Transforming SME manufacturing businesses
Our experienced teams of experts are here to help you transform your manufacturing SME and grow your bottom line.
Transforming your business
As one of the UK’s 200,000+ manufacturing SMEs, it’s often hard to know where to start if you want to grow your business, and grow quickly. With the increasing cost of energy and materials, your balance sheet could be starting to look increasingly red.
Investments in optimising your production, in new products and markets and in the skills of your workforce are key to growth. But these investments can feel like a big risk in this environment.
We’re here to help.
How we can help
Transform your bottom line
We can help you cut your production costs, energy usage and waste whilst improving your products for your customers.
Grow fast
We can help you access new markets, connect to the right partners and make data-led decisions to enable faster business growth.
Build your productivity
We can help you upskill your workforce and optimise both your production and supply chain, freeing you up to expand.
Connect and expand
We can help you connect with the right partners in industry, government and academia to turn your ideas into commercial reality.
Can we help – SMEs
"*" indicates required fields
SME manufacturers transformed each year
SME manufacturers advised each year
Manufacturing and engineering experts across the HVM Catapult
Manufacturing experts, working for you
Our manufacturing and engineering experts will:
- Find the right place for your project, whether that’s with us or another organisation
- Discover the opportunities, risks and needs of your business
- Provide detailed, impartial advice tailored to your business
- Build the right plan to deliver for your business
- Develop the right solution to transform your business, whether that’s new products, processes or skills
Your manufacturing transformation journey
To transform your business you need to be in the right place with the right plan for the right solution.
Our 3-step process can help you get there.
Engage
Getting you to the right place
Our manufacturing and engineering experts will give you free impartial advice on the best direction and place for your project, whether that’s with us or another organisation. We’ll then use our national network to help you make the connections you need to succeed.
Discover
Helping you build the right plan
Using our expertise and industry-proven experience, we work directly with you to build the right plan to transform your business. Our detailed recommendations will guide you to the best ways you can improve your products, processes and skills to deliver business value.
Transform
Empowering you with the right solution
We give you access to our world-class facilities, cutting-edge equipment and industry-proven experience, and help your business secure the right skills and partnerships for your project. Based on our proposal, we work with you to develop the right solution to transform your bottom line, build your supply chain and access new markets.
What we offer to manufacturing businesses
We can help you to minimise the risk of high-growth projects with open access to industry-leading experts, cutting-edge equipment, world-class facilities and the best of engineering research.
SME Manufacturing Success Stories
View all SME case studies
CASE STUDY
Helping an SME halve lead times and boost sales
The MTC created and supported Raybloc through a development journey to achieve the goals of the business that began with coaching and mentoring the workforce and helping the business to understand the priorities, issues, culture and opportunities of the current-state.
3 February 2022
CASE STUDY
Less than five weeks to become the UK’s largest supplier of critical PPE
The Black Country-based Ramfoam secured a contract to supply the UK Government with 3.5 million face visors per week to help protect workers across the public sector. To achieve this, they had to scale their output by 300 times in a matter of weeks.
2 February 2022
CASE STUDY
Keeping a watchmakers’ machine tool ticking over
The AMRC’s support means that Loomes & Co now have an improved machining process; knowledge of basic machining practices; skills development including design software; redesigned fixtures; and sample part production. Sometimes it’s the simplest of interventions that give firms the freedom to innovate.
3 February 2022
We continue to work with WMG to look at our bottlenecks and identify where we can use robotics to drive costs down and speed things up. Having the ongoing support from WMG has been invaluable and we cannot wait to work with WMG’s digital manufacturing team to help us create the ‘Ramfoam Way’ across all our operations.
By continuing to work with MTC Apprenticeships, we ensure we have access to the talented engineers of the future. In my opinion the MTC, amongst a couple of other organisations, have changed the perception of apprenticeships which is helping to transform SMEs.
Our work with the MTC has been truly transformational. We’ve invested in our factory and new technologies. We’ve taken on new staff and improved the skills of our existing employees.
As a result of working with the AMRC, we have purchased our own 3D printer that has been used for a multitude of things, from machine parts, to jigs, to a scaled plan of our factory. It has also helped our business to save a sum of money and we have also seen massive gains in productivity.
The robot cell has enabled us to unblock bottlenecks by freeing up resource. It’s a massive impact for an SME like Footprint Tools, and we could not have done it without the R&D and innovation talents of the AMRC.
Without the AMRC I don’t think we could have reached the point we are at now. It really was that decisive for us; it was a major factor in our business moving forward.
I can’t emphasise enough how happy we’ve been with the work by the AMRC engineers. They produced designs for our guard idea for a handheld laser marking machine, showing that there is real potential for this to be a world-beating product.
Consultation
We offer free impartial advice to direct you to the right partners (both within or outside the HVM Catapult) to transform your business. Our manufacturing and engineering experts will explore your initial thinking with you to see if we’re the best fit to help transform your business
If we we’re not the best fit, we’ll refer you to other services that can help
Get in touchEvents
Our expert-led events can help you to get to grips with the basics of new technologies and how they can transform your business. Event audiences are also the perfect place to meet similar businesses and potential partners across the supply chain
Many of these events are public and open-access – you can register for these now if you’re interested.
See our latest eventsManufacturing energy toolkit (national pilot)
The changing price of energy, both electricity and gas, can be a major risk for your business. Our experts have the experience and industry know-how to help you slash energy usage across your manufacturing process by up to 46%, helping you to make your money go further.
Cut manufacturing energy costsLine walk
After the initial consultation, our experts may need a tour of your production facility to find any ‘easy wins’ in optimising your production line or area, assess your ability to scale capability within your factory and meet your engineers and workers to find out more about day-to-day struggles.
Start your journeySite visit
After the initial consultation, our experts may need to visit your facilities to find any ‘easy wins’ across your whole operation, assess your ability to adapt to market changes with your current setup and meet your business leaders to find out more about your plans for growth.
Start your journeyDiscovery workshop
After the initial consultation, our experts may need to bring you into our facilities (either physically or digitally) to host a workshop on your business needs. We will find out more about your complex business challenge, work through your ideas using the experience of colleagues across the HVM Catapult and share our ideas for your business needs.
Start initial scoping of a roadmap for your business challenge
Innovation project
If we are the right partners for your business needs, a team of our world-leading engineers will work directly with you to research and develop the right solution for your challenge. Whether this is a new product, technology or process, or the adoption of existing technologies or processes in your business, we’ll work with you to achieve joint goals and maximise your growth.
Start your journeyTraining
In your business action plan, we might recommend training in using specific manufacturing technologies, processes or materials. We offer tailored training, digital courses, apprenticeships and in-depth guidance on sectoral competence frameworks.
Start your journeyKnowledge Transfer Partnership
If we think your business would benefit from extended in-house support to address your challenge, we may recommend that we help recruit a graduate engineer for your business as part of a government-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership.
Start your journeyHVM Catapult centres
Working through and with our seven centres of industrial innovation, we have cover development in areas from material formulation to advanced assembly.
Where do I start and how do I get in touch?
Whether you have an idea for a new product, want to make your manufacturing business more productive or sustainable, or need a hand in moving beyond your current manufacturing industry or market, we’re here for you.
Read our FAQs for answers to some common questions.
