The Smart Manufacturing Alliance Podcast

In this episode, our Network Development Manager, Matt Blakeley, talks to Ant Persse, chief executive of Saltare, about how they're working with SMEs to incentivise early payments along their supply chains to reduce late payments and keep cash flowing between businesses.It is estimated that 82% of businesses fail not because of lack of profit, but through lack of cash. Yet, studies suggest UK SMEs are currently waiting on almost £200bn tied up in unpaid invoices. Saltare is one of the Smart Manufacturing Alliance's partners, and members can get access to Saltare's innovative payment systems that incentivise early payments so that businesses can strengthen their working relationships and boost their growth thanks to more secure cashflow.

We talk in this episode with Karin Rook from Ventures Green about the value of having a strong and positive organisational structure. When exploring productivity we often over look the human element and we hope that in this podcast we can explore the value of this and the benefits it can bring to your business. In these challenging times as an employer this is a must listen podcast!

In this episode we speak to Ian Gardner, Industry 4.0 Solutions Architect at IBM about data - what it is and the potential it holds for manufacturers.Data is the foundation of Industry 4.0 so we get back to basics with collection and analytics. We explore what types of information businesses can collect and how they can exploit data sets to get even more value from technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

In this episode we speak with Luqman Abdullah, ACMI 4.0 advisor within Smart Manufacturing Alliance. Luqman will be sharing an insight into what Industry 4.0 is and the benefits of embracing automation and Industry 4.0 technologies will have on SME's. Plus, discussion around the first steps manufacturers can take towards digitisation, and the quick wins that can improve performance with minimal disruption.

In this episode we catch up with Katy Davies, CEO at CamdenBoss. An enclosures manufacturer based in Mildenhall and one of the newest members of the Smart Manufacturing Alliance. Katy shares her first hand experiences of Apprenticeships and the benefit they bring to the business.

Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week, we take a look at Apprenticeships up close both form the perspective of an employee and employer. Sharing insight from Huxley Bertram.