Talking Industry Live delivers successful interactive learning experience

04 May, 2023

This unique one-day event was broken down in to five distinctive elements allowing visitors to tailor their own experience learning new skills, meet new suppliers and gain knowledge whilst networking with peers.

The inaugural Talking Industry LIVE keynote address set the tone for the event with an interactive, engaging and informal podcast style discussion by Mike Hague-Morgan, Executive Director of Autocraft Solutions Group, and Dr Megan Ronayne, Head of Industrial Technologies & Manufacturing at Innovate UK KTN.

Together they explored how one of Europe’s leading OEM partners for the manufacture, remanufacture and assembly of IC engines and EV batteries transitioned from being a very traditional manufacturer using hand tools and a paper system, to a high-technology company with world-class quality, repeatability and digital traceability which has been the catalyst for such rapid growth from £7m to £70m turnover.

Following this highly unique keynote, the day’s proceedings featured three 45-minute interactive panel discussion spread throughout the day. Topics included, Robotics and Automation, Increasing Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and Digital Manufacturing, Industrial Data and Artificial Intelligence.

The first panel discussion looked at Robotics and Automation and how these technologies will form a critical part of the future of UK Manufacturing. Panelists Mike Wilson, Chief Engineer, Automation, High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult and Chief Automation Officer, Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC); David Dearden, Managing Director, Euchner UK; and Alan Sheppard, Managing Director, LCA Group, discussed how key challenges such as labour shortages, and supply chains weaknesses could be addressed, in part, by faster adoption of robotics and automation, and how we could accelerate this adoption and develop a competitive UK manufacturing sector.

Increasing OEE through Digital Manufacturing was the focus of the second panel discussion where Sam Kirby, Industrial IT Specialist, Novotek, Steve Cartwright, Chief Engineer for Technology – Digital Engineering, MTC, Duncan Stanton, Lamonde Managing Director, Lamonde Automation, and Luke Walsh, Managing Director, Brainboxes, looked at how OEE can be easily improved through straightforward measures. The panel also looked at hidden downtime, that mounts up and causes cycle times to drift, and how to interpret and visualise existing data and unlock new data.

The final panel discussion focused on Industrial Data and Artificial intelligence. Eric Topham, CEO & Data Science Director, T-Dab, Mostafizur Rahman, Technical Specialist, AI & Data Science Informatics, MTC, and Stuart McLeod, Technology Manager, Digital Engineering, MTC discussed why AI and machine learning offer opportunities for increasing business performance, agility, and growth, focusing on what is the current state of artificial intelligence in manufacturing, the challenges and barriers to adoption as well as what opportunities are offered for manufacturing.