Plant & Works Engineering Magazine October/November 2024

News 08 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk October/November 2024 The Government recently published its Green Paper on Industrial Strategy which is a major part of its plans to boost the growth potential of the economy over the long term. Make UK has long campaigned for a long-term industrial strategy and its to be hoped that the publication of the paper will herald the start of a cross Government on critical areas. The paper was in three parts. Firstly, it covered a sectoral approach focusing on professional services, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean energy and transport and the creative industries. Secondly it covered Places with the intention of driving growth and investment across all areas of the UK. Third, it covered cross cutting initiatives in policy areas such as skills, energy, infrastructure, innovation and digital adoption. The introduction of an industrial strategy also has the potential to bring other benefits. According to a major annual survey on the investment landscape for UK manufacturing published at the same time by Make UK almost three quarters of companies (70%) would accelerate the re-shoring of production back to the UK in response to an industrial strategy, with just 3% saying it would make no difference to their location of production. Furthermore, half of companies would increase investment in existing facilities in the UK, while almost a third (30%) would increase automation and increase exports to the EU (29%). Just 1% of companies said the introduction of an industrial strategy would have no impact on their business at all. At a time when global supply chains are changing to a just in case scenario rather than just in case, such a shift in production has the potential to massively increase the self-sufficiency and resilience of production in the UK. Manufacturers are poised at the starting blocks for the Government to unleash the benefits to investment that firing the starting gun on a long-awaited industrial strategy will bring. It’s clear that this will bring a wide range of benefits and aid companies who are accelerating their moves into greater use of automation and digital technologies, with the increased recruitment of higher-level skills. Given the US, Europe and China are moving at pace with plans to boost investment in green technologies in particular, the UK needs to match these efforts step for step. The publication of the Green Paper on Industrial Strategy is a welcome first start. By MAKE UK chief executive, Stephen Phipson MAKE uk - the manufacturers’ organisation monthly news comment BARA (the British Automation and Robotics Association) has named FANUC UK’s Head of Sales, Oliver Selby, as its new Chair. Taking over from current Chair George Thompson, Selby will be supported in his new role by Vice-Chair Rosie Davies from Reeco Automation. Part of Automate UK, BARA’s remit is to promote and support the development and adoption of industrial robots and automation in the UK, providing a voice to government, industry and academia. With more than 20 years’ experience, Selby is a longstanding and vocal supporter of the UK automation sector, and of manufacturing more widely. In his role as Chair, he plans to drive the association’s activities forward, supporting BARA’s aim to increase automation uptake while placing members’ needs firmly front and centre. Peter Williamson, CEO of Automate UK, commented: “Oliver is an influential voice within the industry, his passion for all things manufacturing, automation adoption and future skills, will be a key factor in developing BARA alongside the existing committee, and with the full support of Automate UK.” One of Selby’s key pledges is to ensure the association delivers real value to its members: “I am excited to bring my knowledge, influence and passion for automation to a wider audience, and will be fully focused on delivering value to all facets of the BARA membership and other stakeholders – from OEM robot manufacturers and system integrators to companies in the supply chain, academic institutions and High Value Manufacturing Catapults. “It has been widely reported that, despite our status as a leading manufacturing nation, the UK is still lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to automation adoption. Communicating the myriad benefits that automation can bring, including through events such as Automation UK (7-8 May 2025, CBS Arena, Coventry) is key to increasing uptake. It is essential that we highlight how automation can alleviate manufacturers’ key challenges by helping to mitigate labour shortages, increase productivity, boost sustainability credentials, and cut operational costs.” Selby added: “However, it is also important to understand the challenges that manufacturers – particular SMEs – are facing. At BARA, we will strive to offer the right tools to manufacturers of all sizes, to ensure they can make the right automation choice for their business, with the right partners, and with the right technology, to futureproof their manufacturing operations as risk-free as possible. New BARA Chair announced

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