Manufacturing under the microscope

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

A HIGH-LEVEL conference in Cambridge this week will debate one of the critical issues currently facing industrial policy in the UK: the role of manufacturing in the economy.

Senior industrialists, academics and policy-makers will come together to discuss the contribution of manufacturing to economic growth, trade performance and regional prosperity, concluding with a debate chaired by Evan Davis, economics editor of the BBC.

The conference - Manufacturing Matters in the 'New Economy' - has been jointly organised by the Cambridge-MIT Institute and the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing. It takes place on Friday at New Hall College, University of Cambridge.

Contributors include John Cheffins, chief operating officer, Rolls-Royce; Tim Tyson, president, global manufacturing and supply, GlaxoSmithKline; Willi Heuser, operations manager, Ford Europe; professor Richard Lester, founder and director of the Industrial Performance Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Ron Martin, professor of economic geography, and Robert Rowthorn, professor of economics, University of Cambridge.

The aims of the conference are to understand the economic arguments underpinning manufacturing policy and practice, to share industrial experience of operating in the US and the UK, and to identify lessons for industrialists and policymakers and opportunities for collaboration.

The recent publication of the Government's manufacturing strategy reflects the importance of the theme of this conference. The strategy lays out what the government sees as its role 'in helping companies face the challenges of globalisation, technology and varying states of the business cycle'.

Issues to be discussed during the day will include the role of knowledge-based and high-tech sectors, regional innovation and cluster strategies that can enable manufacturing to play an important role in wealth creation in the UK.

The Cambridge-MIT Institute is a pioneering joint venture between two world-class organisations, the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Supported by the UK government and industrial partners, CMI's mission is to undertake education and research designed to improve competitiveness, productivity and entrepreneurship in the UK.

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