MTA ready to help manufacturers combat economic headwinds

RATHER THAN accepting the status quo, MTA members are actively sourcing new business opportunities and working with the supply chain to negate the economic headwinds currently buffeting UK industry. It is an approach that has consistently demonstrated why the UK manufacturing industry is one of the most resilient in the world.

With traditional solutions, such as selling more of a product to more customers, not always meeting with success in the circumstances in which we currently find ourselves, many manufacturers are being creative and looking to expand their scope by developing new products for new customers.

Tough times call for tough decisions

Often this entails revamping production processes or investing in new machinery to develop the products which are in demand. Investment decisions in a recessionary economy are challenging and no one is denying it isn’t difficult. However, tough times call for tough decisions and being bold now will reap rewards in the future.

The emergence of new technologies is helping to create new opportunities and shrewd manufacturers are looking to capitalise on trends in areas such as additive manufacturing and decarbonisation. 

I take great comfort from the fact manufacturers are prepared to be flexible and adapt to changes in demand. Under such circumstances it is only right that the MTA should be equally as flexible, which is why we have adapted our own business model to ensure we continue to meet the needs of engineering-based manufacturers.

Adopting a cluster approach

The new business model has seen the MTA adopt a cluster approach to its structure. In 2021, we brought the Engineering Industries Association (EIA) under our wing and last year we did the same with AMUK, the only UK trade association representing additive manufacturing. The cluster also includes the biennial MACH exhibition and Engineering Supply Chain Show. The enhanced scope this affords the MTA means we can better represent more of the manufacturing technologies sector and respond faster to the needs of members.

With MACH and the ESC Show, the MTA has the opportunity of showcasing every other year, everything new in the industry, helping manufacturers better plan their investment decisions by displaying the largest collection of working machinery under one roof than anywhere else in the UK.

While we may be more than a year away from MACH 2024, we are already actively planning the event and will seek to ensure its relevance to the current needs of manufacturers. Identifying emerging opportunities will be critical to exhibitors and visitors alike, but we are confident that with the expanded scope of the association and its cluster we are in a stronger position than ever to ensure the needs of UK manufacturers are better represented than ever before.

However, one thing that will not be changing is the spirit of the event, with MACH remaining the national manufacturing show run by the industry, for the industry.
We are excited by what’s in store and we hope the industry will be as well.

James Selka is CEO of the Manufacturing Technologies Association

For more information: 

www.mta.org.uk

Tel: 020 7298 6400