Education takes centre stage at SM&EW '24

ACROSS ITS two halls, six exhibitions, two summits and eight education theatres Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 (https://www.mandeweek.co.uk/) addresses the key issues that concern manufacturing and engineering businesses currently, irrespective of the market sector they serve. The main themes that the wide-ranging event covers are innovation, the supply chain, sustainability, digital transformation and people and skills.

Educational content and summits

To those familiar with Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week (SM&E Week) it will come as no surprise that education and peer to peer learning plays an important role. There are two summits that run alongside the exhibition namely the Industrial Data and AI Summit and the Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit.

Now in its 7th year the Industrial Data & AI Summit takes place on the 5th of June and focuses on Data Management and Data Insights. The structure of the summit includes four keynote presentations, a panel discussion and two 60-minute roundtable discussion sessions. The summit allows senior leaders to hear from the sector’s most respected experts, such as the Head of Digital and Data at BAE Systems and the Senior Director of Data and Analytics at Mars, as well as to share their knowledge and experiences with their peers. The roundtable sessions offer a unique opportunity for in-depth discussions on topics ranging from Data Integration and Management to Developing a Data Driven Business to Generative AI.

Taking place on both the 5th and 6th June at the NEC is The Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit. This summit includes eight keynote presentations, two panel discussions and four 60-minute roundtable discussion sessions. The Summit focuses on how digitalisation is changing how products are designed, produced, used and maintained as well as transforming the operations, processes and energy footprints of factories and supply chains. This summit is broken down into two distinct streams, the Enterprise stream is for those working within businesses with revenues in excess of £100 million while the Growth stream is for those less than £100 million (theoretically classed as SMEs).

In addition to the two summits, the Automation and Robotics Accelerator Symposium, taking place on 6th June, is intended for manufacturing executives interested in leveraging automation and robotics within their organisations. This half-day event, organised by The Manufacturer, focuses on the implementation and optimisation of automation to drive business growth. It's an essential event for those at any stage of automation integration, offering insights into best practices, technology deep dives, and the impact of automation on the workforce. Attendees will benefit from discussions on a range of sectors including aerospace, automotive, and FMCG.

While the summits charge an entry fee there is also a huge amount of free-to-access education during the event with no less than 144 presentations taking place across the eight education theatres. The theatres cover: Drives and Controls, Digital Transformation, IIoT and Connectivity, Industrial Data and AI, Design and Innovation, Maintenance, Air-Tech Solutions and Fluid Power and Systems.

The Drives and Technology Theatre will feature a range of compelling speakers from the world of industrial automation. On day one, David Santos, head of manufacturing engineering and automation at Chelton will begin by talking about 'SMEs and Automation: Overcoming complexity and challenges during and after implementation' at 10.00. This is followed by Jason Reed, machinery safety specialist at Pilz Automation who will address the important topic of 'Keeping machinery safe in a digital world' at 11.00.

At 11.30, Josh Roberts of Festo will present on 'Selecting the optimal field-level machine control architecture'. With his extensive experience in industrial automation engineering and business development, Roberts will act as a guide to choosing the right field-level control architecture to maximise machinery performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

Meanwhile, James Kinsman, technical director, Overview will look at the topic of: 'The paradigm for sensor motion is changing: Redefining agility and accuracy in smart sensors' at 12.00. As a driving force behind the innovative ServoTorqTM development program, Kinsman will unravel the key drivers revolutionising modern sensor systems, powered by AI and the demand for real-time digital data.

Also, David Barret-Hague from Schneider, along with Grant Coffin from Rockwell Automation, will give a presentation at 14.00 on day one entitled 'Industrial automation trends, past present and future'.

On day two, Patrick Dion-Fehily from Mitsubishi Electrics will be joined in the Drives and Technology Theatre by Martyn Williams from COPA DATA to present 'The importance of sustainable manufacturing' at 12.30.

Highlights from other keynote presentations taking place at SM&E Week include Neelofar Ansari, senior manufacturing engineer, BAE Systems who is presenting on the intriguing topic of 'Human sugmentation: Connecting with manufacturing environments' on 5th June at 13.30 in the IIoT and Connectivity Theatre.

On day two, Krishna Mistry, VP of series engineering at Verge Motorcycles will kick off proceedings in the Drives and Technology theatre at 10.00 in a presentation entitled 'Agile engineering cycles: Optimising design, development and deployment in manufacturing'.

Elsewhere, Sam Tilley from Omron, as well as Carl Diver from Manchester Metropolitan University, will give a presentation entitled 'How does the skills gap affect the future technology sector in the Design and Innovation Theatre on 5th June at 11.00.

At 11.30, Charles Wright, UK director – data and analytics at Columbus will deliver a presentation in the Industrial data and AI Theatre entitled 'Simplifying AI adoption in manufacturing: A product-based approach'.

In another keynote speech, Roy Haworth, dead of digital mock up process and implementation at Airbus Defence and Space will be talking about 'Using CAD data to drive data fusion and 3D visualisation' on 6th June at 12.00 in the Design and Innovation Theatre. Roy will explore the ways that CAD data can be used to bridge the engineering-production gap. 

Additionally, Daniel Smalley from Siemens, along with Ian Clarke from InControl Systems, will talk about 'Demystifying digitalisation and growth' in the IIoT and Connectivity Theatre at 13.30 on 6th June.

Notable organisations

A notable element of the planning for SM&E Week is the advisory council that the organisers bring together. The advisory council includes representatives from the event’s Strategic Partner organisations such as the British Manufacturing Consortium; The Centre for Compressor Technology; the iMechE; Engineering UK; GAMBICA; IED; BFPA; IFM University of Cambridge; The Manufacturer, Made Smarter.

These organisatons collectively steer the educational element of SM&E Week, ensuring that presenters are addressing the crucial topics that people are interested in and in most cases, they have exhibition stands themselves so that they can talk to their members or answer questions from visitors.

The charity partner for SM&E Week is Engineers Without Borders UK, an organisation focused on ensuring that globally responsible engineering is taught as a principle on engineering degree courses and also used within industry.

Innovation

As well as giant tech businesses, SMEs and industry organisations, one of the key themes of the event is innovation. Many manufacturing-focused startups will be showcasing their ‘bleeding edge’ solutions in Innovation Alley which is sponsored by the HVM Catapult and Innovation UK and which literally runs right through the middle of Smart Factory Expo.

With so much innovation on show across all the events it's difficult to pick out individual examples but two early disruptive technologies do catch the attention. Firstly, Insphere on Stand: 4-N73 is launching IONA, a scalable network of sensors that deliver metrology-grade positional data to automated manufacturing processes. The data is used to improve the accuracy and performance of industrial robots, including identifying and correcting errors in the production line.

Using IONA, manufacturers can make sub-millimetre corrections to robot positions and alignment with parts before mistakes are made. IONA enables a right-first-time approach, saving time, money, energy and reducing waste.

A second example on Stand: 4-D21 is Addition Design which has designed a new process that allows food manufacturers to access production parts that meet food safety requirements through additive manufacturing. The process extends Addition Design’s ‘AddParts’ service – which supplies digital spares for automated production lines using 3D scanning, digital data management and industrial 3D printing – into the food processing sector. The new technique addresses several issues that affect the industry’s ability to embrace the benefits of 3D printing while complying with food-safety regulations and production line efficiency needs including those of low-cost, fast turnaround, blue, food contact components.

Co-located events

As mentioned at the beginning of the article there is a whole host of related activities and attractions taking place during Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week. Central to SM&E Week are the exhibitions, of which there are three taking place in Hall 4. Of great importance to CDA readers is the newly invigorated Maintec, the UK’s longest standing exhibition dedicated to the maintenance, reliability and asset management industry.

Maintec has its own education theatre and the ability for visitors to access the major maintenance, repair and operations product and service suppliers as well as all the other content taking place makes the event more relevant for visitors and has brought it to life. To ensure that visitors access the information they want there will also be a ‘Maintenance Safety Trail’ which visitors can follow to ensure they see the right businesses and technologies dedicated to ensuring maintenance is conducted safely.

Also in Hall 4 is Smart Factory Expo which is designed to allow manufacturers to be the most efficient, the most sustainable, and the most profitable in the world and where visitors can find the insights, the solutions, and the connections for their digital transformation projects. Similarly to Maintec a ‘Cyber Zone Trail’ will be part of the exhibition directing visitors to the technologies and solutions that address cyber threats and the real threat of cyber-attack that manufacturers and other large scale digitally focused businesses face.

The Design & Engineering Expo is also in Hall 4 and focuses on innovation so that design and engineering professionals who want to reduce costs, streamline and optimise future design and engineering strategy can find what they need.

A major addition to SM&E Week in 2024 are the exhibitions taking place in Hall 5. Pre-registration ensures seamless access to all the exhibitions mentioned in this article with a single badge and for 2024 this includes Drives & Controls, Fluid Power & Systems and Air-Tech. Drives & Controls has always been a major exhibition and this year it will be enhanced by being part of SMEW. Drives and Controls traditionally brings together suppliers of state-of-the-art equipment covering critical areas such as energy efficiency, machine safety, drives, motors, motion control, robotics and automation and much more.

Alongside Drives & Controls in Hall 5 is the Fluid Power & Systems exhibition that focuses on hydraulic and pneumatic equipment for the industrial and mobile markets. Endorsed by the British Fluid Power Association the BFPA will also have a stand to meet with its members to discuss their education, training and other needs. As well as this the BFPA will be presenting several sessions in the Fluid Power and Systems educational theatre. One of these sessions, presented by Nicky Quinn, is on The Standards Development Process and explores the role standards play in facilitating international trade and improving product quality, safety and interoperability. Another session looks at Fluid Injection Injuries. During this session Martin Kingsbury will look at the dangers associated with such an injury, how to avoid them and the treatment if such an incident occurs.

Finally, in Hall 5, the Air Tech exhibition focuses on the compressed air, generator and vacuum markets. As you would expect, these exhibitions contain their own educational theatres and are strong additions to the events of the week.

As well as the events mentioned in this article taking place at the NEC at the same time are other relevant events including Med-Tech Innovation Expo and TCT 3Sixty from Rapid News Group and Subcon from the Mark Allen Group.

With so much going on during Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week the organisers will be creating ‘visitor trails’ to help attendees tailor their experience to their own areas of interest. 

To build a personal trail visitors must be registered in advance at the website below: 

www.mandeweek.co.uk