Britain must do more to boost its manufacturing sector. But what? Should government encourage innovation—or is the real problem the financial sector’s failure to lend? And if Britain were to start churning out huge amounts of high-end manufactured goods, who would buy them all?

Britain’s 3D future

Alan Mak

A pair of Adidas trainers—the soles were made by 3D printing

© KRISZTIAN BOCSI/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

At an automated Adidas plant in Germany, 3D printing, otherwise known as additive manufacturing, is changing the way manufacturing works. Adidas can now shift production from the cheap Asian outsourcers to plants closer to its key consumer markets. As a result, the company can react quickly to changing demand.

3D printing is a valuable source of lowvolume, high-value production. GKN Aerospace recently signed an agreement to print aircraft parts in titanium. The hope is to halve assembly time and slash waste material by up to 90 per cent. Imagine if clicking a mouse caused a product to be made locally then delivered to your door.

Manufacturing in the UK is well placed to take advantage of these changes. In 2017 the sector marked the longest continuous expansion for almost 50 years, buoyed by an upturn in orders from continental Europe and the relative weakness of sterling.

The advances in manufacturing are part of a wider trend of industrial digitisation, something that will impact all sectors of the economy. But as the Made Smarter UK review, led by Jürgen Maier, CEO of Siemens UK, made clear, Britain needs a coherent national strategy to embrace this revolution.

It concludes that £455bn of growth in UK manufacturing is possible over the next decade, creating a net gain of at least 175,000 jobs, leading to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 4.5 per cent. These figures should focus minds in Whitehall, and in businesses around the country.