The system everyone feels but nobody talks about If you run a factory today, you live with a constant background tension. Demand shifts late. Materials arrive out of sequence. Experienced people are hard to replace. Energy and carbon numbers now appear in every board pack. You spend a lot of time trying to keep the …
We’re pressing pause on Beyond the Buzzwords blog for a few weeks. And honestly, we think more leaders should do the same. It’s easy to fill every week with back-to-back calls, endless firefighting, and half-finished strategy decks. But real progress, the kind that drives your manufacturing performance, often needs space to breathe. Time away from the laptop. …
Read more “Manufacturing Trends 2025: What Factory Leaders Really Care About”
AI in manufacturing ROI is no longer a theoretical conversation. It’s a litmus test. Every manufacturing executive I speak to is saying the same thing: “Don’t give me a lab experiment. Show me something that works, and makes money.” That shift is critical. For years, smart manufacturing efforts got stuck in what many call “pilot purgatory”. …
Read more “AI in Manufacturing: How to Prove ROI and Earn Executive Buy-In”
A Wake-Up Call, Not a Whitepaper If you’ve been wondering how to start digital transformation in manufacturing, really start, not just talk about it, the latest 2025 SIRI Global Benchmarking Report offers the most useful reality check you’ll read all year. The 2025 Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) report by the International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) is the most comprehensive …
Read more “How to Start Digital Transformation in Manufacturing: Lessons from the 2025 SIRI Report”
At the Radical Collaboration event in London on the 16th May, it became clear that incremental improvements won’t fix the deep inefficiencies in how we work across the manufacturing ecosystem. What’s needed now is a fundamental reset, one that breaks down silos, rethinks relationships between manufacturers and their partners, and creates the conditions for transformation to …
Read more “Radical Collaboration in Action: The Quorum Principle in Manufacturing”
The 2025 WEF Global Lighthouse Network highlights how 189 factories have achieved operational excellence through strategic digital transformation. They emphasize investing in workforce capabilities, integrating technology across operations, and localizing change. Mid-market manufacturers can adopt these principles to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and successfully implement digital solutions without exorbitant budgets.
The author reflects on the disconnect between UK manufacturing discussions at the National Manufacturing Summit and the pressing real-world challenges faced by manufacturers. Despite covering key issues like the skills gap, digitalization, and supply chain resilience, the summit’s focus on abstract ideas and jargon overshadowed practical solutions, highlighting the need for urgent, reality-based conversations to foster meaningful change.
The North Pole has always been a magical place of tradition, wonder, and unparalleled efficiency—until recently. As the world around Santa’s Workshop embraces digital transformation, the toy-making elves have faced challenges keeping up. We sat down with the Head Elf to discuss how the iconic operation is modernising, the resistance they’ve faced, and their ambitious …
Read more “🎄 Elves, Efficiency, and a Dash of Digital: Santa’s Workshop Gears Up for 2025 🎁”
Last week, I had the honour of delivering the keynote at the Digital Manufacturing Summit UK 2024 from Transform Industry. I was invited by Ryan —a company dedicated to helping businesses unlock funding for innovation—and it was a whirlwind of insights, debates, and, let’s be honest, more than a few buzzwords. While the summit showcased …
We hope everybody had an amazing summer and had a chance to recharge their batteries. Now, as we transition from the end of summer towards the holiday season, Nick Leeder & Co. is set to deliver a rich lineup of content to drive value and insight across various industry verticals. Here’s what is coming up in …