis on knowledge sharing, BAT is positioning itself to take advantage of the opportunities that digital transformation presents. As the company progresses towards its A Better Tomorrow ambition, the ability to collect, govern and utilise data effectively will remain a key differentiator. In an industry undergoing significant change, BAT's experience demonstrates that strong data foundations, combined with skilled people and purposeful technology adoption, are essential for building a more future-ready manufacturing organisation. l

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Data is now a strategic asset at BAT: Data has evolved from a reporting tool into a businesscritical asset that supports decision-making, operational performance, regulatory compliance and the company's wider transformation towards a predominantly smokeless future • S trong governance is essential for trusted data: BAT has established clear ownership, accountability and governance frameworks around its critical data elements, creating a single source of truth across its global manufacturing network • A I must deliver measurable business value: Rather than deploying AI for its own sake, BAT is using the technology to improve data quality, automate processes and support sustainability reporting, with every deployment subject to rigorous governance and business-case approval • P eople are as important as technology: A major focus for BAT is workforce upskilling. Employees at every level - from factory floor teams to senior leadership - are receiving training to improve data literacy and ensure they can effectively use new digital tools and systems • D igital transformation depends on culture and collaboration: BAT's success is being driven by global knowledge sharing, cross-functional collaboration and the standardisation of processes and data. By combining strong data foundations with skilled people, the company is building a more agile, resilient and future-ready manufacturing organisation

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

When customer value is

HARD WIRED The Manufacturer MX Awards 2025 saw Cumbria-based Tornado Wire scoop the prize in the Achieving Customer Value category. At Smart Manufacturing Week 2026, the company’s CEO, Rebecca Galley, sat down with The Manufacturer to discuss the company’s customer journey and the secret sauce behind the award win

T 34

ornado Wire is one of the UK's leading manufacturers of high-performance wire fencing solutions, serving the agricultural, equestrian, forestry, infrastructure and conservation sectors. Operating from its manufacturing facility in Millom, Cumbria, Tornado Wire combines practical field expertise with advanced engineering to develop products that are trusted by contractors and landowners across the UK and beyond.

Speaking after the award win in November Rebecca commented: “This means so much to us because our business is all about our customers. This win is a real credit to our team and I couldn’t be prouder. “I think there were two key characteristics that made us stand out for the judges; the combination of how close we are to our customers and how we work so hard to solve their problems continuously, and the fact that customer

feedback was part of our entry – so they deserve an element of thanks as well.” Rebecca also delivered a keynote address at Smart Manufacturing Week 2026 which focused on what winning

BELOW: Tornado Wire manufactures fencing products, including hinge joint and stiff-stay high-tensile fence netting, barbed wire, plain wire, staples and ProStrain steel fencing systems

manufacturers know about customer value, citing well-known businesses who have done it very well and others who still have work to do. Rebecca also told the story of Tornado Wire’s own journey, citing three key takeaways - that businesses have to know their customers, understand scientifically what they value, and that customer value is everyone's responsibility in the organisation. Rebecca picks up the story. What do you think set Tornado Wire apart during the judging process for last year’s awards? RG: I only joined the business 12 months before the awards, so essentially, my role was to tell our story. I wanted the team within Tornado to know what a great job they're doing, as well as sharing our journey with the broader manufacturing community. Customer value at Tornado Wire truly runs through the entire business, and based on the feedback we received, it was clear that this was a key factor that made us stand out to the judges. We have all the systems in place that you would expect, such as a customer facing sales team, who do an awesome job. However, bringing value to our customers goes way beyond that. How do you move customer value beyond a function of the sales team and embed it across the wider organisation? There are lots of ways in which we do this. Firstly, it's my job to keep the customer front of mind and constantly present. I am guardian of our culture and set the example, so I always make sure that in any decision-making conversation, I ask how it will ultimately benefit the customer. It’s important to always keep the customer in mind. That sounds simple for someone working within the sales team, but there's some within the business who don't see the people who buy our products at all, so we make sure that when we communicate with the wider business, we always talk about our customers and share knowledge from those more client-facing roles. Tornado Wire is an interesting use case because our sales team and the factory itself are very far away from each other. However, we always keep the conversation

going, we make sure the sales manager is present in the factory, and we have factory team members attend trade events to see what the sales team is doing. As the team leader, it’s important to set the right example and safeguard the company culture, while always keeping the customer front and centre. This is particularly pertinent in an SME manufacturing environment. With so much going on, it's very easy to get absorbed in other tasks such as inventory management, maintenance or uptime of machinery. However, what’s the point in doing all of that if we're not doing it for the customer? So, the key for me is to represent the customer back into the business and make sure that what we're doing will add value for them – which will, in turn, add value for us in the long-term. How do you balance customer value with operational efficiency, commercial targets etc? I've given a lot of thought to this question, and fundamentally, I don't believe that they are competing priorities. Without operational excellence, you won’t achieve customer value. Tornado Wire’s value is as much about the quality of the product and the relationships the teams have with the customers as anything else, and we have to maintain those key facets of the business in order to achieve the customer value which will guarantee our future orders. So, they certainly go hand-in-hand, but it's important not to become inward looking. During busy periods each team is devoted to their given areas of the business, but we mustn’t lose sight of why we do what we do. In addition, we can also be influenced by the customers themselves, and their insight can certainly have an impact on us. As mentioned, I came in to Tornado Wire quite recently, so I can still look at the business through a relative outsider lens. And so entering the awards and running our recent customer survey were an opportunity for me to show the people within Tornado Wire what a great business we are, what a great job that they are doing, and how much our customers value them. That’s been immensely helpful. It's all well and good one person turning up and telling everyone they’re brilliant, but

You have to know your customer, understand what they value and recognise that customer value is everyone's responsibility in the organisation Rebecca Galley, CEO, Tornado Wire it carries far more weight when our whole customer base - through an independent piece of research - unanimously tells us they really value the quality of what we do and how we treat them. Not only that but it further helps the internal teams understand what really matters. When our customers tell us what’s important to them - to be treated like a valued customer, have meaningful interactions with us, and be provided with a quality product - that leads to different conversations; ones that are more about value and less about price. How do you achieve the workforce buy-in that customer value is everyone’s responsibility One of the many amazing things about Tornado Wire is that this particular ethos has been there from the beginning. The business was founded by people with a farming background, and the business

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

It’s important that we represent the customer back into the business and make sure that what we’re doing will add value for them – and subsequently, for us in the long-term Rebecca Galley, CEO, Tornado Wire ABOVE: Tornado Wire, in partnership with the Association of Fencing Industries (AFI), hosts Best Practice Days to promote excellence in agricultural fencing

customers need, and all that information is collated and shared among a team of people who want to do something meaningful with that information. Over the last three years, we've launched two new product lines which are selling incredibly well, and it's all because the team at Tornado Wire is really listening to what the customer is saying.

began as a contracting operation before diversifying into manufacturing. And so that inherent knowledge around what our customers are doing has always been present. In addition, we have a lot of people in the business who have been here a long time, which is wonderful, because that knowledge, wisdom and customer

relationship is hard to replace. That heritage, the systems that we use to capture customer information and the time we spend with customers, all feed into our knowledge of what our customers want. We run and sponsor agricultural fencing best practice events and competitions, so we can literally see in the field what our

What capabilities will Tornado Wire need moving forward to ensure customer needs continue to be met? That's a good question, and Smart Manufacturing Week is a fantastic event to find out the answers. It’s a place full of innovative solutions to the many manufacturing problems we're all facing, and with new technologies in maintenance, planning and even communications – plus you throw AI into the mix - it’s clear we're in a revolutionary period. There's no hiding away from it and there's lots that all of those solutions, tools, systems etc, can do for us. However, I believe that some of the fundamentals won't change, particularly in the market where we operate. This is also something I've been reflecting on. Smart Manufacturing Week is a building full of people who are talking, interacting, building relationships, learning together and solving each other's problems. I don’t think that environment is going away any time soon. So, manufacturing success and achieving customer value will continue to be a combination of great people supported

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Customer value must be embedded across the entire organisation: Tornado Wire's award-winning approach is built on the belief that customer value is everyone's responsibility, not just that of the sales team •S trong customer relationships are built through continuous engagement: The company goes beyond traditional customer feedback mechanisms by spending time in customers' environments, attending industry events, sponsoring fencing competitions and maintaining close contact with end users by some of the latest innovations. Over achieving customer value Tornado Wire’s success in securing The Manufacturer MX Award for Achieving Customer Value serves as a compelling example of what can be achieved when customer focus becomes embedded throughout an organisation. As Rebecca’s insights reveal, customer value is not a standalone initiative or the responsibility of a single team; it is a mindset that influences every decision, process and interaction across the business. Throughout the company’s journey, Tornado Wire has demonstrated that understanding customer needs requires more than collecting feedback. It involves creating meaningful connections with customers, spending BELOW: Tornado Wire is one of the UK's leading wire fencing manufacturers, with over 50 years' experience delivering durable stock, animal and security fencings

ABOVE: Tornado Wire won the Achieving Customer Value category at The Manufacturer MX Awards 2025 time in their environment and ensuring that those insights are shared across the organisation. From factory teams attending trade events to the company’s investment in customer research and industry engagement, the business has built a culture where customer knowledge is actively gathered, communicated and acted upon. Importantly, the company’s approach challenges the notion that customer value competes with operational efficiency or commercial performance. Instead, Tornado Wire sees these objectives as intrinsically linked. High-quality products, reliable operations, strong relationships and a deep understanding of customer priorities all contribute to long-term business success. By focusing on what customers truly value, the company has been able to create more meaningful conversations with customers around value rather than price. Looking ahead, manufacturing faces a period of significant transformation, driven by advances in digital technologies, automation and AI. Yet, as Rebecca emphasised, the fundamentals of customer value are unlikely to change. Technology can enhance communication, improve planning and unlock efficiencies, but it cannot replace the trust, relationships and shared understanding that underpin successful customer partnerships.l

•O perational excellence and customer value are complementary, not competing priorities: Manufacturers cannot deliver customer value without high-quality products, reliable operations and efficient processes. Successful manufacturers recognise that one drives the other •C ustomer insight should drive innovation and business decisions: Tornado Wire's customer-centric culture has directly influenced product development, leading to the successful launch of two new product lines in the past three years •T echnology will enhance customer value, but people remain central: Trust, relationships, communication and a deep understanding of customer needs will continue to be the foundation of long-term success, with technology acting as an enabler

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LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

Life behind the bubbles During a visit to PZ Cussons' Agecroft site in Greater Manchester, The Manufacturer spoke with Chief Supply Chain Officer, Steve Noble, about the company's digital manufacturing journey, AI ambitions, just-in-time operations and long-term sustainability strategy 38

arex, the UK's number one hand wash, Original Source's brightly coloured and invigoratingly scented shower gels, Imperial Leather's iconic foaming bubble bath and, more recently, the Childs Farm range for babies and children. These are just some of the household names manufactured by PZ Cussons at its Agecroft site near Greater Manchester. The business was founded by two Georges, Paterson and Zochonis, in Sierra Leone in 1884, trading under Paterson Zochonis (PZ). “The separate Cussons company was originally started by Thomas Cussons in 1909, above his father's chemist shop, and much later, the two companies joined together in 1975,” explained Steve Noble, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Executive Committee Member at PZ Cussons. “With our head office in Manchester and our factory in Salford, we currently have around 2,000 employees in total around the group. Our operations have expanded and we now have a major presence in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Indonesia, Australia and, in the US, we have a partnership with The Emerson Group for St.Tropez and Childs Farm. Personalised products Keeping up with the wants, needs and demands of the market is vital for a consumer goods business, and as Steve highlighted: “The biggest trend we’re

currently seeing is customisation. Consumers no longer want the same product in the same packaging every time. They’re looking for offerings that are more personalised and tailored to their individual needs.” In turn, this means the marketing and R&D teams at PZ Cussons are constantly striving to meet the variable needs of consumers. “Within our manufacturing operations we have to be flexible and adapt so we’re able to deliver what our customers need,” he added.

ABOVE: The Imperial Leather foaming bath and shower range, one of PZ Cussons’ well-known household brands in the UK BELOW: The Childs Farm automated production line in action

Four hour turnaround The disruption and subsequent supply chain vulnerabilities exposed so starkly by the COVID-19 pandemic saw many manufacturers shift from streamlined just-intime production models, to a more pragmatic

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

The biggest trend we’re currently seeing is customisation… Consumers are looking for products that are more personalised and tailored to their individual needs Steve Noble, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Executive Committee Member, PZ Cussons

LEFT: Original Source shower gel is manufactured at the Agecroft site

Our goal is to create more efficient factory planning, driving higher overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and increasing production capacity Steve Noble, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Executive Committee Member, PZ Cussons

just-in-case strategy. This was predominantly to mitigate against any further unforeseen challenges and to ensure on-site inventory levels could guarantee continued production if supply chain routes once again became bottlenecked or ground to a halt. However, PZ Cussons has remained a committed just-in-time manufacturer. This does mean that the business has a small window for conversion. “Every four hours, empty bottles and packaging arrive on-site, so finished products must be dispatched promptly to maintain capacity and keep production flowing,” explained Steve. The business holds all its major materials on-site and has a fully automated system that takes those raw materials and mixes them into the bulk product. “This is the formula which is found in our shower gels, handwash and other similar products,” he said.

The empty bottles are then filled on automated lines, with robots deployed on palletising and getting the end product ready for shipment. “At the end of the line we hold about four hours’ worth of stock, meaning everything operates on a tight schedule and has to be processed on time. This makes us extremely efficient,” added Steve. From automating to digitising The Agecroft site in Salford has always been automated however, it has now turned its attention to digitising the factory. The more the business can integrate data feeds and pass that information down to its factory line leaders, the more autonomy the business will have to run its lines effectively. “Our current focus is driving digitisation throughout the factory and putting the right information into the hands of frontline workers, so they can make informed decisions and help drive the business forward,” explained Steve. He added that one of the biggest challenges on the digitisation journey has been around education. As a business that’s been on the same site for 20 years, PZ has built up a loyal workforce where many have records of long service. “Many of the staff here are used to seeing automation within the factory, but as we bring in new digitisation, we need to make sure people are on board,” he said. The business has had to consider a balancing act of how it can bring its current workforce up to speed with newer digital

BELOW: The Agecroft site in Greater Manchester, the factory for PZ Cussons’ UK manufacturing

technologies while also encouraging new talent – perhaps digital natives who already possess the required skillset - to also join the business. “At PZ Cussons we have an apprentice programme that allows us to bring new people into the business with a new level of digital knowledge,” added Steve. Unlike smaller businesses, big household name manufacturers struggle less with talent, and PZ Cussons considers itself one of the lucky ones. “We have our manufacturing capabilities and longevity in Salford on our side. For us, it’s vital that the people coming into the business have the right skills, which means we are selective about who we bring in as apprentices,” said Steve. The business recently hired an operations manager who has built a strong relationship with Manchester Metropolitan University which has helped the business bring in a new level of digital technology. “His experience with 3D printing and other diverse areas has opened our eyes as to how we run the site here and how we could begin to do things differently,” he explained. One key investment for the Agecroft site has been keeping each machine up to specification. “This is a 20 year old, automated factory. If we do not keep the robots and production lines functioning as required we will not be able to operate on the efficiencies that make us competitive in the markets,” explained Steve. To this end the company is about to embark on a major robotic upgrade to its key production lines. PZ Cussons is focusing on introducing new technologies, including digital printing and advanced digital systems. While the site has traditionally specialised in producing thin liquid products, the business is expanding its capabilities to manufacture emulsions and other formulations, broadening the range of products it can offer to its customers. In terms of AI, the business currently uses predictive maintenance; tracking its machinery using condition-based monitoring. “This allows us to see any deviation in performance which we are able to act upon immediately, carry out preventative maintenance and avoid downtime,” said Steve. The business is also turning its attention to supply chain planning, with AI playing a central role in improving demand forecasting. “The goal is to create more efficient factory planning, driving higher overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and increasing production capacity,” he added.

PEOPLE & SKILLS RIGHT: The Childs Farm range of products, one of PZ Cussons' recent acquisitions

Supply chain flexibility By nature, a just-in-time site which is operating to tight timescales has to be quite rigid in its operations. Therefore, over the last ten years PZ Cussons has focused on incorporating flexibility and resilience at its site. “To do this, we’ve localised the business. We still have our operations globally, but we focused ourselves here on the UK market. This allows us to adapt quickly to changes from global pandemics to the cost of living crisis,” said Steve. The business is able to directly communicate with its marketing and commercial teams to react to the current customer climate, allowing the factory floor to react and perform in near real time. A carbon neutral factory The Agecroft site is carbon neutral, primarily focusing on Scope 1 and 2 emissions. “We are looking at what changes we can make: minimising our waste and energy usage, and putting systems in place to track this,” said Steve. The business is also increasing the amount of recycled PET (rPET) used in products such as Original Source and Carex, helping to reduce virgin plastic use while supporting a more circular recycling system. PZ Cussons recently joined the UK Packaging Pact to help shape the future of sustainable packaging. By becoming involved early, the business aims to play an active role in driving industry-wide change. "The group will do a great job of improving recyclability across the industry and strengthening recycling infrastructure," said Steve. "Being part of the UK Packaging

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Just-in-time, household brands: PZ Cussons' Agecroft site manufactures leading brands including Carex, Original Source, Imperial Leather and Childs Farm, using highly automated, just-in-time production with just four hours of stock on-site •D igital transformation is integral to success and growth: The company is accelerating its digital

Pact allows us to stay at the cutting edge of developments which is why we wanted to join from the very beginning." What’s next? Looking at the next five years, PZ Cussons wants to continue to drive and grow its most loved brands, locally. “In the UK it’s Carex, in Nigeria its Stella, in Indonesia it’s Cousins Baby and in Australia, it’s Morning Fresh, each unique to their own markets,” explained Steve. It's also his belief that the continued success of the business will come from its three major pillars: locally-loved brands, go-to-market capabilities and manufacturing scale. “The business has incredible commercial teams who forge our relationships with customers and strive to understand our consumers in key markets. That’s on top of the Agecroft site having great scale and production capabilities, adding to our competitive advantage.” he said. “When you combine those three pillars, it gives us real strength to win.” l

transformation, using predictive maintenance, AI-driven planning and real-time data to improve efficiency, increase OEE and give frontline teams greater autonomy •M eeting more bespoke consumer trends: Flexibility has become a competitive advantage, with the business adapting production to meet growing demand for personalised products while strengthening supply chain resilience through a more localised UK operation

Our current focus is on driving digitisation throughout the factory and putting the right information into the hands of frontline workers, so they can make informed decisions

Steve Noble, Chief Supply Chain Officer & Executive Committee Member, PZ Cussons

•U pskilling and recruitment working hand-in-hand: Investment in people remains a priority, combining apprenticeships, partnerships with Manchester Metropolitan University and upskilling existing employees to support new digital technologies • Serious on sustainability: The carbonneutral Agecroft site is increasing recycled PET content, reducing waste and energy use, and joining the UK Packaging Pact to help drive a more circular packaging industry

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Pedal pushers What does it take to manufacture Britain's iconic folding bicycle? Molly Cooper visited Brompton's factory to discover how technology, sustainability and craftsmanship are driving success

T 42

he folding bike - famous among London commuters for its ability to squeeze onto packed trains and tuck away under desks. For over 55 years, Brompton Bicycle has been improving the lives of city cyclists everywhere and its trusted name has kept customers coming back. Brompton Bicycle has a rich history, beginning in 1975 by founder Andrew Ritchie. He had seen the foldable bicycle, admired it as an invention but knew it could be better. “Last year we celebrated our 55th birthday and each year we have iteratively improved the bike and the ranges it comes in,” said Alex Watkins, Manufacturing Engineer at Brompton Bicycle. Within his role, Alex focuses on operations and optimisation of the factory, all while keeping the best quality, meeting demand and streamlining processes. “I’m lucky to work in the exciting part of the factory, where everything comes together.” Meeting customer demands The expanding of the range has been influenced by customer demand and the portfolio now has something to suit most requirements. “On our website we provide a virtual assistant, where a browsing customer can see what lines we offer depending on budget, material and power,” explained Alex. The bicycles are also customisable from gears, colour and functions. “Many people think electric bicycles are a new invention, but we began incorporating an electric system on our core range over ten years ago and now it’s an option on every variant we manufacture. It reflects how substantially we’ve grown our portfolio,” Alex added.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Five years ago Brompton was exclusively manufacturing its core range but since then, has expanded and introduced its T Line, a lighter, faster version of the core product made from titanium. Brompton has a loyal customer base, and even with a product that is built to last, the business has a strong line up of returning customers who are looking for their next bicycle. “Typically, they realise how much they use their first bicycle for commuting and then want another for social purposes, or an electric version,” Alex said. Brompton’s community even takes part in the company’s own championship races and events around the world. “Unlike other bicycle brands, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Our bicycles are made for getting around cities and keeping fit. When it comes to our races, participants aren’t wearing Lycra, but rather a shirt and tie, and they have to unfold their bike on the start line,” Alex joked. Manufacturing on-site The Brompton factory is split into four smaller production lines that create the final product. The factory operates from 7.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday, with Fridays being used for factory maintenance. “On average we currently produce 350 bikes a day, 1,400 bikes a week. Our record during COVID-19 was 2,500 in one week,” Alex continued. In the first area, Brompton receive all of its pre-cut and formed tubing from its suppliers. Then using skilled labour, the brazing technicians join them together to create the frame. The second area is for components, wheel and gear assembly. “As the product is specific to us we have to assemble every part on-site,” Alex added. The next step is to add colour to the metalwork and finally, assembly of all parts, resulting in a finished bicycle. Incorporating technologies Throughout the manufacturing processes smart machines are aiding operations at Brompton. Over the past five years, the biggest change for the business has been ergonomics, the catalyst for which was the growth in demand experienced during COVID-19, when the company had to pivot from manufacturing hundreds of bicycles to thousands. As such, the machines the company has introduced are focused on repetitive tasks, helping Brompton produce the required volume more quickly.

Other technologies have been introduced to help the business drive quality. “Through new sensors, we have developed algorithms, creating new controls over production, moving us into Industry 4.0,” Alex added. This has allowed Brompton to deliver a better product to its customers. Looking ahead, the business has some exciting projects in the pipeline that will utilise these new technologies, including a digital passport on each bicycle so customers can trace date of production and source of materials. “There has been challenges in understanding what we want and how we do it, but it’s a roller-coaster and we’re riding it in the right direction,” said Alex. Supply chain challenges At a time when trading environments are so volatile, it’s the manufacturers that have built collaboration into their supply chain that will thrive and Brompton is certainly in that category, having created long-established relationships with suppliers over the years, with many of them being part of the business since day one. Brompton also supports local businesses which can come with its own challenges, such as when certain types of manufacturing moves exclusively to Europe. “However, we work as closely with British suppliers as we can,” said Alex. Standardised planning has been key for Brompton to continue its production. During COVID-19, the business had a

PICS: Brompton Bicycle has been helping commuters for over 55 years

On average we currently produce 350 bikes a day, 1,400 bikes a week. Our record during COVID-19 was 2,500 Alex Watkins, Manufacturing Engineer, Brompton Bicycle

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

We are conscious about the waste we are producing and how to recycle everything we create. It’s become part of the thinking behind each project Alex Watkins, Manufacturing Engineer, Brompton Bicycle 44

huge influx of orders due to the nature of its product offering which allowed people to exercise alone and commute without mixing with others. Since then, the business has only built upon that growth. “Even though we were already producing large volumes of bicycles we had to increase our orders from our suppliers to meet that increase in demand. Yet, we wanted to ensure that same level continued after the pandemic. To help with this we involved other teams such as marketing to perform research, predict trends and gain insights into what our customer base was looking for, as well as what their priorities were when purchasing a new bicycle,” explained Alex. In the last two years, Brompton has seen a significant shift in its ability to plan. “When I joined the business five years ago, the production plan could change on an hourly basis, now we have the most amount of models being produced on the shop floor, meaning we can’t be as flexible. Therefore, moving towards better forecasting and planning will allow us to operate more effectively,” he added. Going green Brompton is a B Corp certified business, a status very few bicycle manufacturers can

boast. “Looking back, we were already actioning many of the items that the certification required prior to achieving it, but we’re really proud of going through that journey and gaining that status,” said Alex. To help continue and improve on its sustainability efforts, the business has a strong internal sustainability team which focus on this every day. “We are now conscious about what waste we are producing and how we can recycle what we create. It’s become part of the thinking behind each project we work on,” he said. As part of its sustainability initiatives, Brompton worked out that 42 of the company's bicycles can fit into one parking space! Cool company Along with a recognisable product, Brompton has strong values and brand presence which has helped with its recruitment over the years. “We have a unique energy at our site; each individual is willing, approachable and friendly, supporting the work we do here. This attitude helps us when we want to recruit,” said Alex. BELOW: A G Line bicycle

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Over the last ten years the skill set at Brompton has expanded, drawing influence from industries such as automotive. “With the new titanium materials for the T Line, we worked with an aerospace partner and with our e-bike, a Formula One team. Working with other industries has in-turn given us the support we need when trying to bring new skills into the business,” he added. Each year, Brompton offers several graduate scheme placements. “This works well for us because the young people we invite bring with them new ideas and talent,” said Alex. The business also opens its doors to the local community and recently invited in a group of young girls from Year 8. “You wouldn’t expect them to be so interested but they asked so many questions and came up with their own designs for future products at Brompton. Some of them we may even use!,” he said. Specialised skills Brompton's brazing (a process to join metal together) expertise is one of its most specialised manufacturing skills and is increasingly rare within the UK. “We've invested in our own in-house brazing school to train people and preserve that expertise,” said Alex. Rather than recruiting experienced braziers, Brompton develops talent from within. Employees who have worked in assembly and demonstrate strong manual skills are typically well-suited to the role and as such, are offered training as they already understand the brand, the product and the company's manufacturing standards. “Becoming a skilled brazier is a longterm investment, with training typically taking between one and two years. However, it is also one of the highest-paid shop floor roles which encourages people to learn,” he added. Keeping up with change As a 55 year old business, Brompton Bicycle has to ensure its keeping up with the times and trends. One focus area of this ethos has been learning more about customers and feeding that information directly into the company’s operations. “We’re defining what our goal is as a business and having a structured plan in place is key to our growth. Having a roadmap helps us to continue driving forward,” said Alex.

For other similar aged manufacturers, Alex would advise that they do the same. For Brompton, a key part of the company’s future strategy is having a plan to execute, keeping it clear and positioning itself where it needs to be in the market. This plan has also helped the business manufacture its new ranges. “The new products that have come to market over the last five years have done so because of this plan and us listening to what our customers want,” he added. Racing ahead Looking ahead, Brompton is planning to embrace emerging technologies wherever they can add value, using them to shape its roadmap for the next five years. By gaining a deeper understanding of its customers, the business hopes to improve planning, accelerate innovation and bring new products to market more quickly. “Alongside the technology, we are focusing on the expertise of our people, encouraging them to share ideas with us to help us grow. We are going to continue exploring new materials for our bicycles and improving on our existing designs. Ultimately, the goal is to build the best bicycles possible while delivering the best value to our customers,” said Alex. l

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Digital transformation is accelerating: Brompton is embracing Industry 4.0 technologies, data-driven manufacturing and digital product passports to improve quality, efficiency and traceability • People skills: Despite increased automation, specialist skills such as hand brazing continue to define Brompton's manufacturing process, supported by its in-house training school • Driving product development: Better forecasting and a deeper understanding of customer needs has helped Brompton expand its product range and bring new bikes to market faster • Green bikes: As a certified B Corp company, Brompton is reducing waste, supporting local suppliers where possible and embedding sustainability into its day-to-day operations • Homegrown talent: Alongside investing in technology, Brompton is investing in its people, encouraging innovation, developing specialist skills and building a roadmap for long-term growth

There has been challenges in understanding what we want and how we do it, but it’s a rollercoaster and we’re riding it in the right direction Alex Watkins, Manufacturing Engineer, Brompton Bicycle

ABOVE: Andrew Ritchie, Founder of Brompton Bicycle

SUPPLY CHAIN

Factory floor to village door Haleon's new model for growth As Haleon recently announced a £175m investment in a new manufacturing facility in central India, Chief Supply Chain Officer Namrata Patel explained to our Multimedia Editor, Tom St John, why local manufacturing, consumer insight and technology are reshaping one of the world's largest consumer health supply chains

anufacturing investments are often measured in square metres of factory space, production volumes or capital expenditure. Haleon's latest announcement certainly delivers on all three. The global consumer health manufacturer has committed approximately £175m to build a new oral

health manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh, central India, creating around 500 jobs while significantly expanding production capacity for one of the company's fastest-growing markets. Yet to describe the project as just the building of another factory would miss the point somewhat. Because this investment represents something much broader for Haleon - a fundamental shift

in how manufacturing, supply chains and consumer engagement come together to improve access to everyday healthcare. The facility has been designed not only to produce more oral health products closer to consumers, but to underpin a strategy that aims to reach hundreds of millions of people. Many of whom may not have previously had sufficient access to specialist dental care. "We're building locally," explained Namrata. "It's all about being on the ground as part of our strategy of serving a billion more consumers and helping with proactive health maintenance." This is an expansion that, of course, is targeting increased product revenue, but it’s also about positioning factories, supply chains and talent exactly where they can have the greatest impact. Manufacturing for a billion more consumers Although Haleon officially became an independent business following its separation from GSK in 2022, the company is already one of the world's largest consumer health organisations. Operating in around 120 countries, Haleon manufactures household name brands including Sensodyne, Panadol, Voltaren, Centrum, Theraflu, Advil and Parodontax. More than one billion consumers use its products every year, while its manufacturing footprint now extends to 25 production sites worldwide

SUPPLY CHAIN

following the announcement of the new Indian facility. “We're an £11bn company, present in around 120 countries globally, and all of our factories operate as part of one global manufacturing network," said Namrata. That global footprint provides resilience and scale, but Haleon's latest investment reflects a growing recognition that global supply chains alone cannot always meet local healthcare needs. India has become one of the company's fastest-growing markets and sits at the centre of Haleon's ambition to reach one billion more consumers by 2030. While urban populations continue to grow rapidly, around two-thirds of India's population still live in rural communities, many of which have limited access to preventative dental care. For Haleon, that presents both a significant healthcare challenge and a manufacturing opportunity. Why Madhya Pradesh? Choosing the location for a new manufacturing facility of this scale is rarely straightforward. Haleon evaluated locations across India before settling on Madhya Pradesh, with several factors combining to make the region particularly attractive. Namrata explained: “If you look at the map, this particular area is pretty much in the middle of the country." The central location immediately improves logistics, allowing products to be distributed efficiently across the vast Indian market while also supporting wider exports throughout Asia. Talent availability was also a consideration. As we often see, manufacturers are increasingly selecting locations that offer strong engineering ecosystems capable of supporting advanced production technologies. “There are a lot of very good engineering and technical colleges in the area, which should make acquiring talent easier," she said. "The state is also developing that area specifically for industry. There's quite a lot going on, so the infrastructure that the government has implemented is very good." Having recently visited the site herself, Namrata was struck by the pace of regional development. "The site is about an hour and a half outside the city, but getting there was extremely quick. The highways were really impressive."

Closer to consumers A recent trend across the industry has seen localisation become synonymous with greater supply chain protection. However, localisation in this sense isn’t simply about shortening logistics routes. It means manufacturing products specifically for local consumers – taking into consideration local purchasing habits and healthcare challenges. Sensodyne's new 20 Rupee toothpaste pack illustrates this well. The smaller-format packaging has been developed to make specialist toothpaste significantly more affordable for consumers whose purchasing decisions are often constrained by daily household budgets. "We've got the packaging correct," said Namrata. "And we're ensuring that the formula we provide is as good as any other type or size of toothpaste. That's our commitment to the consumer." And to validate this, Namrata had actually just visited homes, pharmacies and independent retailers across Delhi and surrounding rural communities. "This afternoon I've been in consumers' homes as well as many small shops in the depths of Delhi and rural India. We've seen the challenges, but we've also seen the opportunities." She continued: "One consumer I was talking to was really happy after switching. She'd been using another brand before and explained how Sensodyne had specifically helped with the sensitivity of her gums." On ya bike Although, manufacturing closer to consumers comes with challenges. Getting those products into some of India's most remote communities requires an entirely different approach to distribution. Across hundreds of thousands of villages, conventional retail infrastructure simply doesn’t exist in the same way as developed towns and cities in Europe. Haleon has therefore developed what Namrata described as a far more hands-on model, centred around education as much as sales. One of its most distinctive innovations is its fleet of motorcycle-based sales representatives. Rather than simply delivering stock, these teams carry mobile demonstration units into rural communities. The strategy has been termed ‘The Last Mile’ by Haleon. "I met a lot of our sales representatives today who were out there on their motorbikes, basically carrying a shop," said Namrata.

It’s very important that we not only have local manufacturing, but local sourcing and that we build local talent pools Namrata Patel, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Haleon

"On one side they carry a large ice box with water so they can perform the cold sensitivity test. On the other side is all the promotional material, and then the salesperson carries the products." Consumers experiencing tooth sensitivity can understand the effect that specialist toothpaste can have, while sales teams explain oral health issues. Haleon also works closely with local healthcare professionals, providing educational materials and product guidance to clinics serving lower-income communities. This is significant, given that it’s very likely that many of these people will have never discussed such things with a healthcare professional. Namrata recalled visiting one such surgery during her latest trip: "We went to a doctor's surgery that serves patients who simply walk in from a very poor neighbourhood. They charge around 300 Rupees for a consultation - about £2.50. “The level of education on offer is amazing.

SUPPLY CHAIN

We announced a facility in China recently, so the same principles are already being replicated elsewhere. It's all about reaching more consumers Namrata Patel, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Haleon

48 BELOW: An important part of the role of oral health products is the education on their benefits RIGHT: Haleon teams carry mobile demonstration units into rural communities

We go there, we explain our products, we provide simple educational materials, and we use those to help consumers understand their oral health better." Rather than focusing purely on product promotion, Haleon's approach aims to build longer-term awareness around preventative healthcare. That must really create a level of trust that extends beyond a single purchase. It’s a model that blurs the traditional boundaries between manufacturing, distribution and healthcare education, demonstrating how supply chains can become active participants in improving public health rather than simply moving products from factory to shelf. A smarter supply chain Digital technologies are increasingly shaping Haleon's next phase of transformation, with AI becoming

particularly influential in planning and forecasting to operational performance and workforce safety. I was interested to hear Namrata’s thoughts on AI’s integration with the human workforce. She, like many industry leaders, reinforced that AI isn’t here to take people’s jobs, but rather enable better decisions. "We're currently deploying a new planning platform, which will bring a lot more information together to create the plan through AI," she explained. "It will search and bring together knowledge so that we can plan better." As global supply chains continue to contend with fluctuating demand, geopolitical uncertainty and increasing consumer expectations, improved planning capabilities have become essential. "We see that as an advantage rather than a replacement for people. We believe it will enrich the way we serve consumers and make us much more agile." This emphasis on augmentation rather than automation reflects a broader industry outlook across advanced manufacturing, not just in mindsets but it real life examples of AI increasingly supporting planners, engineers and operators rather than displacing them. Not to hammer the point home too much, but one of the real-world values of AI lies in identifying patterns across vast volumes of operational data - patterns that would be almost impossible for humans to detect quickly enough to influence day-today decision making. Building a digital factory The new Indian facility has been designed with those capabilities in mind from the outset. Rather than retrofitting digital technologies into an existing plant, Haleon has the opportunity to build intelligence into the factory's DNA. Parts of the operation will be capable of running with minimal human intervention, supported by extensive data collection and automation. "The facility we're building is state-ofthe-art," said Namrata. “As well as being highly sustainable, parts of the facility will be lights out. "We have to gather a lot of data beforehand to make sure it can work efficiently." That data is then used to improve operational performance across Haleon's wider manufacturing network. One example involves reducing waste during production.

SUPPLY CHAIN

KEY TAKEAWAYS • £175m investment brings manufacturing closer to consumers: Haleon's new oral health facility in central India will improve supply resilience while expanding access to products across one of its fastest-growing markets

ABOVE: A look at what the new factory in India will look like Namrata explained: "We use AI for some very simple techniques. In terms of waste that you might get on a production line or in a tank, we’re able to measure that.” She continued: “Thousands of sensors provide real-time operational data, allowing engineers to identify process variation before it develops into a larger issue. Perhaps more significantly, Haleon combines that information with digital twin technology. "Digital twins enable us to pass that knowledge around all the facilities that have similar equipment so that prevention happens across the organisation." So, rather than solving problems repeatedly at individual sites, lessons learned in one factory can rapidly improve performance across the entire manufacturing network. Resilience starts locally It feels as if resilience has been near the top of the business agenda for years now. Global disruption, geopolitical uncertainty and changing trade patterns has forced the sector to reconsider where products are made and where critical materials are sourced. And as mentioned already, building stronger local ecosystems is seen as a smart way to do this. "Very important," Namrata replied when asked about the importance of local manufacturing. "Not only that but local sourcing and building local talent pools are absolutely critical." Haleon’s Indian investment reflects that. The factory will combine Haleon's proprietary manufacturing technologies with equipment sourced from local suppliers wherever appropriate, strengthening domestic capability while supporting regional industry.

At the same time, investment in engineering talent creates expertise that will remain long after the facility enters production. The Indian model that Haleon has deployed is also transferable to other corners of the world where rural communities are hard to reach. “We’re trying to embed manufacturing capability within the communities we’re serving,” she went on. “The same principles are already being replicated elsewhere. For example, we announced a facility in China recently. It's all about reaching more consumers further into the depths of these countries." Manufacturing with purpose Haleon's investment in India undoubtedly represents a significant expansion of manufacturing capacity, but for me the project is noteworthy because it illustrates how the role of manufacturing continues to evolve. Increasingly, factories are becoming digitally connected knowledge centres. Supply chains are moving closer to consumers. Product design appears to begin more often with affordability and accessibility rather than production efficiency alone. And operational excellence is being measured by consumer outcomes as well as by manufacturing metrics. In India, those ideas converge around the objective of improving everyday oral health for millions of people who have struggled to access specialist care for much of their lives. The new facility will eventually supply products to more than 300 million consumers while providing a platform for future expansion across Asia. Yet perhaps its greatest significance lies in what it represents for manufacturing more broadly.

• Local manufacturing goes beyond production: By investing in regional talent, local sourcing and modular factory design, Haleon is building a supply chain rooted in the communities it serves • Consumer insight is driving operational decisions: From affordable 20 Rupee Sensodyne packs to product design improvements, customer feedback is directly shaping manufacturing and packaging •D igital technologies are creating a smarter supply chain: AI, digital twins and real-time production data are enhancing planning, reducing waste and improving safety across Haleon's global manufacturing network •M anufacturing is becoming a catalyst for better public health: By combining production, education and last-mile distribution, Haleon is using its manufacturing footprint to improve access to preventative oral healthcare for millions of consumers.

It serves as a timely reminder for companies seeking growth in emerging markets and new countries that building relationships with local communities, relevant industry professionals, suppliers and consumers themselves, is just as important as building factories. Haleon’s toothpaste improves oral health outcomes, but the company has also recognised the importance of everything that fits around that. It’s strengthening local economies and creating supply chains that are simultaneously more resilient, responsive and deeply connected to the people they exist to serve. l

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

Referendum to reality... 50

Ten years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, UK manufacturers have learned to live with Brexit. But while the sector has proved remarkably resilient, business leaders say it has come at a price. The Manufacturer's James Devonshire spoke to senior figures from across British manufacturing to explore how Brexit has reshaped industry and what comes next

n 23 June 2016, the UK voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union, setting in motion one of the most significant political and economic shifts in modern British history. A decade later, the political arguments remain as divisive as ever, but inside Britain's factories the conversation has changed. For manufacturers, Brexit is no longer a political question; it’s an operational reality. The last ten years have brought customs declarations, rules of origin, regulatory divergence, labour shortages and a level of uncertainty few business leaders could have anticipated. Yet those same ten years have also included a global pandemic, supply chain disruption, an energy crisis, soaring inflation and geopolitical instability, making it almost impossible to isolate Brexit's impact from the wider economic turbulence. However, while some manufacturers have reported growth in non-EU markets, Brexit's impact on UK trade has been significant. According to the Centre for European Reform's John Springford and Anton Spisak,

goods exports to the EU are about 16% lower than if the UK had chosen not to leave and goods imports are 14% lower. Despite those headwinds, Britain's manufacturing sector has continued to invest, innovate and export. According to Make UK, manufacturing still contributes more than £220bn in gross value added to the UK economy each year and supports around 2.6 million jobs, underlining its importance to national prosperity.

ABOVE: Manufacturers like Westley Engineering make investment decisions over five, ten or even 20-year horizons, yet the constant shifting of leadership at government level has created a challenging environment

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

...manufacturing 10 years after Brexit

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

Manufacturers don't expect governments to solve every problem, but they do need consistency - stable leadership, a clear Industrial Strategy and longterm commitment Chris Greenough, Managing Director, Westley Engineering

What emerges from conversations with manufacturers across the sector is neither a tale of catastrophe nor one of unqualified success. Instead, it is a story of adaptation. Living with the new ‘normal’ Perhaps the most striking aspect of speaking to manufacturers a decade after the referendum is how little appetite there is to revisit the vote itself. "Ten years on from the Brexit vote, businesses have to deal with the reality rather than continue debating the decision itself," said Chris Greenough, Managing Director of Westley Engineering. "The British public made its choice, and whether individuals voted leave or remain, we cannot spend another decade looking

backwards. The focus now has to be on making the UK's position as competitive and prosperous as possible." That sentiment is echoed across the manufacturing sector and the wider supply chain. Manufacturers who actively opposed leaving the trading bloc have found themselves with no option but to restructure their operations to match the new regulatory environment. "As an SME manufacturing business exporting 70% of our turnover - 50% of which is to the EU - we did not see any benefits in leaving the trading bloc," said Chris Walker, Chief Executive of Diamond Hard Surfaces. "Nevertheless, we embraced Brexit as an opportunity, despite our reservations and being pro-remain." Similarly, Rebecca Galley, Chief Executive of Tornado Wire, highlighted that operational continuity leaves no room for ideological debate. "Ten years on, I think it's important to separate the politics of Brexit from the practical reality of running a manufacturing business," she reflected. "I remember the referendum result vividly... Whatever people's views then or now, manufacturers had little choice but to adapt to the new environment that followed." It is this spirit, which we've seen time and time again in recent years in the face of adversity, that perfectly encapsulates the British manufacturing industry. Whatever their political views, the immediate necessity of keeping production lines moving, maintaining client trust and securing orders in a vastly altered commercial landscape has taken priority. Friction at the border For decades, British manufacturers enjoyed frictionless access to their largest export market. Brexit supporters promised that leaving the single market would deliver a bonfire of red tape. The daily reality for exporters, however, has been the exact opposite. Today, while tariff-free trade remains possible under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the reality of trading with the UK’s closest geographical market is now one that requires an unprecedented volume of administration, documentation and logistical planning. Adam Hooper, Chairman and Director at Martin's Rubber Company, offered stark, practical examples of how administrative barriers disrupt everyday business relationships. "Try sending zero-value exhibition samples into the EU to support your staff on a trade stand. You may as well not bother as the parts will never clear

TOP: Like many manufacturers, Tornado Wire invested heavily in preparing for the replacement of CE marking, only for the government to reverse course. ABOVE: Brexit has provided the proof of how resilient and adaptable British manufacturers can be RIGHT: Since Brexit, Diamond Hard Surfaces has adapted and thrived, and has never exported to more countries

customs in time," he said. Furthermore, the operational friction extends directly into commercial contracts. Adam cited a warning from a key Italian customer: ‘In order to continue placing business with you, we need you to get our parts into Bologna Customs three days before we need them on our site, or we will need to resource from inside the EU.’ Situations like this appear to be

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY Bridgnorth Aluminium, coping with this reality has required direct organisational expansion. Adrian Musgrave, Head of Sales, said: "Prior to the leave vote, there were obviously no tariffs into the EU, whereas now there is a lot more complexity involved. We have procedures to go through, and we've had to expand the shipping team to cope with that. The frictionless trade that we had prior to Brexit just isn't there anymore." For advanced materials company, Goodfellow, the response was to redesign the business around the new trading environment. Rather than exporting the majority of European orders directly from its Huntingdon headquarters, the company now serves most EU customers through its German subsidiary, with French customers supplied through its domestic French operation. According to CEO Simon Kenney, the shift keeps transactions domestic from the customer's perspective, removing much of the border friction they would otherwise experience, even though it has added considerable operational complexity behind the scenes. John Pearce, Chief Executive of Made in Britain, summarised the collective sentiment: "Brexit has certainly changed how British businesses trade with customers and suppliers in Europe, in that it has become more complex and a weightier administrative burden for hardworking manufacturers who now face more red tape than they did previously. Trading with the EU has become much harder, and that has forced many to look elsewhere or change their plans for growth." widespread, regardless of manufacturing vertical. Chris Walker told us that Brexit has eroded the speed and agility of doing business with Europe that British manufacturers once enjoyed. "It now takes longer to ship a package to France than it does to the US, and we are having to deal with the cost associated with importing documentation and customs clearance for all EU transactions," he said. "Prospective reduced legislation and administrative burden was enticing, as was the opportunity to strike new trading relationships with countries with which the EU had failed to do so. Unfortunately, many of the promised benefits haven’t materialised; the reality is that in order to trade with other blocs or countries you also need to adhere to their regulations and rules," he added. For specialised manufacturers like

The cost of standing still When discussing Brexit's economic toll, attention often focuses on direct costs like tariffs, customs fees, freight rates and currency fluctuations. But the biggest cost, for many manufacturers, has been far less visible or measurable. Rebecca Galley describes it as "the cost of standing still". Following the referendum, Rebecca was leading a hydraulics business that sourced most of its materials from continental Europe. Rather than investing in productivity improvements or product development, management found themselves immersed in learning entirely new customs systems simply to keep goods moving. "The biggest cost wasn't a line on the P&L," she explained. "It was management attention. Hundreds of hours that could have been spent improving productivity, developing new products or growing export markets were instead spent navigating

British manufacturing is at its strongest when it looks forwards rather than backwards John Pearce, Chief Executive, Made in Britain

new processes, paperwork and changing regulation. None of that created value for customers. It was necessary work, but it was unproductive work." Simon described a similar experience from a different perspective. Rather than firefighting individual customs issues, Goodfellow has had to build permanent compliance capability into its European operations. "The single biggest consequence has been the permanent addition of a compliance layer to everything we do in Europe," he said. "Customs declarations, rules of origin paperwork, VAT complexity and regulatory divergence are now simply part of the cost base of trading with the EU." This loss of bandwidth was particularly severe for SMEs, where senior executives often wear multiple operational hats. Every hour spent decoding rules of origin or setting up economic operators registration and identification (EORI) numbers, was an hour stolen from R&D, capital investment planning or customer acquisition. Like many manufacturers, Tornado

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

If Brexit has taught our organisation anything, it's that UK manufacturers are remarkably resilient. But resilience should not be mistaken for evidence that everything worked well Rebecca Galley, Chief Executive, Tornado Wire

Wire invested heavily in preparing for the replacement of CE marking, only for the government to reverse course and continue recognising CE certification. "Businesses responded to government policy in good faith," Rebecca said, "and then found much of that effort had been unnecessary." This reality underlines a wider concern expressed throughout the industry which is that while manufacturers can adapt to change, they need confidence that policy will remain consistent long enough for those investments to pay off. If bureaucracy became the hidden cost of Brexit, uncertainty became its lasting legacy.

Planning beyond politics Investment in production lines, automation equipment and factory expansions are measured not in months but decades. Because manufacturing involves longterm planning, many have argued that political turnover and shifting economic policies have proved almost as disruptive as Brexit itself. Ironically, during the creation of this feature, Andy Burnham took over the reins of the world's fifth largest economy, becoming the UK's seventh Prime Minister in the decade since the Brexit referendum. "Businesses make investment decisions over five, ten or even 20-year horizons, yet we've seen a revolving door of Prime Ministers, changing priorities and shifting economic policies," Chris Greenough said. "Manufacturers don't expect governments to solve every problem, but they do need consistency. Stable leadership, a clear Industrial Strategy and longterm commitment to strengthening our trading relationships would do far more to encourage investment and growth than another change in direction every couple of years." John Pearce echoed this perspective regarding the regulatory climate. "Businesses can work within different regulatory environments provided expectations are clear and consistent. What matters most is certainty," he argued. "Stable, proportionate regulation enables businesses to innovate with confidence, invest for the long-term and compete successfully in international markets." Rebecca emphasised that policy stability is vital as UK factories navigate broader macroeconomic headwinds: "Brexit is no longer the only challenge affecting competitiveness. High energy costs, uncertainty around tariffs, an increasingly complex regulatory environment and rising employment costs all influence investment decisions today. "Manufacturing is a long-term business. We make investment decisions over decades, not political cycles, so stability, consistency and a clear Industrial Strategy matter enormously." Built to adapt Despite regulatory hurdles, administrative friction and policy instability, the defining characteristic of UK manufacturing over the past decade has been its sheer resilience. Faced with fundamental disruptions to how they buy, build and sell, British factories did what they have done throughout the history of industry: they adapted.

"Today, in my current role, our business is performing strongly and this year will be a record year," Rebecca revealed. "Brexit has not stopped us growing. Good manufacturers adapt; that's what they do. But it would be disingenuous to pretend it hasn't made business harder." However, she added a crucial caveat regarding the sector's perseverance: "If Brexit has taught our organisation anything, it's that UK manufacturers are remarkably resilient. Faced with new barriers, they found ways around them. Faced with uncertainty, they continued to invest, innovate and grow. But resilience should not be mistaken for evidence that everything worked well." Chris Walker painted a similar picture of commercial agility at Diamond Hard Surfaces. "Despite the changes, the business has adapted and thrived, and we have never exported to more countries," he said, demonstrating that agility and international expansion remain achievable despite increased operational friction. Simon added that Goodfellow's experience demonstrates that resilience has sometimes meant restructuring rather than simply persevering. Investment has increasingly been directed towards strengthening operational capability within Europe, including additional systems, compliance expertise and infrastructure in Germany and France. While the company continues to invest in the UK, Simon said growth planning is now based on a more geographically distributed operating model than existed before Brexit. Adrian described a different form of adaptation. For Bridgnorth Aluminium, while EU sales have become harder, changes in global trade policy have opened up valuable transatlantic opportunities. "A US-UK trade agreement helped us land a five-year deal to supply battery grade aluminium to Lotte Aluminium Materials USA," he said. "It was five years in the making and what helped us land the deal was the fact we have a lower tariff in the US than many of our competitors." Musgrave added that the deal will secure jobs, and may lead to the creation of more roles, while it also boosts the Bridgnorth economy by getting the local community spending. Nevertheless, even those expanding globally recognise that Europe cannot be replaced. "Europe remains our largest

LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY trading partner," said Galley. "We buy from Europe, we sell into Europe and we have European shareholders. That commercial reality hasn't changed. What has changed is the amount of administration, compliance and bureaucracy required to do exactly the same business we were doing before." Chris Greenough underlined the importance of this strategic balance: "For manufacturers, the priority should be strengthening trade with our closest and largest market. Europe will always be a vital trading partner and reducing unnecessary barriers while improving cooperation should be a key objective. At the same time, we should continue developing relationships with new global markets, but not at the expense of our European neighbours.” Yet Simon believes Brexit has become only one element of a much broader competitive landscape. "Freight costs, global supply chain volatility and tariff costs weigh at least as heavily on our competitiveness today as Brexit-related friction," he said, arguing that while the additional cost of trading with Europe remains a structural disadvantage, much of the initial disruption has now been absorbed into everyday operations. A decade of lessons Ten years after the referendum, the verdict from manufacturing is more nuanced than either side of the political debate might prefer. Few businesses deny that Brexit has made trading with Europe's single market more administratively complex. Indeed, for many exporters, frictionless trade has become a thing of the past. Yet neither has Brexit defined the sector's future. Manufacturers have adapted, diversified their export markets, invested in resilience and, in some cases, discovered new commercial opportunities. Britain's

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Brexit is now a business reality, not a political debate: A decade on, manufacturers have stopped debating the referendum and are focused on operating successfully within the postBrexit trading environment • Red tape has replaced frictionless trade: While tariffs have largely been avoided under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, customs

reputation for engineering excellence, innovation and high-quality production remains intact, even if the route to market has become more complicated. Perhaps the greatest lesson of the past decade is not about Brexit itself, but about the character of British manufacturing. As John Pearce puts it: "British manufacturing is at its strongest when it looks forwards rather than backwards." He attributes the sector's endurance to the underlying value of British engineering. "Ten years after Brexit, UK manufacturing is more confident in its strengths, more resilient in its outlook and increasingly recognised for the quality, innovation and trust that British manufacturing brings to customers," he said. That may ultimately prove the defining legacy of Brexit's first ten years. Not that it transformed British manufacturing for better or worse, but that it tested the sector's ability to adapt under extraordinary circumstances. Having weathered political upheaval, a pandemic, global supply chain disruption and economic volatility, manufacturers are no longer asking whether Brexit was the right decision. Simon believes that, after a decade of adjustment, manufacturers have finally reached a point where they can focus on growth rather than constant change. "Ten years after Brexit, UK manufacturing is more resilient, more internationally minded, and finally operating with the stability to plan for growth rather than manage constant change," he said. "Though there's still work to do to remove the friction that remains." The debate over Brexit may never be settled, but for manufacturers, the next decade will be defined less by the decision itself than by whether Britain can create the stable, competitive environment they need to thrive. l

paperwork, regulatory compliance and border administration have become the biggest challenges for exporters • Resilience came at a significant cost: UK manufacturers adapted and continued to grow, but many diverted time, investment and management attention away from innovation and productivity simply to maintain business as usual • Policy certainty matters more than politics: Manufacturers consistently say

A US-UK trade agreement helped us land a five-year deal... and key to that was the fact we have a lower tariff in the US than many of our competitors Adrian Musgrave, Head of Sales, Bridgnorth Aluminium

long-term stability, a clear Industrial Strategy and predictable regulation are now more important than revisiting the Brexit debate • The next decade must focus on competitiveness and growth: Having absorbed the initial disruption, manufacturers want fewer barriers to trade, stronger UK-EU cooperation and a stable business environment that allows them to invest and compete internationally

INDUSTRIAL DATA & AI

Manufacturing's second

learning curve Manufacturers have always learned more by making more. Industrial AI is narrowing that advantage. It now favours those that learn the most from every run and act on it before the next. Sebastian Pattinson, Associate Professor from the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge and Co-founder of the industrial AI spinout Matta, explains why the best measure of a factory's competitiveness may be how quickly a lesson can be learned in one place and improve what happens in another

fault appears on a production line. An experienced engineer finds the cause, adjusts the process and clears it. A month later, the same fault appears at a sister plant 200 miles away. A different team starts from nothing. Manufacturers solve problems like this every day, yet critical expertise remains trapped within an ageing workforce, isolated with one person, machine or site, forcing organisations to solve the same problem repeatedly.

Volume used to be the only way to learn Scale used to set the pace of learning. A manufacturer that made more, met more problems. And every problem it solved made the next unit cheaper. In 1936, Theodore Wright quantified this, showing that each time cumulative output doubled, the cost to build one aircraft fell by a consistent percentage. Across the 20th century, developments such as statistical process control, continuous improvement and automated control made it easier to detect

variation, test improvements and stabilise production. Each raised how much a factory could learn from every unit it made but did far less to ensure that a lesson learned by one team became usable knowledge for another. Now data and learning may matter more than volume The dependency of learning on volume is what is now changing. A factory still has to run to learn anything. But how much it takes from each run is no longer limited to what

someone thought to measure, or knew how to write down. The question is therefore no longer only how much a factory produces. It is how much it learns from what it produces, and how fast that knowledge reaches the people who can act on it. Many manufacturers already read structured signals well. Analytics and conventional machine learning have handled sensor readings and quality data for years. Where a problem reduces to a well-defined numerical relationship, those methods often remain the right tool. What has changed is the range of evidence a factory can act on. Newer AI methods can now extract knowledge from sources that were impractical at scale, such as production video. They can also recognise faults they have never seen before, so a factory no longer needs a perfectly labelled example of every failure. Reasoning systems can then go further. They can bring general engineering knowledge to what they observe, then propose a likely cause and a response. In recent research published by the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, it was demonstrated how such a system could perform manufacturing tasks, explain its decisions and respond to unfamiliar problems. Over time, these systems could help manufacturers solve problems faster, increase output, accelerate innovation and make scarce expertise available across the organisation. Speaking the same language Direct observation also solves a problem that volume never could. One plant calls it surface contamination. The second calls it poor finish. The third just logs it as ‘part wrong’. Manufacturers run on a patchwork of systems and local vocabularies that record the same fault in incompatible ways. A fix found in one place is rarely recognised as relevant in another. A system that watches production directly does not depend on how each site chose to label things. It can establish that two differently described problems are in fact the same, enabling the solution to be transferred between them. This layer need not replace MES, SCADA or ERP but sits across them and gives separate plants one shared account of what is happening on the shop floor. Large manufacturers keep real advantages. Higher volumes create more chances to see faults, test changes and refine production. But Wright's law contains

its own limit. The thousandth identical unit teaches far less than the tenth. High-mix, low-volume production is informationrich by comparison, because every changeover is an experiment. What those manufacturers have lacked is a means of interpreting and keeping the information from these lessons. This is what industrial AI now addresses. AI is not yet widely adopted in manufacturing A McKinsey survey of manufacturing COOs found only two per cent said AI was fully embedded across operations, while two-thirds remained at the exploration or limited deployment stage. Additionally, almost 60% had no targets for measuring value from AI implementations. UK Office for National Statistics data suggests that just over a fifth of British manufacturers use at least one AI application, significantly below several other sectors. A Make UK survey similarly found just two per cent have AI widely embedded across operations. Where AI is used, 83% apply it to business support functions such as HR, finance and administration, against 11% in production and six per cent in quality control. AI has mainly reached the accounts department, not the shop floor. Data is not the same as knowledge AI can capture more of what happens in production. But data often becomes most valuable when it connects to human judgement, and much of that judgement stays in people's heads. An experienced welder hears a weld going wrong. A moulding technician adjusts a parameter because the process feels as though it is drifting. Interviews and written procedures do not capture this well. The expertise appears during production, when someone notices a change, weighs the causes, chooses a response and watches the result. To keep it, a system must record decisions in context and learn from what happened next. Those decisions are also how expertise is made. Routine faults have always been the training ground for practical judgement, so automating them can raise short-term productivity while closing the path that produces the next generation of experts. The opportunity is to use AI both to retain that expertise and to explain its reasoning, shortening the apprenticeship rather than removing it.

The question is no longer only how much a factory produces. It is how much it learns from what it produces, and how fast that knowledge reaches the people who can act on it Sebastian Pattinson, Associate Professor, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

MAIN PIC: Matta’s Sentry system captures image data to identify and localise defects

INDUSTRIAL DATA & AI

AI can capture more of what happens in production. But data often becomes most valuable when it connects to human judgement, and much of that judgement stays in people's heads Sebastian Pattinson, Associate Professor, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

KEY TAKEAWAYS • See more of what production is already telling you: Continuous monitoring - video included reveals problems and patterns that sampled data and periodic inspection miss • Capture judgement as it is applied: An operator's decision is informative in context problem noticed, response chosen, outcome observed. Recorded that way, one person's experience becomes teachable across shifts, lines and sites • P lan the route from insight to action: The delay between a good recommendation and a change made is often organisational rather than technical. Decide in advance how a recommendation is reviewed, approved and acted on, and how that path shortens as confidence grows • M easure the time to resolution: Track the time from detecting a deviation to validating a fix that stops it recurring, and how far that fix travels

Below: Matta’s Sentry system in action

How quickly can factories turn learning into action? Capturing knowledge is not enough. Advantage depends on how quickly a manufacturer can apply it. Short feedback loops need clear ownership and teams with the authority to act without escalating. AI will usually start as an adviser, which is how operators build trust in it. It should not stay on permanent probation. Manufacturers need a deliberate path from observation to advice, to approval, and where warranted, to autonomous action, with each step earned by the evidence of the last. The most revealing measure may be the interval between detecting a problem and validating a change that stops it recurring. Two other questions are how far a fix travels, and how often the same problem is solved twice. As material, labour and energy costs rise, a recurring fault is more than wasted production. It is a loop that failed to close. The best manufacturers will be those that act the fastest on what they learn, and in doing so learn faster still. A compounding advantage for the UK This shift matters for the UK in particular. The British manufacturing base runs from aerospace, and automotive to pharmaceuticals, food, drink and chemicals. These sectors operate at very different scales. Many face similar pressures: variable inputs, scarce expertise, rising costs, thin margins and expensive disruption. When production moved overseas, some of the practical knowledge created by making things moved with it. Engineers and operators solved problems where the work happened. That experience was collected in the companies and countries that held the volume. The value differs by sector. In aerospace and high-mix work, AI makes each run more informative and cuts the need to relearn. In food, drink and other high-throughput plants, it helps teams react faster to variation, protect quality and raise output. So the opportunity is larger than automating single tasks. Better observation produces better decisions. Effective action creates more knowledge. Each improvement strengthens the next. For an economy that will typically not compete on volume alone, the ability to learn and act faster may become the defining industrial advantage. l

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SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

SHOOTING STARS 62

As the UK's only manufacturer of clay target launchers, Promatic International has grown from a specialist engineering business into a global leader supplying major international competitions. Strategic acquisitions, export growth and continued innovation are driving the company's next phase of expansion. The Manufacturer paid a visit to find out more

romatic International has been serving the clay shooting industry since 1985, manufacturing its comprehensive range of clay target launchers and shooting ground technology. The company’s traps are used in major sporting events, including the World Cup of the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) and the World Shooting Para Sport Championships. Based in Hooton in the Wirral since 1996,

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Promatic has spearheaded the transition from mechanical traps to wireless release systems

Promatic’s former managing director Brian Jardine, an engineer at heart, began designing and manufacturing highquality traps, growing the company’s reputation in the UK and Europe, and expanding into the US in the early 2000s.

The Promatic group has installed competition standard layouts at highprofile ranges in Dubai, Greece and the US. The company also sponsors Team GB athletes, including Nathan Hales, Olympic Gold Medallist and record holder, men's trap shooting. “Shooting has always been a very mature market, predominantly in North America, the UK and Europe,” said Gary Jones, Group Chief Executive Officer. “And even though it’s quite an expensive

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

sport we have grown significantly over the last 15 years and the demand for traps is still as strong as ever. It’s a niche market, but until you're actually in it, it’s hard to understand exactly how big it is.” Promatic’s range of traps - which are mostly named after birds including Kestrel, Hobby, Pigeon and Peregrine - number over 100 models of machines, covering every discipline and budget; from the simple and easy to use for personal use and beginners, through to small clubs and commercial grounds and on to competition shooting which prioritises precision and reliability. The company has also spearheaded the transition from mechanical traps to wireless release systems that have increased safety on shooting grounds. The Claymate system provides cutting edge technology for clay counting and release systems. Grounds have reported revenues increasing by up to 40% thanks to Claymate's ability to control and record clay usage. Claymate allows the shooter to take a valid encoded Wi 'contactless' card, place the card on the stand controller, set the target and shoot, eliminating the need for coin and token systems. Flying the flag Promatic has its own design facility and manufactures in the UK, purely inhouse, conducting its own fabrication, machining, welding, assembly, testing and then packaging for export. The company is the only UK-based manufacturer in its field and builds two to three times as many traps as its nearest competitor. “What competitors we have are mainly overseas,” added Gary. “There were others based in the UK in the past, but over the years they’ve stopped manufacturing and Promatic has become the go-to brand due to our quality and reliability.” No ground owner wants to have a trap machine that's breaking clays, as every broken clay represents lost revenue, so launch reliability is vital, with minimal breakdowns and less maintenance. As such Promatic offer a service on its traps to enhance the value to customers, using CAD technology to determine whether a piece of equipment is experiencing issues in the field, and whether there is stress points on the trap itself. Not only that but Promatic have made significant moves over the

last few years to become a onestop-shop for the industry. In 2022 the business purchased Italian company Electronica Progetti, which specialises in the scoring systems and scoreboards for shooting ranges, aiding in Promatic’s long-term goal of becoming the official provider to the Olympic Games. “This purchase has enabled us to present a truly collective offering. If a customer wants to design a championship course and hold major events, we can offer a one-stop-shop solution, and manage everything ourselves,” added Gary. “It is also beneficial for the governing bodies to deal with one company. For example, we are one of only four platinum sponsors of the ISSF, who are the international federation body for shooting.” This holistic approach was also demonstrated in Promatic’s partnership with a company called Travision. The company’s ClayTracer system delivers a live video feed and operates as a VARstyle review system, bringing elite-level technology to competitive shooting which has also been approved by the ISSF. This was brought about following controversy at the last Olympics in Paris when Team GB shooter Amber Rutter was denied a gold medal in the women's skeet final when judges ruled she missed a target during a sudden-death shootoff, despite slow-motion replays clearly showing a successful hit. Despite Rutter appealing the call, the judges upheld their decision, and due to the absence of any approved referee assisted technology at the time, the call was final. Gary continued: “The Travision system is going to make its debut in competition in December at the World Cup in Rome, and we've been working with them on the design and manufacture. So this gives us another arm to our offering and enables us to give the governing bodies of the spot the solutions they're asking for, so it's more reliable and consistent. “This will help with our long-term strategy of becoming the equipment supplier for future Olympic games and strengthen our reputation and reliability with federations and governing bodies in the sport. Along with quality and reliability, our USP is that we offer more to the market than our competitors.”

We have grown significantly over the last 15 years and the demand for traps is still as strong as ever. It’s a niche market, but until you're actually in it, it’s hard to understand exactly how big it is Gary Jones, Group Chief Executive Officer, Promatic Group

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

Promatic’s Olympic Trap has definitely helped me train for gold success in terms of accuracy and all aspects of shooting preparation for the Olympic Games Nathan Hales, Olympic Gold Medallist and record holder, men's trap shooting

RIGHT: Promatic conducts its own fabrication, machining, welding, assembly, testing and then packaging for export

64 Exports and growth Gary explained that a sport like shooting doesn’t experience explosive growth, rather there are pockets of gradual development. Mature markets in North America, Europe and the UK are very well established and still growing, but there are also emerging markets elsewhere, for example, the company has just completed a significant project in Egypt. However, because of the nature of the business, the length of time equipment spends in the field and the reliability of Promatic’s products, growth can be quite cyclical. Traps can spend over a decade in the field so if a particular region decides to open a number of shooting grounds - following that initial growth where kit has been purchased, installed and commissioned – that region will then be in a maintenance zone for the next ten years, where they will take advantage of Promatic’s additional service until such time as the traps and equipment need replacing or upgrading. “We're getting more enquiries elsewhere internationally,” continued Gary. “It's helping the business, and we export to 41 countries currently. We're here to help

anybody who wants to put in a shooting facility, and to give them the integrated solutions that they’re looking for in terms of the traps, scoring systems and scoreboards. “We always try to make sure that we're price competitive. That doesn't mean that we forsake quality, as that is paramount to our business. So, we might not have the economies of scale of some of our international competitors, but we've remained competitive in the market, and that's why we're still the leading trap manufacturer in the world.” Earlier in the year, Promatic secured a £1m trade credit facility from HSBC UK to support the growth of these export volumes, with the financing guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the government’s export credit agency. The company’s year-on-year growth of export clientele grew orders but also placed pressure on working capital so the company’s bank – HSBC UK – worked with UKEF to arrange a £1m finance package backed by a General Export Facility (GEF) – a guarantee designed by UKEF to enable SMEs to export. This support has enabled Promatic to purchase materials in larger quantities,

allowing the business to fulfil orders across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. This export growth supports 58 staff at Promatic’s headquarters and a network of Wirralbased suppliers who provide steel processing, coating and packaging services. Gary added: “The support from UKEF and HSBC UK has been transformative for our business. Thanks to GEF, we were able to access the working capital to take on bigger international projects and meet growing demand from clients and sporting venues worldwide. “It's also helped secure long-term jobs. We have an established local supply chain, and as we grow, they grow, and this helps the wider area in terms of the engineering excellence that it brings to the region, with the hope of further investments and opportunities for the Wirral and Cheshire area. “We want to sustain our position as the market leader within the trap equipment market, but through our other business, Electronica Progetti, we also want to be the market leader within integrated technical solutions, for both established and new shooting grounds.

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

“We of course want to continue and grow our relationships with the governing bodies of the sport, and strengthen our hold as the world leading manufacturer, but we also want to be the provider that people go to for integrated ground technology solutions.” Shooting for the stars As Promatic looks to the future, it’s clear the company’s ambitions extend well beyond manufacturing world-class clay target launchers. While the business has built its reputation on engineering quality, reliability and British manufacturing, it is increasingly positioning itself as a technology partner capable of delivering complete, integrated solutions for shooting grounds around the world, becoming a one-stop-shop for the sport. From wireless release systems and digital scoring technology to video review systems designed to improve fairness in elite competition, Promatic is investing in technologies that enhance every aspect of the shooting experience. Combined with its acquisition of Electronica Progetti and partnerships with businesses such as

Travision, the company is assembling a portfolio that few competitors can match. The business also remains firmly rooted in its Wirral headquarters, where skilled manufacturing and a strong local supply chain continue to underpin its global success. As export demand grows across established and emerging markets alike, that commitment to UK manufacturing is creating jobs and supporting a wider engineering ecosystem in the region. The company's long-term objective of becoming the official technology provider to the Olympic Games is undoubtedly ambitious, but its growing international presence, expanding product portfolio and close relationships with the sport's governing bodies suggest it is well placed to achieve it. In a niche industry where precision, reliability and trust are everything, Promatic has demonstrated that British engineering can continue to set the global standard. l

BELOW: Promatic machines deliver precision and performance on the world stage

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A global leader in a niche market: Promatic has evolved from a specialist UK manufacturer into the world's leading producer of clay target launchers, supplying major international competitions and exporting to 41 countries • Innovation drives competitive advantage: The company has expanded beyond trap manufacturing with technologies such as Claymate wireless release systems, digital scoring, and the ClayTracer video review system, positioning itself as a complete technology provider •B ritish manufacturing remains central: As the UK's only manufacturer of clay target launchers, Promatic continues to design, engineer and manufacture its products entirely in-house from its Wirral headquarters, supporting local jobs and supply chains •G rowth through strategic investment: The acquisition of Electronica Progetti and support from a £1m UK Export Financebacked facility have strengthened Promatic's ability to deliver integrated shooting ground solutions while accelerating international expansion • Ambitions underpin future strategy: With a growing presence across major international shooting events, strong partnerships with the ISSF and an expanding portfolio of integrated technologies, Promatic is strengthening its position as a leading technology provider to international federations and governing bodies in the shooting community

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

ENGINEERING BETTER OUTCOMES

TURNING IDEAS INTO REALITY 66

ABOVE: Can openers made from BEC Group’s tooling

Founded as a press tooling business, BEC Group has evolved into a trusted tooling and plastic injection moulding company and engineering partner. The Manufacturer finds out how technical expertise, customer collaboration and sustainable materials are shaping the future of the business

orty-eight years ago, Geoff Elvy founded BEC Group with two partners. Today, only he remains, having led the company to its current New Milton site in 1988. Originally established as a press tooling business, the company operated in a very different era during its early years. "CAD didn't exist back then – everything was done on paper and

drawing boards. My aim was to find people who needed us for project work," Geoff explained. One of the company's first major projects was supporting the development of some of the earliest debit and credit card payment terminals, alongside telecommunications equipment for companies including Vodafone.

Manufacturing projects Over the years, the business has evolved from a tooling and mould design specialist into a diverse, projectbased manufacturer. "We've worked with customers across a wide range of sectors including aerospace, agriculture, medical and industrial. Through that experience, we've developed the ability to deliver tooling quickly – from receiving

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

a customer's CAD files through to design and producing the first parts," Geoff explained. “However, an initial CAD design is not always suitable for a mould tool in its current form,” said Mike Tharme, Engineering Director at BEC Group. “My role is then to produce a DFM, design for manufacture, where I work with the customer's design team to work out if the parts can actually be made.” From there, any changes are sent to the CAD designer to see if they are possible. This will go back and forth until they reach a final version which can be manufactured. “We've invested in the latest CAD and CAM software for decades, but no matter how advanced it becomes, we still need human expertise. The software can automate parts of the process, but the people element remains essential,” explained Mike. Each project can come with its own set of challenges. “Typically, there will be design constraints for a mould tool that have to be followed. An example could be a flip phone which has to open and close. These challenges will be tackled in the design stage,” Mike added. Sustainable sources In recent years, BEC Group has found more customers requiring the use of sustainable materials. “They often ask for recyclable or compostable materials. It’s our job to find out if sustainable materials are the right fit for the customer. A few years ago, it was often the case that these sorts of materials were simply not fit for purpose, but now, there are far better formulations on the market,” added Mike. One example of BEC Group's approach to sustainable engineering is its work on a solar tile system designed for large industrial vessels, including bulk carriers. Its customer, MarineSolar Energy Solutions, needed these tiles to be engineered to withstand harsh operating conditions, allowing personnel to walk on them, while also enduring repeated heavy impacts, such as cargo being loaded onto the deck. “Sustainability is a key driver in this project. We are currently exploring the use of recycled engineering materials, including recycled fishing nets, which will make for a truly circular story,” said Paul Holland, BEC's Technical Director. In recent weeks the business has been exploring options to produce specific parts of the

full array in suitable recycled materials, that can achieve the performance required and form part of the circular economy. For the customer, the project had to be designed with the circular economy in mind. “The tiles have an expected service life of around 20 years, and they can be removed and repurposed for other applications, rather than being sent to landfill,” explained Paul. The company is also investigating ways to improve the recyclability of the solar elements themselves, recognising that conventional silicon wafers remain one of the biggest sustainability challenges. Longer-term, research is focused on developing more recyclable alternatives, including graphene-based solar technology. Alongside sustainability, safety and performance remain critical. “For this project, the material also needed to be self-extinguishing and suitable for demanding industrial environments,” Paul added. Throughout the project, BEC Group worked closely with its customer to understand the application's requirements, source the appropriate engineering materials, carry out testing and provide sample swatches before tooling was completed. This ensured correct materials were selected early, helping to reduce lead times between tooling and production. Forward thinking Looking ahead, BEC Group’s future will continue to be customer and project focused. The materials and manufacturing methods used for each tool are dictated by the customer's application. “Some projects are extremely technical and require engineered plastics, so recycled materials can't be used. On other projects, customers are much more focused on the sustainability of their product, so we're driven by those requirements. Ultimately, it's all chosen by the customer." Although the fundamental principles of toolmaking have remained largely unchanged, Mike added that advances in machining technology have significantly improved efficiency over the years. "The process itself has not evolved all that much because fundamentally, there is still a set series of rules for making a mould tool," he said.

We've worked with customers across a wide range of sectors, including aerospace, agriculture, medical and industrial. Through that experience, we've developed the ability to deliver tooling quickly – from receiving a customer's CAD files through to design and producing the first parts Geoff Elvy, Founder, BEC Group

SME FOCUS - INNOVATION & DESIGN

CUSTOMER STORY

MarineSolar Energy Solutions While visiting BEC Group, The Manufacturer spoke with customer, Chris Russell, Chief Technology Officer at MarineSolar Energy Solutions. The company is developing a pioneering solar power system for large vessels, which is purpose-built for the marine environment and designed to provide renewable energy directly to a ship’s load.

ABOVE: A tool manufactured by BEC Group BELOW: Examples of final filter products produced by BEC Group’s tooling When Mike first joined BEC Group, the business used basic high-speed steel cutters. Today, carbide tooling has become more affordable and the development work by cutter manufacturers means the tools last longer, cut faster and achieve tighter tolerances. “All of that helps compress overall production time, which ultimately reduces tooling costs for everyone,” he said.

We've invested in the latest CAD and CAM software for decades, but no matter how advanced it becomes, we still need human expertise Mike Tharme, Engineering Director, BEC Group

How did your partnership with BEC Group begin? CR: We’re a UK-based start-up so wanted to work with a UK-based company on this project. From BEC Group’s history, we recognised they had the right experience. As a business we used a purchase expert who used their expertise to source BEC Group. Ultimately, they were the right choice because of their speed to market and the assistance they can provide in developing the tooling. What challenge were you trying to solve and how did BEC Group support you throughout the project? One of the biggest challenges we had with our product was with the clamping components on the tiles. Initially we had chosen an aluminium material however, this was proving prohibitive due to the complexities of the design. As such, we then transitioned to plastic. In addition, we also required the product to withstand a marine environment and be recyclable. BEC Group were able to advise us on the materials, create the tooling and help us trial the products. This solved our problem and made our product both lighter and cheaper.

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The tooling we developed with BEC Group was production quality, even though some of the moulds had a limited number of cavities

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Chris Russell, CTO, MarineSolar Energy Solutions What progress has the project made towards full-scale deployment and what milestones are still to come? The tooling we developed with BEC Group was production quality, even though some of the moulds had a limited number of cavities. To date, we've produced almost 16 mould tools, enabling us to move into the first stage of commercialisation. The product is expected to launch to the market early next year. What are the key advantages of working with BEC Group? The knowledge and experience that BEC Group has, alongside the flexibility they have been able to provide has been great. They have delivered everything we have asked for and we've never had a tool that wasn't right first time. The components have all fitted together and performed as intended. We've made extensive use of 3D modelling and rapid prototyping throughout the development process, but it was BEC Group's tooling quality, precision and tolerancing that attracted us to them. Their ability to manufacture both the tooling and the components on the same site has also made a significant difference. How are customer expectations around sustainability and recyclability changing how the business operates? Customer expectations are critical for us. Our product is designed to help reduce global carbon emissions through the use

of solar technology, but we also want to ensure we're not, in turn, creating components that can't be recycled or contribute to the circular economy. Our entire design is based on materials that can be reground and remanufactured into the same components, with little or no loss of strength or performance. Because the plastics are highly resistant to corrosion in saline environments, the products also have a long service life and can be repurposed for use on land or even on other vessels. What's next for this project and what does the next 12–18 months look like for your work with BEC Group? Over the next 12-18 months, MarineSolar Energy Solutions will be moving towards full-scale production. Alongside this, we're continuing to develop larger products for new markets. Advances in technology, mounting systems and product design now allows us to create more complex shapes than ever before. Our partnership with BEC Group gives us confidence that the tooling will be delivered on time whenever we need it. Because of the nature of our product, rapid prototypes aren't sufficient, as they don't accurately replicate the appearance, strength or performance of the final product. Our customers expect us to demonstrate that the product performs exactly as we claim, so every prototype has to be fully functional, not just visually representative.

• Serving multiple markets: BEC Group has evolved from a traditional tooling and mould design business into a projectled manufacturer serving sectors including aerospace, medical, agriculture and industrial manufacturing • Combining tech and talent: Decades of investment in CAD/ CAM technology have accelerated design and production, but engineering expertise remains essential to turn concepts into manufacturable products • Reduce, reuse, recycle: Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important customer requirement, with BEC Group helping manufacturers assess and integrate recyclable and compostable materials where technically viable • Keeping the customer close: Collaboration with customers from concept through to material selection and testing enables BEC Group to optimise manufacturability, reduce lead times and deliver robust engineering solutions • Increased speed and efficiency: Advances in cutting tool technology have significantly improved machining speed, precision and efficiency, helping reduce production times and tooling costs without compromising quality

SME FOCUS - SUSTAINABILITY

NORTHERN SOLE! A circularity ethos and hand-made heritage are at the core of Lancashire-based shoe manufacturer LANX. The Manufacturer Editorial team headed north to find out more about what makes this British success story tick

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ituated just outside Clitheroe in Lancashire, LANX has been manufacturing its various ranges of footwear for just shy of a decade and is the brainchild of Founder, Marco ‘Marv’ Vaghetti. A 2016 road trip around Asia saw Marv pay a visit to ten different countries where he absorbed as much as he could about highly-skilled, traditional, hand-made shoe manufacturing. He identified a niche in the market to bring something new to consumers, and so, two years later, LANX went live, offering a small collection of men's footwear – the original identified target market. But LANX’s story is one of gradual growth. Rather than moving directly into a factory environment, the company’s early years were spent promoting and selling the first ranges on Lancashire market stalls. These humble beginnings enabled the business to get up close and personal to its key customer base. “Those early days were the perfect playground to understand what consumers actually wanted,” commented Matt Yates, Product Director at LANX. This has helped shape the company into a £10m+ business today, and one that is not afraid to challenge the norm and take risks. Today, the range includes Chelsea boots, boat shoes, trainers and sneakers – sold to a 50-50% male/female clientele - as well as accessories such as bags, belts and wallets. Repair, reuse, recycle Not only that but circularity is at the heart of the LANX ethos, and the company also offers an in-house repair and trade-in service, RE-

LEFT: Distinctive branding has made LANX stand out in a competitive environment

SME FOCUS - SUSTAINABILITY

LANX. Based at its Whalley factory, all LANX footwear can be restored using the same materials, machinery and expertise used to make the original product. Not only that but feedback from the repairs team helps improve future designs. “RE-LANX is an opportunity to give boots a new lease of life,” Matt added. “We can either perform a repair for the original owner, or we have a trading system where customers can send worn footwear to us in exchange for credit. We can then use like for like components to bring that pair of shoes or boots back to life, and then sell them onto the market for a considered price. That footwear will then go to a new, loving home.” LANX is also working towards zero landfill by taking back worn products, disassembling them where possible and partnering with recycling specialists to keep materials in use for longer. In addition, the company take a considered approach to how it sources and uses the key component in the manufacture of all its products – leather. To ensure durability and longevity, LANX footwear typically uses 1.6–1.8mm thick leathers, well above the industry standard of 1–1.4mm. Matt added: “This method may be more expensive, but it simply results in a better end product. We just know that the more attention that we can give to these characterful leathers, the more our customers will wear them, and to us, that is more sustainable in the long run. And it plays into our ‘Get em’ worn’ ethos.” LANX only use LWG (Leather Working Group)-rated tanneries, ensuring full transparency through material biographies and verified standards around restricted substances. Many of the leathers used by LANX are designed to age, patina and develop character over time. This is something the business consciously leans into, including areas of the hide that other manufacturers might discard, such as those with vein marks, oil variation and natural surface character. Matt added: “With leather being the main material in our shoes, we've taken a lot of time to carefully source the hides we use and the different tanneries we work with. We have to do a lot of forward planning while also making sure we’re ordering enough leather in good sizes so that we

can achieve good colour consistency. “For example, we recently looked at moving from a shoulder leather - which has done really well for us in the past - to a side leather, because it gives a better appearance. Although it's more expensive, it enables us to cut down on waste. Financially it might cost a little more, but it’s more sustainable.” Increased data has also enabled LANX to make much more informed decisions, based around its customer profiles. For example, the business has just undergone a full revamp of its Craftsmen range, taking all the leathers that have performed well in other ranges, and bringing them together into the Craftsmen collection. “We also know that customers, on average, buy 1.4 pairs of shoes from us each year and one of our goals is focussed on increasing that. We will therefore set up a seasonal wardrobe for our customers,” Matt added. “For example, if we know that our Garstang Chelsea Boot is a high first time purchase, we know that a second time purchase shoe might be one of our sneakers, so our merchandising is driven by data around what is a common first time/second purchase etc. Having that visibility helps us to determine if we’re on the right path.” Sustainability and locality is also key to the future direction of the business as most of the cardboard used in LANX’s packaging is made locally at Cardboard Box Co. while the business is also moving away from plastic handles on its boxes entirely, replacing them with a cotton lace for in-store orders by the end of this year. For online orders, boxes will be sent without handles entirely in order to reduce waste. Foam dividers inside the shoeboxes are also being phased out in favour of other recyclable materials by 2027. The close work with the local community is part of the reason why LANX has taken a conscious decision not to rely on carbon offsetting - instead, focussing on reducing impact from the beginning of the manufacturing journey. “I'm sure carbon offsetting is valid for some other businesses, but for us, that's not a big driver,” added Matt. “We're much more focused on extending the life of our products, and designing them so that they can be repaired in-house.”

Running a factory in Lancashire is not an easy thing to do, but it's something that is important to us Matt Yates, Product Director, LANX

SME FOCUS - SUSTAINABILITY LEFT: Key to the design of LANX’s products is a rough and rugged look, playing into the company’s ‘Get em’ worn’ ethos

UK heritage Although the majority of LANX’s purchases are made online, the company is also staying true to its roots and wants to maintain the philosophy of its beginnings. As such the company is still selling at in person events and county shows, and has recently attended the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh, taking the opportunity to keep in touch with customers and raise brand awareness. Footwear manufactured at LANX’s Whalley factory is predominantly cementlasted (or cemented) construction, a method where the upper is bonded directly to the outsole using adhesive, creating lightweight, flexible, durable footwear efficiently. Though they are generally difficult to resole, the evolution of technology is making this far more practical for LANX today. That being said, the business also offers Goodyear welted footwear across its partnership network; a premium shoe construction method where a strip of leather or rubber (the welt) is stitched to the upper, lining and a canvas rib on the insole. The outsole is then stitched directly to the welt, creating a durable, waterresistant shoe that can be easily resoled – something that LANX haven’t had to worry about just yet, as the business only launched in 2018 (with the life on its premium products being somewhat longer than that). “Historically, Goodyear welted has always been easier to re-sole,” Matt continued. “However, more research

We've taken a lot of time to carefully source the hides we use and the tanneries we work with Matt Yates, Product Director, LANX

BELOW: All LANX footwear can be restored using the same materials, machinery and expertise used to make the original product

has been done in recent years to find better binding agents, where at a certain temperature, the glue can reactivate. This makes it easier to replace worn soles with new ones. And that’s something we’re doing across the business now, including on our entry level products.” The British made heritage, and the company’s Lancashire roots, are something that is certainly a key part of the LANX DNA. All of the company’s accessories and the majority of the footwear collections are made in the UK, which helps maintain a close connection to the local community, and a commitment to the highest level of quality control. That’s not say that the company is closed off to assistance from elsewhere, as Matt continued: “We have overseas factories in places like Portugal and India which are very important to us. We opt to work with overseas partners for our entry level products and where we perhaps lack specific skills in the UK. For example, if we are manufacturing a waterproof boot, there are suppliers abroad who are much more geared up for this construction. This ensures the products are the very best they can be. "Since the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we've recognised the importance of building a resilient and flexible supply chain. While we're proud to manufacture footwear in Lancashire, we also work with a carefully selected network of manufacturing partners and suppliers in both the UK and overseas for footwear, leather and components. "This diversified approach helps us maintain a consistent supply of materials and finished products throughout the year. If one supplier, or even an entire region is affected by unforeseen disruption, we're able to adapt quickly by sourcing from alternative partners. "For us, supply chain resilience isn't just about maintaining production; it's about protecting the long-term sustainability of the business. It enables us to continue serving our customers, provide stability for our workforce and support the skilled jobs that are central to the future of British footwear manufacturing."

SME FOCUS - SUSTAINABILITY

We have a small factory, but ambitious ideas Matt Yates, Product Director, LANX LEFT: All of the company’s accessories and the majority of the footwear collections are made in the UK

KEY TAKEAWAYS • Customer insight fuelled growth: LANX's early years selling on Lancashire market stalls gave the business invaluable customer feedback, helping it evolve from a start-up into a £10m footwear brand with a loyal, diverse customer base • Circularity is built into the business model: Through its RE-LANX repair and trade-in service, the company is able to extend the life of its products • Quality and sustainability go hand in hand: LANX prioritises thicker, premium-quality leather, LWGcertified tanneries and thoughtful material sourcing

Looking ahead LANX is aiming to continue the trajectory of growth that it has established over the past eight years. Plans are in place to build on the strong core range and to grow its manufacturing capabilities in the North West. “We've got quite a small factory at the moment, but ambitious ideas,” added Matt. “Running a factory in Lancashire is not an easy thing to do, but it's something that is important to us. “We’ve been in existence for less than ten years, so in terms of where we're trading versus our competitors who have been in business a long time, it can be quite daunting that we're now positioned

alongside them. We differ because our footwear has a more rough and rugged look which plays into our ‘Get ‘em worn’ ethos.” From market stalls to a thriving £10m business, LANX has built its success by combining British craftsmanship with a commitment to durability, repairability and thoughtful design. There is often a misnomer in manufacturing that investment and focus around sustainability and circularity will ultimately mean trade-offs in other parts of the business, however, this Lancashire brand is proving sustainable growth and quality can go hand-in-hand. l

• British manufacturing remains central to the brand: While specialist overseas partners support certain technical and entry-level products, the majority of LANX's collections are made in the UK • Data and innovation are driving future growth: By combining customer purchasing data with traditional craftsmanship, LANX is refining its product ranges, improving merchandising and expanding manufacturing capabilities

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24 September 2026 The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham

The Manufacturer Q3 2026