CAMBRIDGE - IfM 2016 annual Briefing Day

In the opening session, IfM researchers considered some of the challenges of competing in an Industry 4.0 world, including:

• The need to have standards, skills, infrastructure, SME capabilities and security measures in place to support digitalisation
• Developing more reconfigurable, intelligent and hence resilient systems within the factory (or across a production network)
• Designing data-enabled supply chains and supporting a ‘digital attitude’ to supply chain development
• Using digitalisation strategies to support business model innovation in order to deliver the outcomes customers want.

During the rest of the all-day event, delegates were also able to hear about the latest research in a range of other areas from across the whole spectrum of manufacturing – from R&D and design to supply, production and service.

Our team of practitioners from IfM Education and Consultancy Services (IfM ECS) described some of our recent collaborations, where research-based tools and techniques have been applied in both industrial contexts and in the public sector.

Delegates also heard about IfM’s executive and professional development programmes and its industrially-focused undergraduate and postgraduate courses.