News and events
Innovation through a recession
Lord Digby Jones, ex-trade minister and ex-director general of the CBI didn't disappoint last month as he set to enlighten manufacturers about how to innovate through a recession.
Lord Jones was one of the keynote speakers to attend a special event that was hosted by NAMTEC (the National Metals Technology Centre) at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre in Rotherham. Other speakers included Tom Riordan, chief executive of Yorkshire Forward who talked about how the organisation is trying to generate more economic opportunities in the area and David Tinsley of Yorkshire Bank discussed the impact of the current recession on the UK market as a whole.
His hugely inspiring and entertaining presentation covered the global market for manufacturers, before Lord Jones looked at the world class manufacturing and innovation that is happening in Yorkshire. His message to local businesses was to have confidence in their own abilities to create wealth in the region and to turn what ideas they have in their heads into money making projects. His presentation covered many aspects of finance, investment and knowledge innovation, taken from his wealth of experience not only as an industry leader, but also as an adviser to prominent organisations including Barclays, Ford, Deloitte and JCB.
Presentations were also given by Business Link Yorkshire, Sheffield First, Gordon Panter managing director of PMS ,IP specialists Lee & Priestley, who discussed Intellectual Property issues to ensure new innovations are properly protected and William Beckett from William Beckett Plastic Packaging.
William started his company nearly 40 years ago and he discussed the lessons he had learned from the recession of the early 90s. He demonstrated how if he hadn't invested in new products during that time his business wouldn't be where it is now - an award winning market leader in plastic packaging.
The event was aimed at manufacturing and engineering companies across Yorkshire, in order to demonstrate how through innovation, businesses can gain competitive advantages and move forward in times of recession. It was the perfect opportunity to link regional technology centres within Yorkshire Forward's Technology Transfer Programme, as part of creating business opportunities for industrial companies. Delegates were also shown how innovation is possible through the Capacity Building Centres available from NAMTEC. This includes making use of technology in design, modelling and simulation, as well as how manufacturers can take advantage of rapid manufacturing and prototyping and innovative metals processing. This enables them to design inspirational new products without having to produce individual prototypes.