More than 200 UK manufacturing leaders and supporters gathered at The House of Lords on 19 February to help launch The Manufacturer’s 2018 flagship series of events – Digital Manufacturing Week.
Digital Manufacturing Week 2018 (13-16 November, Liverpool) was officially launched at the House of Lords today, with over 200 leading manufacturers, industry supporters and politicians gathering to see how the event was building on a hugely successful 2017 with the introduction of industry-leading new features.
Digital Manufacturing Week is made up of a series of interlocking events – each of which is the largest in its space:
- Smart Factory Expo – grew by a third to 3,968 attendees in 2017, with exhibitors doubling to 100+
- The Manufacturing Leaders Summit – grew by 56% to more than 600 delegates
- The Manufacturer Top 100 2018 – a 500-strong alumni community of UK manufacturing talent
- The Manufacturer MX Awards – the UK’s largest annual manufacturing awards, celebrating the Best of British industry
Attendees to today’s launch event in the Palace of Westminster heard how Digital Manufacturing Week, working with the support of Liverpool City Region and key industry partners, was expanding the size of the exhibition floor by 50% in order to accommodate additional Visitor Zones, more Solution Theatres, and an expanded focus on Innovation Alley.
“Last year we had to turn people away – we won’t be making that mistake again,” laughed Nick Hussey, CEO of Hennik Group, publishers of The Manufacturer magazine, and organisers of Digital Manufacturing Week. “We were delighted with the response of our audience of manufacturing directors to our decision to move to Liverpool City Region – and we are excited to share what we are doing to make the UK’s biggest digital manufacturing show even better.”
Mandy Ridyard, finance director at produmax, said at the launch: “I am absolutely excited to be part of the Digital Manufacturing Week 2018, because I will get the chance to see the best of the best of the awards.
“And I will get new ideas and see what is going on during the Smart Facotry Expo, and I will have the chance to listen to amazing key note speakers who will inform me which new innovative technologies and solutions are out there in the industries.”
And Rebecca Turner, innovation and productivity manager at Communisis, commented: “I am absolutely convinced that the Digital Manufacturing Week 2018 will help the UK to get ahead of the curve.
“At the moment, it seems that the UK is lagging behind, but with digital solutions, we will close that existing gap.”
