Today, July 7, manufacturers across the UK will open their doors to local communities for the first ever National Manufacturing Day. The Manufacturer has the lowdown on what to expect and a round up of some of the events and programmes that are taking place.
Led by Make UK, National Manufacturing Day is an opportunity for manufacturers to showcase what they do, highlight the truly diverse nature of industry and promote the range of exciting careers and jobs on offer in the manufacturing sector.
At a time when manufacturers are facing enormous challenges – particularly when it comes to skills and nurturing the engineers of tomorrow – events like National manufacturing Day are pivotal. Not only is it a chance for school leavers and graduates to discover alternative routes post-education, such as apprenticeships, but it’s also an opportunity for individuals who are looking to reskill and take on a new challenge to find out more about what the manufacturing sector offers.
Manufacturers can get involved in a number of ways and even the smallest contribution can make a big difference. Some companies will be hosting factory visits throughout the day, while others have a full schedule of events lined up (some of which are outlined below). If you’re a manufacturer, the resources section on the National Manufacturing Day website is full of valuable information to help you get the most out of the day. There’s also an educational resources section which is aimed at teachers and students and features a postcode finder so you can find a local manufacturer that’s taking part.
With skilled manufacturing jobs paying around 12% above the national average and a significant skills shortage currently hamstringing companies, there has never been a better or more crucial time to join the sector and make a real difference.
National Manufacturing Day provides an opportunity for companies to showcase what they do and highlight the range of exciting and diverse jobs in the sector.
The Manufacturer reached out to a number of companies to find out how they’ll be celebrating National Manufacturing Day and showcasing industry.
Here are just some of the events and programmes happening today (click each to expand):
Plymouth metal fabrication company Alderman Tooling is opening its doors to the whole community Thursday 7 July for National Manufacturing Day.
Aldermans, based at Newnham, will showcase potential careers in engineering and will offer inspiring engineering activities and factory tours throughout the day.
Visitors to Aldermans will be able to take part in a series of events including a factory tour, having a go on an Augmented Reality Welding kit, and building their own miniature metal aeroplanes. They will also be able to talk directly to members of staff about careers in engineering and the daily life of an engineering apprentice.
Karen Friendship, Managing Director of Aldermans, commented:
“Aldermans is delighted to be taking part in National Manufacturing Day showcasing our processes, machinery and people. This event gives us an opportunity to open our doors to students, teachers and career advisors to explore the exciting opportunities that a career in manufacturing can provide. We’re proud of what modern Plymouth manufacturing looks like, and it will be exciting to be able to share our story and vision with the local community.”
To arrange a visit to Aldermans on National Manufacturing Day, please contact the company direct on 01752 201200, or [email protected]
BRUSH UK will be showing students around its South Wales factory so they can see first-hand the career opportunities and benefits that can be achieved through apprenticeship programmes offered by BRUSH Switchgear.
The agenda for the visits will include:
- An opening presentation about BRUSH Switchgear, its products and customer range
- A tour of its manufacturing process
- Fun hands on exercises for the students
- Wrap up and closing presentations, including a chat with a couple of current apprentices
- Refreshments and a small goodie bag to take home
Manchester-based packaging manufacturer and consultancy Duo UK will be opening its doors to local people looking to explore a career in manufacturing today.
Duo will showcase potential careers and will be giving tours of the manufacturing facility plus demonstrations of machinery and processes throughout the day.
Dale Brimelow, Operations Director at Duo UK, said:
“National Manufacturing Day is a brilliant initiative for the sector. We wanted to get involved as it gives us an opportunity to create awareness in our local community and wider region, showcasing the diverse range of job and career opportunities available for people in packaging manufacturing, so they can see for themselves what the work environment is like.
“It’s a hugely exciting time for our business and we want to show people why plastic is a valuable commodity that delivers a whole range of environmental benefits when it’s handled correctly. We’ve successfully built a circular business model and put measures into place to reduce waste and keep materials in the economy to produce high quality packaging products for clients around the world.
“This is a chance for us to open our doors and show people what we do at Duo – we’re a proud British manufacturer that’s been in business for over 34 years. We’re always looking to meet passionate people that share our love of manufacturing innovation to creative positive packaging products.”
Fashion-Enter Ltd will welcome Abena Oppong-Asare MP, Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, to its factory in Haringey today.
The award-winning social enterprise and a centre for ethical garment manufacturing will be showcasing the latest state of the art digital technologies in ethical printing and sustainable technologies in cutting.
Fashion Enter uses Kornit Digital for its printing – this is the Presto and Atlas Max that does not use water as part of printing process.
The not-for-profit will also be showcasing the old way of manufacturing comparer to the new way forward i.e. Batch production vs. Micro Factory.
After the visit from Abena Oppong-Asare, guided factory tours will take place at 11am or 3pm. If you would like to gain firsthand insight into the complete garment life cycle contact: [email protected]
Fractory is running a series of one-hour internships today. Anyone who’s interested should go along to the Fractory offices between 10am and 4pm at their own convenience: Suite 4.15 at the Department Bonded Warehouse, 18 Lower Byrom St, Manchester M3 4AP
It will be a relatively informal affair: a tour, a coffee and a a chat but visitors will also get to use Fractory’s system to order a steel part (presumably a Fractory coaster) and then have it delivered to their home within a week. What a fantastic opportunity to get hands on and receive a freebie.
Fractory says: “See how it is to work in a 100% digital environment. No lathe… No excel spreadsheet… If you want to see the future of global manufacturing, come and take part in the high-speed internship with Fractory, the Manchester startup which is growing across the UK, Europe and the US. We’re celebrating National Manufacturing Day by throwing our doors open.”
Villem Hion said: “Come along and meet us and learn about Fractory. We’re growing fast. We need engineers. If you drop by you can sample the atmosphere and find out how we work. In just an hour you’ll learn how we are changing manufacturing.”
Hymid will welcome two local schools in the Torbay area to its factory in Torquay today.
The day will consist of the 15 students from each school congregating in Hymid’s conference room, where they will have Phil Halse from SWMAS (South West Manufacturing Advisory Service) leading the first activity. The students will be tasked with building as many torches as they can from their base components in an allotted time. Then the students will be split into teams where they will each be given a specific role and the teams will then have to build as many as they can in the same amount of time.
The game will teach them about the importance each department has to the success of manufacturing as well as the efficiency of assembly / production lines. The team who builds the most torches will win a point for this activity.
Then, in their respective groups, the students will be taken around Hymid’s shop floor.
Tool Room/Production Floor/Metrology – Here the students will be shown Hymid’s mould tools, how the injection moulding machines work and the importance of quality. They will task the students to measure a component using verniers, they will then take the same component and measure it on Hymid’s Co-Ordinate Measuring Machine. This will show how human error can lead to quality issues.
The team with the closest average measurement, to the measurement taken from the CMM, will win a point.
Design Department – The students will be shown how Hymid designs its mould tools and amend component designs in the Design for Manufacture process on SolidWorks (CAD), how it designs its jigs and fixtures for the CMM and second assemblies and how they are printed/prototyped on its 3D printer. The students will then be asked to design a trophy, within a brief, the team which creates the best trophy will win a point and the winning team (overall) will have their trophy presented to them at their school along with a prize for the overall winning team and a certificate.
Supply Chain – The students will be shown the importance of a supply chain department, how the recent pandemic has affected the supply chain across the globe and how raw material is mixed with others to create desired properties in the component. There will be a table with a completed product examples, its moulded components fitted together, the moulded components not assembled and the raw material that makes the components. The students will be asked to guess the cost of each stage, how much it costs Hymid to manufacture and how much the customer pays the components, and lastly, how much the finished product is sold for on the market.
This task will teach them how Hymid adds value to each stage and the perceived value of the finished and fully assembled part. The team with the closest guesses for each component will win a point.
All of the points will then be added up from each school, the team with the highest overall score from both schools will be presented with a prize (from a well-known customer) for each student, their 3D printed trophy design and a certificate.
Some local Torquay councillors should also be in attendance, getting involved with the events and talking to students.
Morgan IAT will showcase potential careers and jobs on offer and run ‘through the keyhole’ tours of the business throughout the day
Morgan Innovation & Technology Ltd has been part of the Hampshire community, manufacturing products that will have a positive impact on society for 35 years.
During the fun day, visitors to Morgan IAT will be able to tour the production facility, ask questions of the experts in research and development and see some of the ground-breaking innovations it has developed over the years. They will also be able to talk directly to members of staff about how the company works and what opportunities might be available for them.
Powerstar welcomed Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP to its factory in Sheffield this morning. He met with some of Powerstar’s senior management team and have a Q&A with the company’s apprentices, as well as a factory tour.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero said: “I am delighted to be visiting Powerstar on National Manufacturing Day to see first-hand a British manufacturing success story. Manufacturers like this are the backbone of Britain- paying above the national average wage, growing our economy, and the providing opportunities for young people to gain the skills and qualifications that can help them get on.”
After lunch, Powerstar hosted a number of local college tutors, job seekers, and businesses to learn a little bit more about the firm and participate in a factory tour.
PrintCity will host an open day today between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm at its Manchester facility. During the event, PrintCity will be demonstrating multiple digital manufacturing technologies, including concrete 3D printing and 3D Scanning. Its staff will also be on hand to talk through the different 3D printing technologies we have available and how people can engage with our facility.
More info can be found on this Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/printcity-open-day-national-manufacturing-day-tickets-371033219347
Norfolk-based Prior Power Solutions is celebrating the inaugural National Manufacturing Day by showcasing some of the many skilled manufacturing professionals at its Great Yarmouth base.
Looking to inspire the future workforce and promote the skilled opportunities and careers available locally, Prior Power Solutions is launching a series of profiles on social media throughout the day featuring manufacturing specialists at the company. Part of NAAME, the company is joining other manufacturers from across the region from pharmaceuticals to aerospace in helping local communities understand more about the businesses on their doorstep.
A global leader in the design and manufacture of a wide range of equipment, particularly well service equipment, Prior Power Solutions can offer a broad spectrum of careers.
“We are just one of a handful of companies in the world that manufactures nitrogen pumps – predominately for oil and gas extraction,” explains Production Manager Chris Farman.
“The team behind our manufacturing hold a lot of knowledge individually, and collectively, and that gives us considerable advantage.
“We are always looking for new ways to do things; more efficiently, more sustainably, and always with product longevity in mind. We have a reputation for manufacturing equipment that is reliable and stands the test of time in some of the world’s harshest environments.”
In addition to work experience placements and interns, Prior Power Solutions currently supports two manufacturing-based apprentices and provides an environment and culture where they feel nurtured and safe to make suggestions.
“Our apprentices have often shown us new ways of thinking and we are always trying to make our products more environmentally-friendly and that is something that we find is close to the heart of young people in particular,” continues Chris.
The company promotes remanufacturing and the circular economy as an important contributor to sustainability.
“The circular economy is important to us. Valuable equipment need not be cast aside at the end of its lifetime. We can repair pretty much anything and bring it back to full working order. We can reconfigure equipment so it can continue to be used in a different setting or bring it up to different standards such as ATEX Zone II. We can even upgrade to operate by dual fuel such as hydrogen-diesel. Remanufacturing possibilities are endless and important in retaining valuable raw materials,” Chris concludes.
Zytronic has been part of the Blaydon on Tyne community, manufacturing projected capacitive technology touchscreens and other sophisticated glass products for over 20 years. The company will host a series of visits to its production facilities and visitors will be able to talk directly to members of staff about how its patented and award-winning touchscreen products are manufactured and what employment opportunities are available in our business.
Mark Cambridge, CEO of Zytronic said: “Zytronic is delighted to be participating in Make UK’s National Manufacturing Day on Thursday 7 July, showcasing our technologies, products, processes and people. National Manufacturing Day provides students, potential employees and the local residents with the opportunity to visit our manufacturing facilities, and to get a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of an internationally successful local business.
“We are always on the lookout for new talent to help us to produce our touchscreen products and latest innovations such as ElectroglaZ, our latest transparent power delivery technology. Our company can offer a diverse range of career opportunities from production operatives to electronic engineering.
“We are looking forward to local residents, school students and prospective employees visiting us to experience what modern day manufacturing looks like. Even though we export over 90% of our products globally – I’m sure people will be surprised to learn just how often they’ve seen or used our touchscreens in the local area – from digital wayfinders in the Metrocentre, drinks dispensers in burger restaurants, to ticket machines on the Metro! Visitors will be able to meet our team and hear first-hand what inspired them to join us.”
Follow the hashtag #NMD2022 on your favourite social media platforms to stay up to date with everything that’s happening on this inaugural National Manufacturing Day.
