INDUSTRY NEWS
MADE SMARTER SECURES £230,000 EXTRA FUNDING TO HELP COMPANIES ADOPT DIGITAL TOOLS FOR GROWTH, JOBS AND DECARBONISATION
Made Smarter Adoption North West has secured an additional £230,000 to help more SME manufacturers access transformational technology. The allocation from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will fund at least ten new companies to adopt technologies such as sensors, robotics and 3D printers to increase productivity and growth, create new high value jobs and support decarbonisation. “I am delighted that DBT have allocated a further £230k of in-year funding to Made Smarter Adoption North West,” commented Alain Dilworth, programme manager. “The majority will go towards supporting our strong pipeline of companies to adopt new digital tools to accelerate their digital transformation. “The opportunity to be able to support
more manufacturing and engineering SMEs is something we relish, and we urge those companies who have yet to make contact
with us to do so.” Made Smarter Adoption North West, which
celebrates its 7th anniversary in January, was created to accelerate technology adoption in SME manufacturing and engineering businesses lacking in-house resources and know-how. So far, the programme has engaged with 2,500 companies and offered technology advice to over 500 individual businesses. 330 of those have secured over £7m in grants to invest in 379 technology projects backed by £18m of their own money. This £25m investment is forecast to create over 1,700 new jobs, upskill 3,200 existing roles, and add £267m GVA to the economy over the next three years. Over 200 businesses have embedded new
digital skills into their operations through Made Smarter leadership programmes, internships and other training opportunities.
‘UPGRADE TO INNOVATE’ CAMPAIGN AIMS TO HELP ADVANCE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
SolutionsPT has launched an ‘Upgrade to Innovate’ campaign. Enabling digital transformation for every enterprise, the company is showing industrial operations how modernisation serves to bridge the gap between legacy systems and advanced technologies in 2025. While next-generation capabilities often come with a
large price tag, progress is essential. If businesses fail to upgrade, they are not only putting operations at risk in terms of competitiveness but also opening systems to cyber-attacks. Upgrading from legacy systems is therefore a business-critical activity. By using the upgrade to innovate concept, businesses of
all shapes and specialisms can transform existing kit to unleash the full potential of industrial operations in a cost-effective and scalable way through supported modernisation. Sue Roche, general manager, SolutionsPT, said: “Businesses within the long and complex
industrial supply chain have a responsibility to upgrade to mitigate the growing cyber threat that is affecting single facilities and global enterprises alike… Enhanced asset performance, energy efficiency, business agility, and end-to-end connectivity don’t have to be tied to new hardware. Each of these can be unlocked through modernisation in a simple and cost-effective way.” Digital transformation is a one-way journey, and it is a journey that every industrial enterprise is on, no matter how large or small. If businesses don’t take the opportunity to explore what digital transformation has to offer, there is a growing risk of falling behind the competition, risking operations to cyber threats, and hindering the potential of UK industry. By adopting the latest HMI and SCADA, a business can modernise and achieve the benefits of digitalisation while minimising disruption. For a no-risk approach to modernisation, use the SolutionsPT free upgrade assessment for a
practical first step into unlocking innovation. Visit the website for more information.
www.solutionspt.com
TÜV RHEINLAND RECEIVES GOLD EcoVadis AWARD
TÜV Rheinland has been awarded Gold by EcoVadis with a score of 80 out of 100, putting the company in the top 5% of companies rated. The EcoVadis rating measures the
sustainability performance of companies in four areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. “We scored 80 out of a possible 100 points
in all four categories and improved our score particularly in the sustainable procurement dimension,” said Katharina Riese, head of corporate sustainability. “The rating is one of
the most important assessments of a company’s sustainability performance worldwide and is increasingly required in tenders and contracts.”
Dr Michael Fübi, CEO of TÜV Rheinland AG,
commented: “Our vision is a world that is always safe and sustainable – today and tomorrow. The Gold Rating for TÜV Rheinland shows that we are on the right track with our sustainability orientation.”
www.tuv.com/sustainability 6 DESIGN SOLUTIONS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2025
Half of the 75 digital internships placed with businesses resulted in permanent job offers. Donna Edwards, director of Made Smarter’s North West Adoption Programme, commented: “This additional funding package is testament to the positive impact that Made Smarter North West is having. “Our programme has been designed
specifically for manufacturers, offering specialist advice to help them select the right approach, level of investment and tools to grow and build resilience. “As we enter our 7th year, we are more
determined than ever to reach more SME manufacturers across the sector to talk to them about the benefits of introducing new technologies and new digital skills.”
www.madesmarter.uk OLED STACKS ENABLE
‘EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT’ MICRODISPLAYS
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS have developed OLED stacks that enable exceptionally bright microdisplays. High brightness and low power consumption
are crucial development goals as optical systems – such as AR glasses – exhibit high brightness losses and wearable devices are limited by battery storage. The Fraunhofer IPMS’s highly efficient, monochrome OLED microdisplay offer a brightness of over 70,000 Nits. The OLED stack used even achieves over 200,000 Nits on reference substrates. Johannes Zeltner, a PhD student at
Fraunhofer IPMS, explains: “By stacking OLED layers, this outstanding brightness was achieved. The individual OLED units are ‘series connected’, which increases the brightness with each additional unit without raising the current density in the component. This can be utilised to either achieve extremely high brightness or, at a given brightness, to significantly reduce the current density that determines lifetime. Measurements have shown that when comparing a 1-unit and a 2-unit OLED, the lifetime LT95, i.e., the drop in brightness by 5%, at 50,000 Nits can be significantly improved from 900 to 1300 hours.” The researchers are convinced that the ongoing development towards ever higher brightness and improved lifetimes of OLED technology secures a firm place in the field of AR applications. Nevertheless, there is a continuous need for research, e.g., on optical crosstalk, improved OLED materials, and novel backplane architectures. The researchers are pleased to offer the results achieved and research services to interested partners worldwide, to elevate the OLED microdisplay technology to the next level and integrate it into marketable products.
www.ipms.fraunhofer.de/en.html
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