Made Smarter grants for digitalisation in Yorkshire and Humber

Businesses across Yorkshire and Humber are set to benefit from £1.5m funding towards industrial digitalisation, for the Made Smarter programme.

The programme is designed to improve digital adoption amongst SMEs in the region and includes intensive one-to-one advice and support delivered through Growth Hubs in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, York and North Yorkshire.

Through the programme the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority expects to be able to fund and support around 500 manufacturers, plus providing digital road mapping sessions and further intensive support to several other businesses. 

This includes giving them access to expert advice and funding to invest in technology. The programme also aims to create 20 digital internships and 50 places on leadership development programmes. 

Made Smarter is a national movement backed by world-renowned businesses and the UK government to improve the development and adoption of emerging technologies in manufacturing.

South Yorkshire Mayor Dan Jarvis commented: “The Made Smarter programme will help regional manufacturers to embrace digital adoption, with a view to increasing efficiency and productivity as part of gaining a competitive advantage, growing and enhancing their long-term future.

“The programme is designed to support SMEs to use digital processes across all their methods of manufacture, providing more efficiency and better management information to enable them to continually improve and fine tune their processes.”

“There will be digital experts in all of the Yorkshire and Humber Growth Hubs who will assess each businesses requirements and provide specialist support.”

An independent review stated that over a 10-year period, industrial digitalisation could boost UK manufacturing by £455 billion; boost productivity by up to 30%; and create a net gain of 175,000 jobs whilst reducing CO2 emissions by 4.5%.

James Muir, chair of the South Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership said: “Digitalisation is about integrating digital tools into existing design and manufacturing processes and equipment and within supply chains to make a much quicker, more effective and seamless system.

“It will involve introducing digital systems to SMEs to enable them to adopt new technologies, whether that be for process control, automation, robotics, augmented or virtual reality tools. We will then help SMEs to develop an action plan for adopting digital technology in their own business. Digitalisation is essential to help SMEs in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector to become more efficient and productive to enable them to compete in the long term on a global basis.”

Made Smarter

www.madesmarter.uk