It is heartening to see Iain McKenzie MP leading the call for continuing faith in, recognition of and investment in manufacturing research, education and development.
Whilst it's critical that we make up for 'lost ground' over the decades where industry was sidelined in favour of other sectors, I believe that there's also scope to be positive about the future of UK manufacturing. A quiet 'grassroots revolution' is now gathering pace that plays directly into the hands of the UK’s strong culture of innovation. Technological advancements, such as 3D printing, are empowering consumers to design and manufacture for themselves in a move towards 'boutique', local, or proximate manufacturing.
Helping to drive this trend is the UK's
Fab Labnetwork. The Manufacturing Institute partnered with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) three years ago to bring these community digital fabrication laboratories to the UK. We established Britain’s first Fab Lab in Manchester in 2010 and now there are ten, with many more in the pipeline.
Fab Labs promote grassroots innovation, giving everyone - from young children - to entrepreneurs and businesses, the capability to bring their ideas and inventions to life. This reverses the traditional top-down approach to technological advancement. There’s a wealth of manufacturing expertise available at Fab Labs, as well as a wide variety of digital and practical equipment – including 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters and milling machinery – to make these ideas reality.
For example, inventor Piers Ridyard, aged 27, turned to Fab Lab for help with the early stage development of his
Nifty MiniDrive, which is a tiny, low cost device that enables anyone to increase the storage space of their Apple MacBook by 50%.
The early product prototypes and feasibility testing were carried out at Fab Lab In January 2012 and two years later, the product has become a global seller - with distribution channels established across four continents and the world's top e-tailers lined up to list the product.
The only issue with this innovation is that whilst the idea originated here, and the prototype and the business model were developed in the UK, the manufacture takes place in China. This is our next challenge - to get the UK manufacturing supply chain better aligned and connected to the well of ideas and innovation that is readily available in previously unforeseen places - in communities across the UK.
The speed with which the Fab Labs have spread nationwide, the success of the products that are getting manufactured in them, and people’s sheer enthusiasm for the whole concept, are all indicative of the way that the manufacturing sector is evolving. As the Foresight report states, in the future everyone will want a factory at the end of their street.
By making what we need locally – with minimum or no waste – a new model for manufacturing is emerging. It’s helped to a great extent by a new generation of people who are fluent in IT and who don’t see there being any distinction or divisions between software and hardware.
At a time when there’s broad consensus that the British economy needs to be rebalanced in favour of manufacturing, such a new industrial revolution could be just the recipe we need.
Julie Madigan, Chief Executive of the Manufacturing Institute