Manufacturers invited to innovation conference at Loughborough Uni

Posted on 4 Feb 2009 by The Manufacturer

Loughborough University is holding a free innovation conference on February 25 (Weds) which has been organised by The Manufacturers Organisation. ‘Facilitating Innovation’ will feature the likes of GKN and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The conference will feature lectures and workshops from industrial practitioners and staff from Loughborough’s Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering. It will focus on how companies can increase their productivity during this difficult economic period using incremental innovation, which looks at making small changes to business to improve trading, without losing money or staff.

Speakers include Duncan Varnes, lead director GKN Driveline in the UK and Ireland.

Professor of product innovation at Loughborough, Chris Backhouse said the conference is essentiallty about how firms can make money from good ideas. “In reality the businesses with the most innovative processes are the ones that will survive,” he said, before pointing out that, due to the advanced nature of UK industry, the conference is suitable for manufacturers from any sector.

“Most productive manufacturing companies in this country are all using top-end technologies and advanced processes,” he said. “The tech used by some companies is extremely impressive even if they don’t carry certain buzz words that would attribute them so. High speed machining for example is phenomenal these days. This conference will help to show how those advanced practices and innovation can be best implement from a business point of view.”

Loughborough is one of several leading universities participating in the Innovation and Productivity Grand Challenge, and will present the University’s research findings at the conference as the project comes to a close.

The university can arrange accommodation upon request for the night before the conference to those that have a long way to travel, though there is limited availability.

For further information, or to book your place at the conference, contact [email protected].

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