MACH poised to be the go-to event for 2022

HEADING INTO 2022, the UK’s manufacturing and engineering community have every reason to be confident. Government forecasts suggest UK growth of 6.0% while the incentive of 130% capital allowances are in place on qualifying plant and machinery investments. Add in the COP26 global summit, focussing attention on the importance of tackling climate change, and 2022 is set to be a momentous year. 
There has therefore never been a better time for visitors to attend MACH and the new Engineering Supply Chain show to take advantage of these opportunities.

Organised by the industry, for the industry
MACH 2022 is the UK’s national event for inspiring, innovating and connecting manufacturing and will take place 4-8th April 2022 at the NEC, Birmingham. Organised by the industry, for the industry, MACH is owned by the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), a not-for-profit organisation.

There has been talk in the national media and beyond recently about the challenges facing the manufacturing industry, much of it ill-informed and spouted by those without any real knowledge of what these challenges truly are.
The Manufacturing Technologies Association is different. Why? Because we are the industry. We are owned by the industry, and we talk regularly to our members to develop a true understanding of the issues facing them and what steps are needed to create the conditions under which they can thrive and add value as an important wealth-creating component of British industry.
Unlike other commercial multi-sector organisations, the manufacturing technologies industry is in our DNA. MACH is staged for manufacturers by manufacturers; our members, our board and – most importantly, in this context – our exhibition committee, all work to ensure we reflect the industry’s true needs and offer show content that is relevant and value-enhancing. 

Green manufacturing
With the COP26 global summit focussing attention on the importance of tackling climate change, the green agenda has never been more relevant to UK manufacturers. Manufacturers have a key role to play in helping to achieve the goals outlined by the Glasgow summit - which is why there will be a strong focus on the opportunities presented by decarbonisation during MACH 2022.
The desire to achieve sustainable manufacturing processes is now within our grasp and the latest engineering and manufacturing technologies are massively contributing to the ‘greening up’ of the industry. 

We must start being more ambitious as a country, moving our attitude from “how much will it cost” to “what value will this investment bring to our business?” – and we have the weapons in our armoury to achieve this. Generous government support packages in the form of the Annual Investment Allowance of £1M and the super deduction capital allowance incentive encourage vital investment. Never have the latest technologies been more powerful, more affordable and financeable as they are now.

New opportunities for the UK’s manufacturing supply chain
We would like to see a more sustainable approach to the UK supply chain, with more intelligent sourcing of product from within the UK. Encouragingly, many companies from within the UK are already looking at reshoring. 

The Engineering Supply Chain Exhibition, a show within a show, is launching for the first time at MACH 2022 and is intended to highlight some of the opportunities that can be found within the UK supply chain. This new exhibition is where engineering and manufacturing buyers can go to find world-class suppliers, exclusively in the UK engineering and manufacturing supply chain.

There are three key things businesses need to improve productivity and therefore competitiveness; the latest technology, the finance to acquire the technology and the skills to acquire and deploy them. MACH and The Engineering Supply Chain show provide visitors with a unique opportunity – the first for a long time – to achieve all these targets with one visit to one venue. 

We look forward to welcoming the UK’s manufacturing and engineering community to the NEC in April.

James Selka is CEO of the Manufacturing Technologies Association

For more information visit: https://www.machexhibition.com
Tel: 020 7298 6400