The Manufacturer Podcast

Hi listener,  This podcast comes a full week after our editorial team's trip back from Liverpool, following an epic Digital Manufacturing Week - they still haven't fully recovered.  We have snippets from a wonderful night at The Manufacturer MX Awards, where bottle manufacturers Encirc were crowned the 2022 winners of the Sustainable Manufacturing category. Hear what category judge Aliso...

Alright listener? In the final episode of our series on Leadership, we hear some of the leaders of industry that will be appearing as keynote speakers at this year's Manufacturing Leaders' Summit and SME Growth Summit at Digital Manufacturing Week in Liverpool. Get a sneak preview of the discussion at these events, with insights from MLS speakers Natalie Watson, Group Head of Sustainability at Vit...

Hola listener.  In this episode of The Manufacturer Podcast, John Mills from the John Mills Institute of Prosperity chats with our editor Joe about last months pound plummet. Find out why a low pound isn't necessarily a bad thing for Britain's manufacturers.  And find out how our Multimedia Editor Tom fared as he swapped the pound for the dollar while out in Miami covering IFS Unleashed....

Hello listener - welcome to series 4, episode 4 In this episode, we welcome our podcast sponsor Accenture. With Neil McTiffin , Industry and Transformation Lead Industry X – Accenture Managing Director, and Sarah Dana, Head of Information Software North Europe and META at Rockwell Automation, discuss what leadership looks like within the context of Industry X. You may remember from our previous se...

Watcha listener!  In episode three of our Leadership Series, we speak to Brompton Bicycle CEO, Will Butler-Adams. He speaks of his time as a leader, the passion that he and the business share for making city living and travel more sustainable and the shake-up needed to promote the "unbelievably cool" careers in manufacturing. Much of this is mentioned in his recent book - The Brompton: Engine...

In this episode of The Manufacturer Podcast - A panel discussion of leaders, a European site visit and a new category at our TMMX Awards.  The John Mills Institute for Prosperity hosted a panel discussion to propose solutions to some of the issues within UK manufacturing. We travelled up to Sewtec Automation, which is a global automation specialist based up in Wakefield as the panel discussed...

Our Leadership Series kicks off with two excellent interviews. Firstly, we have an exclusive with John Pearce, CEO of Made in Britain, who celebrated their 10th birthday this year. John has been at the helm for the last 7 years, and discusses what has changed in this time as well as what he believes the next 10 years could hold.  We also have an interview with Juergen Maier that we did at MAC...

Hi listener - we finally have the final episode of series 3 for you. Through record breaking temperatures we hid in our homes, turned the fans on full blast and sat in ice baths to bring you episode 6 of our Technology Series.  This episode features a fascinating factory visit to BotsAndUs; manufacturers of autonomous robots that are used to capture data in real time across warehouses and fac...

Hi there listener - we have another special episode for you to mark National Manufacturing Day 2022. Today, as part of a UK-wide Open House, and to celebrate NMD, manufacturers are opening the doors to their factories and sites and inviting people in for a behind-the-scenes look at how their facilities work. Make UK are heading this up in partnership with a host of UK manufacturers, in a bid to sh...

Hi there listener, after a few weeks break we're back to bring you a special podcast episode for International Women in Engineering Day. We've got three excellent interviews from women who share some of their experiences, and give us an insight in to what they believe needs to happen to level the playing field on gender within the sector. You'll also hear what these various businesses and individu...

Hey there listener! The Manufacturer Podcast returns with episode five of our series on Technology.  We welcome our podcast sponsors Accenture on to talk about the latest manufacturing technology, and how it’s being applied in the manufacturing world. Dan Farrell at Accenture, along with Severine Trouillet from Dassault Systèmes discuss how this new and exciting tech can enable sustainable gr...

Hey there listener. In episode 4 of our Technology Series we feature interviews from two first class UK manufacturers, who have excelled in the digital space. Origin and Gripple, TMMX Award Winners from last year, tells us how they've achieved sensible and value added technology adoption and why it's been so important to the way they drive their manufacturing operations. Also, The Manufacturer Mag...

Hi there, listener. This week's episode looks at the opportunities and misconceptions of cloud based manufacturing programmes. In the case of Britishvolt, the company responsible for the UK's first Gigafactory, the Infor CloudSuite Automotive programme was selected earlier in the year to run operations at the plant. Andrew Kinder at Infor explains why such a programme is suited to managing the £3....

Good day to you listener, we have the second episode of our Technology Series recorded and ready for you to listen to. Sit back and ponder, as we bring you a handful of interviews recorded at this years Industrial Data Summit, which took place on Thursday 28th April at Villa Park in Birmingham.  We hear from four keynote speakers from the event - Harry Minns, Systems and Data Controller at Wi...

Welcome back listener, in today's episode of The Manufacturer Podcast we reflect on meticulous engineering, cutting edge technology and terrifying simulator experiences all picked up from our recent factory visit to Leonardo Helicopters down in Yeovil.  We also invite Kurt Dressel from Liferay to speak to us about how manufacturers can best harness the powers of technology and the trends that...

Hi there listener - it's the last episode in our Skills & People series! We're brining this episode to you from the Birmingham NEC, where we attended the MACH Exhibition 2022.  We've got an interview from Professor Ken Young at The Manufacturing Technology Centre. (MTC) He discusses the problem of getting younger people engaged with engineering and manufacturing.  Dr Gillian Murray f...

Welcome back, listener. In this episode - we have Engineering Technician Degree Apprentice at BMW UK Manufacturing, Joshua Simpson. JJ, as he's known, now in his third year, chats to us about his experiences so far, and how he's excelled in his role by being encouraged and well nurtured at BMW, but also by being pro-active and eager for responsibility.  Floriane Fidegnon from Policy Connect b...

Hello listener, in this episode of our skills and people series we take two trips to two UK manufacturing factories. Find out why the people culture is so ingrained at Sheffield based manufacturer, Gripple, as we speak with Katrina Richie, People and Culture Director and Marcie Rowbotham, Head of Learning and Development.  We also pay a visit to Origin in High Wycombe, a family run company th...

Hey there listener, today on The Manufacturer Podcast we start with a word from Jack Thomas, technical specialist on PrintCity Network Projec t on the practice of reverse mentoring. This method partners senior executives with junior staff or new graduates in a mentoring relationship which encourages the introduction of fresh perspectives, new skills and innovation into the engineering and manufact...

Hey listener! This episode was recorded on International Women's Day and features some wonderful examples of women in manufacturing.  Although the sector is often criticised for it's lack of diversity, we shine a light on those who are changing perceptions and leaving their mark. Hear from The Manufacturer's MD Grace Gilling, who shares her insights in to what has changed during her 10 year p...

Hi listener - we're back with a new series! We'll be turning to our attention to skills and people, and we can't wait to see what will come of this wide ranging and multi-faceted topic series. After a hugely fun and successful series on sustainability, the skills and people series will explore the much talk about skills gap, the need for diversity within the sector, the encouragement of younger pe...

Crikey - we've reached the end of our sustainability series! We take a look back over some of the people we've met, issues we've discussed and words we've mispronounced!  We also catch up with the new Sustainability Manager at leading natural ingredients manufacturer  Stephenson. Marie Masionnette has held for role for around 6 months, she tells what the job entails and how she's trying...

Hi there listener - here is episode 5 in our sustainability series, and it's a belter!  Tue Beijer, Co-Founder of technology and design start-up STILRIDE, talks to us about the company's sustainable electric motorcycles and scooters. They're being manufactured using a ground-breaking process dubbed ‘industrial origami,’ involving robots which are able to fold single sheets of recyclable steel...

From our London office, we're back with the fourth episode in our sustainability series. Our Director at The Manufacturer, Henry Anson, joins Multimedia Editor Tom, and Magazine Editor Joe, as they discuss the current, much changed views of board level manufacturers around the topic of sustainability.  Sit back and enjoy, listener. 

It's another dose of your weekly manufacturing musings as the editorial team at The Manufacturer bring you episode 3 in this sustainability series.  This week, Multimedia Editor Tom St John is joined by Editor, Joe Bush and Reporter, Lanna Deamer as usual. But the team also welcome along colleague and friend Ashley Oulton, our Conference Production Manager.  The team question Ashley on t...