A programme designed to grow UK manufacturing through digital technologies, innovation, and skills has been expanded to include micro manufacturers.
The East Midlands Made Smarter programme had previously only been open to SME manufacturers employing between 10 and 249 people.
The regional offer – which has grant funding support – launched a year ago and covers Leicestershire, Greater Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
And it is now accepting expressions of interest from micro-sized manufacturers through the national Made Smarter Website.
It means Made Smarter East Midlands now offers the following support to regional manufacturers with nine or fewer staff.
- Digital Road Mapping – A lighter touch road map is available to Micro businesses, which will set out a Digital Implementation Plan.
- Access to 10 hours of fully funded Industrial Digital Technology Advice (IDTA)
- Grant funding to support CAPEX and revenue projects.
Programme Director Dr Chris Owen said:
“We are absolutely delighted we can now expand the scope of the East Midlands Made Smarter programme to thousands of micro SME Manufacturers across the region. Since we opened our doors for business in December 2022, we have had a healthy interest from micro-sized manufacturers who are eager for support to adopt industrial digital technology but we have been unable to help them.
“We’ll be reaching out to all those micro manufacturers who have already registered an expression of interest in Made Smarter East Midlands, and opening our doors to new expressions of interest from other micro manufacturers across the region.
“We have created a pathway of support specifically designed for micro manufacturers, which is quicker and lighter touch than the core programme, but still gives companies access to packages of free and impartial technical advice and grant funding of up to £20,000 to help them adopt industrial digital technology.”
Made Smarter East Midlands has engaged with more than 150 manufacturing businesses since launch.
It works with manufacturers to provide grant funding, free and impartial technical advice, digital transformation road mapping, and leadership development.
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