This week the Technology Strategy Board is leading an industry mission to China Merlin Goldman, Lead Technologist of High Value Manufacturing at the UK’s innovation agency explains why.
This week, the Technology Strategy Board is spearheading an innovation mission to China to encourage collaboration between organisations from the two nations.
This mission is focussed on finding greener approaches to manufacturing and should generate a number of project ideas that could receive funding on their return to the UK.
The three funders supporting the mission are: the Technology Strategy Board, EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and MoST (Ministry of Science & Technology for the People’s Republic of China).
The mission is just the first step in what we intent to be a long-last innovation partnership between the UK and China.
Exploring Tomorrow’s Manufacturing Opportunities Today
The mission will last for six days.
Throughout it, 13 UK companies and five academics will have the opportunity to foster new relationships with Chinese State Owned Enterprises and understand the opportunities in this foreign, highly dynamic market. China has the world’s largest manufacturing sector – accounting for roughly 40% of its GDP.
Manufacturing has been the main driver of China’s surge in economic growth. However, with a falling demand for China’s exports due to the economic crisis and the rise of the raw materials and labour costs, this has slowed. With increasing concerns on the environmental impact of its heavier manufacturing industries, China is now exploring new routes to sustainable manufacturing. Here lies the opportunity for UK organisations.
Future Factory: Inspiring Innovation
Lear more about how to structure strategic innovation in you company and what support is available to advance innovation in the UK at TM’s Future Factory: Inspiring Innovation event in London on October 16.
Who’s taking part?
The Tomorrow’s Manufacturing: Mission to China aims to meet this demand by bringing some of the most innovative companies and brightest academics in the UK to view China’s sustainability challenges first hand.
Each participant was selected by a competitive process administered by both countries. They demonstrate a variety of capabilities in areas such as novel coatings, industrial filtration, microwaves, fuel cells and biotechnology.
They vary in size from the start-up to the large company and also include a representative from Centre for Process Innovation, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
Over the next week The Manufacturer magazine will be supporting our mission and giving you insight into the observations of participants by publishing regular ‘diary’ entries from them on www.themenaufacturer .com.
The will detail how they feel their experiences in China might develop into opportunities back in the UK.
