This interactive session led by InterAct, a Made Smarter Innovation network, will launch and showcase three practical toolkits designed to accelerate digital transformation in manufacturing SMEs in the Midlands:
- Future of Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem (FoDME) Toolkit – a digital resource that helps SMEs and their wider ecosystem to co-create a 2040 vision for digitally enabled, resource-efficient business models aligned with 2050 Net Zero, using back-casting methodology.
- Accessible Industrial Digital Technology (IDT) Demonstrators Toolkit – a pop-up model and protocol for demonstrating accessible (>£20k) IDTs and how to host them in different spaces across the UK.
- Manufacturing SME (MSME) Capabilities & Maturity Toolkit – a practical tool to understand and assess the managerial and operational capabilities needed to implement IDTs across stages from initiation through implementation to post-implementation.
The event will combine short presentations, case-study insights from MSMEs, and display stations where participants can explore:
- How to run FoDME workshops to map future business models and transition pathways.
- How to design and host accessible IDT pop-up demonstrators.
- How to diagnose and build the capabilities required for successful IDT adoption.
Attendees will leave with ready-to-use tools, examples, and templates to support digital adoption projects, plus opportunities to network with manufacturers, advisors, intermediaries and policy stakeholders looking to collaborate on future demonstrators, SME workshops, and pilots.
Networking time at the end will enable matching between SMEs, advisors (such as Made Smarter Adoption (MSA), Growth Hub, Midlands Chambers and Make UK) and researchers interested in co-developing further case studies, pop-up demonstrators and impact projects.
