Reports
Automation
Industrial Internet of Things - Connected Everything
As part of the Connected Everything project, at the University of Nottingham, Professor Duncan McFarlane championed the thematic research on the Industrial Internet of Things creating a report which is available to download.
Business model innovation
The imperative for business model innovation
The Business Model Innovation White Paper looks at the challenges and opportunities presented by the unifying concept of the business model.
Business model innovation report
A snapshot of research and practice at the IfM. This short report is a first attempt to summarise current activities and hopefully provide a foundation for more systematic enquiry and engagement with others outside the IfM with similar interests.
Adoption of quantum technologies and business model innovation
This white paper presents the findings from over 60 stakeholder interviews on how firms and policymakers need to prepare for the development and commercialisation of quantum technologies to identify value to society and contribute to economic growth.
Design for transformation
Company spending on design: Exploratory survey of UK firms 2008
This report from the IfM's Design Management Group and Centre for Industry and Government provides a first ever evaluation of design spending in UK firms.
International design scoreboard: initial indicators of international design capabilities
This report from the IfM's Design Management Group and Centre for Industry and Government describes the generation of a framework for assessing international design capabilities. This framework is used to provide a first ranking of national design capabilities, using best available evidence.
Is your new product introduction process fit for purpose?
This video explains tools created by the Design Management Group to overcome challenges related to new product introduction. The aim of these tools is to achieve a strategically prioritised portfolio of new products that will be delivered on time, to budget and in demand by the market.
Developing people
The future of the manufacturing workforce
This report shares insights from a recent roundtable discussion convened by the Babbage Forum exploring the future of the manufacturing workforce, with perspectives from OECD, UNIDO, UNCTAD and the World Economic Forum.
Digital manufacturing
The practical impact of digital manufacturing: results from recent international experience
This report by Policy Links for Innovate UK analyses evidence on potential benefits derived from the adoption of digital technologies in the manufacturing sector.
Application of digital technologies to innovation in manufacturing
This report, commissioned by BSI (British Standards Institute), looks at how standards and good practice can help the UK benefit from the 'digital revolution'.
OK Computer?
This study aims to promote better knowledge of the safety and security risks and requirements deriving from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in order to design concrete implementation plans for industry stakeholders to adopt 4IR technologies confidently through pilot studies.
Global supply chains
Understanding China's manufacturing value chain
This report from the IfM's Centre for International Manufacturing examines opportunities for UK enterprises in China and includes elected case studies in white goods, TFT-Liquid crystal display and pharmaceutical sectors.
Understanding risk in pharmaceutical supply chains
This executive briefing, an output from the ReMediES (Reconfiguring Medicines End-to-end Supply) project, covers key elements of supply chain risk specifically linked to the management of pharmaceuticals.
Making the Right Things in the Right Places
Describes a structured approach to understanding and exploiting a company's international 'manufacturing footprint' - the location of its plants around the globe, what their roles should be and how they interact with each other.
Next generation supply chains: making the right decisions about digitalisation
This white paper is based on research carried out by the IfM’s Centre for International Manufacturing and insights emerging from our work with industrial partners. In it we share our latest findings to help global companies consider their digital supply chain strategies.
Capturing value from global networks
Strategic approaches to configuring international production, supply and service operations.
Innovation and IP management
Additive Manufacturing Innovations by UK Organisations
This study examines the state of additive manufacturing (AM) innovation within UK-owned organisations.
Could intellectual property concerns slow the response to COVID-19?
A new paper from IfM and University of Cambridge researchers explores how to avoid IP-related delays in the pandemic response.
Open Innovation
Partnerships between technology-based start-ups and established firms: making them work
Research shows that making partnerships between start-ups and established firms work can be problematic. However, there are ways to increase the chances of success. Here we indicate some of the problems that can arise – and some possible ways to avoid them.
How to implement open innovation: lessons from studying large multinational companies
This report sets out to answer the question "I want to implement open innovation, where should I start and what should I do?" It provides an overview of existing approaches to OI and outlines how a company can start to implement a strategy to match the organisation's needs.
Getting help with open innovation
The report aims to help companies select the most effective source of help with open innovation. It describes the capabilities companies need in order to implement open innovation successfully and the range of assistance offered by different types of innovation intermediaries.
Technology acquisitions
This research investigated the growing trend for companies to acquire technologies from external sources rather than using the firm's own internal research and development activities.
Organising for breakthrough innovation
This report provides companies with guidelines on how to improve their approach to the generation of radically different technologies. The authors describe the obstacles facing firms and their employees when attempting to make significant innovative breakthroughs.
Servitization
When Innovation Follows Promise - Why service innovation is different, and why that matters
This executive briefing authored by Ivanka Visnjic, Taija Turunen and Andy Neely from the Cambridge Service Alliance, looks at the process of service innovation in an attempt to improve the way that service and product-service providers develop new services.
Supplying innovation: unlocking innovation in the supply chain
The Cambridge Service Alliance have launched a new white paper 'Supplying Innovation - Unlocking Innovative Behaviours in the Supply Chain', by Jingchen Hou, Jonathan Baker-Brian, Claire Vine.
Succeeding through service innovation
A service perspective for education, research, business and government.
Feedback from the Frontline: Engaging front-line employees in service innovation
Find out how Cambridge Service Alliance (CSA) researchers constructed a framework that would allow organisations to tap into a rich source of knowledge about their customers.
KT-Box: Improving the competitiveness of UK service providers through applying academic research
'Improving the competitiveness of UK service providers through applying academic research' is the final report from the Knowledge-Transfer Box (KT-Box) programme.
Seven Critical Success Factors in the Shift to Services
A new Executive Briefing from the Cambridge Service Alliance, 'Seven Critical Success Factors in the Shift to Services, sets out a roadmap for making the shift to services journey.
Strategic asset management
Intelligent assets for the infrastructure of the future
IfM's Professor Duncan McFarlane (Head of DIAL) and Ajith Parlikad (Head of Asset Management) have co-authored an ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers) Guidance Paper on how new technologies will transform the infrastructures of the future.
Key Considerations in Asset Management Design
This executive briefing from the Cambridge Service Alliance outlines different aspects to consider when rethinking your asset management system.
Sustainability
Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom
This report produced by researchers in the IfM's Sustainable Manufacturing Group, sets out a vision of a sustainable clothes industry which at the same time would offer new opportunities to retailers and manufacturers.
Industrial Evolution - Making British Manufacturing Sustainable
Report from the UK Manufacturing Commission Inquiry into Industrial Sustainability in which vital measures are outlined that government and industry should take to ensure that British manufacturing is here to stay.
Towards a sustainable industrial system, with recommendations for education, research, industry and policy
This report calls for a collaborative effort by academics, teachers, industrialists and policy makers to create a sustainable, global industrial system.
Technology and innovation policy
The Different Roles of Technology in Technological Emergence
These briefing notes are short summaries of some of the ongoing work being conducted in CSTI. They are developed to communicate some potentially useful concepts, observations and practices, particularly for the purpose of informing policy developers.
The Manufacturability Challenges of Emerging Technologies
This CSTI project 'Pathways to Manufacturing' aims to advance understanding of the manufacturability challenges faced when deploying a new technology at scale.
A review of international public sector roadmaps - advanced materials
This report explores published international strategies for supporting advanced materials research and innovation.
The Defence and Security Technology Competency Report: Collaboration and leverage towards the UK 2035 landscape
The work was commissioned to help inform development of MoD strategy for research and development in technology, in line with the direction set in the National Security through Technology White Paper (2012).
Industrial Pact for Yucatan
This study sets out to inform new strategies and initiatives aimed at supporting Yucatan?s industrial development. It draws upon a wide consultation with industry, academia and government as well as a structured review of the literature.
Building Long Term Strategic University-Industry Partnerships Report
A new report from the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy have published a new report which sets out key lessons, insights and effective practices for developing and nurturing effective strategic university-industry partnerships (UISPs).
High Value Manufacturing Landscape 2016 Interim Report
Building on the 2012 High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Landscape published by the IfM, this new study looks at the UK's high value manufacturing landscape over the next 15 to 20 years.
Building strategic university-industry partnerships: lessons from the UK and US
A new report discussing key lessons and effective practices from UK and US experiences for building and nurturing effective and mutually beneficial strategic university-industry partnerships.
Making It - Advanced Manufacturing in the Liverpool City Region to 2020
The Making It process has been led by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership with support from the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, BIS, Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and supporting LCR based companies.
Making the most of production
This report from the IfM's investigates the importance of production to companies and seeks to understand the long-term implications of moving production abroad or outsourcing production to other companies.
Role of Standardisation in support of Emerging Technologies
A Study for the Department of Business,?Innovation & Skills (BIS) and the British?Standards Institution (BSI).
The Future of Manufacturing: A New Era of Opportunity
This report is intended for policy-makers, legislators, a wide range of business people, and the professionals and researchers whose interests relate to the manufacturing sector.
The Future UK Life Sciences Manufacturing Landscape
This report follows on from a study into the future of High Value Manufacturing (HVM) in the UK commissioned by the Technology Strategy Board and published in February 2012. One of the HVM study recommendations was that particular manufacturing sectors should be explored in greater depth. This report presents the findings from studies of the pharmaceutical and?biopharmaceutical sectors.
Making smart specialisation smarter: an industrial-innovation system approach: the case of Agri-tech East
This report summarises a pilot project designed in collaboration with the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to explore new approaches to enhance the effectiveness of smart specialisation in UK regions.
The future of High Value Manufacturing in the UK - Pharmaceutical, Biopharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors
This report follows on from a study into the future of High Value Manufacturing (HVM), in the UK commissioned by the Technology Strategy Board and published in February 2012.
Developing effective strategies for emerging technologies
Strategies for specific emerging technologies are being developed in the UK, USA, and Japan. A workshop exploring the ‘Lessons Learned and Emerging Practices’ from UK activities was hosted to inform future strategy development and the implications for policy makers.
A landscape for the future of high value manufacturing in the UK
This study sets out to understand the global manufacturing context in which UK companies must compete and how that context is expected to evolve over the next 15-20 years.
A review of international approaches to manufacturing research
This study explores international approaches to the support of manufacturing research, the prioritisation of research domains, and practices for translating new knowledge into industry.
Value of food & drink manufacturing to the UK
An ongoing demonstrable commitment to innovation and high-value production are key reasons why the UK's food and drink industry has emerged from recession in better shape than many other manufacturing sectors.
Innovate Indonesia: Unlocking growth through technological transformation
This study, developed by the IfM's Policy Links Unit for Indonesia's Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank, explores policy options to facilitate Indonesia’s technological transformation and unlock its economic growth potential.
The practical impact of digital manufacturing
Governments in a number of countries have made investments in digital manufacturing. Are there yet signs of resulting upturn in productivity, gross value added, or employment? A new report from Policy Links considers the evidence.
Has manufacturing been underestimated?
How much does manufacturing really matter to the UK’s economic prosperity? A report prepared for the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, by Jostein Hauge and Eoin O’Sullivan.
Emerging trends in global advanced manufacturing: challenges, opportunities and policy responses
In collaboration with UNIDO, this report provides an update on the megatrends and technological developments driving change in global advanced manufacturing, paying particular attention to the increasing digitalisation of manufacturing.
The Nature, Location and Functioning of International Research Collaborations
A report exploring the structure, location, partner contributions, anticipated outcomes, and functioning of the collaborations UK manufacturing researchers have with international partners.
COVID-19: International manufacturing policy responses
How are governments supporting manufacturing during the COVID-19 crisis? A new report from the IfM’s Policy Links Unit reviews the current responses of 11 countries and the EU, providing a snapshot of the international policy landscape.
The effects of COVID-19 on how universities contribute to innovation
This report – led by the new University Commercialisation and Innovation Policy Evidence Unit with support from the UK National Centre for Universities and Business – investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability of universities to contribute to innovation through the crisis and into the economic recovery.
UK Innovation Report
The UK Innovation Report benchmarks the UK’s industrial and innovation performance in a global context. It brings together, for the first time in a single place, innovation and value-added indicators in a concise and accessible format.
UK Marine Industries - Technology Roadmap 2015
The 2015 Marine Industries Technology Roadmap examines those parts of the industry building vessels or supplying equipment and services for the commercial, leisure, naval?and marine science sectors.
The UK Innovation Report 2022
The UK Innovation Report 2022 benchmarks the UK’s industrial and innovation performance in a global context. It brings together innovation and value-added indicators in a concise and accessible format.
Future scenarios for the UK food and drink industry
This report highlights the challenges facing the industry as it looks to maintain the nation's food security against the combined effects of climate change, higher global demand for agricultural products and increasing pressure on finite resources.
Technology management
Reducing the risk of failure in new product development
Project delays, cost overruns, misalignment with company strategy - these are just some of the things that can go wrong with new product development and they are often directly attributable to the very earliest stages of the innovation process.
Communicating technology intelligence
Communicating technology intelligence effectively to decision-makers can be challenging. This Practice Guide explores the reasons why and suggests some practical strategies for overcoming barriers.
