Agenda: How manufacturers stay competitive during instability
The people, technologies and ideas helping manufacturers do more with less.
10:00 – 10:10
Welcome
Setting the scene for the day and introducing the key themes shaping manufacturing competitiveness.
10:10 – 10:30
KEYNOTE: From Carbon Targets to Competitive Advantage — Rebuilding the Business Case for Industrial Sustainability
Net zero commitments are colliding with tighter capital, volatile costs and changing policy. Explore how manufacturers can reconnect decarbonisation with productivity, resilience and return on investment—and build a case that withstands board-level scrutiny.
10:30 – 10:40
Roundtables explainers: Choose the Challenges Most Relevant to Your Business
Each hosts gives a 30 second overview of their proposed conversation, so you can choose your best fit!
10:40 - 11:10
Peer Roundtable Rotation 1
Choose from a range of peer-led discussions covering manufacturing performance, operational excellence, supply chains, energy, AI, digitalisation and leadership.
11:10 - 11:40
Peer Roundtable Rotation 2
Choose from a range of peer-led discussions covering manufacturing performance, operational excellence, supply chains, energy, AI, digitalisation and leadership.
Round Table 1 - The Productivity Squeeze: Raising Output When Headcount and Capex Are Constrained
Discussion points:
Identify the operational constraints limiting throughput before defaulting to additional headcount or capital investment.
Compare practical approaches to improving labour productivity, asset utilisation and production flow using existing resources.
Prioritise the interventions most likely to deliver rapid payback without increasing operational risk.
Round Table 2 - The Visibility Gap: Turning Fragmented Factory Data Into Faster Decisions
Discussion points:
Identify the data gaps and disconnected systems delaying decisions across production, maintenance, quality and energy.
Determine which information leaders genuinely need to manage performance, rather than creating more dashboards and reporting.
Establish clearer ownership, governance and routines that turn operational data into timely action.
Beyond Tier One: Finding Supply-Chain Risk Before It Stops Production
Discussion points:
Map the suppliers, materials and dependencies that create the greatest exposure beyond the immediate supply base.
Identify practical early-warning indicators before disruption affects production, cost or customer delivery.
Balance resilience measures with the commercial realities of inventory, working capital and supplier relationships.
Round Table 4 - Energy Volatility: Protecting Margin Without Compromising Output
Discussion points:
Quantify where energy price volatility, peak demand and inefficient consumption are eroding manufacturing margin.
Identify operational and low-capital actions that can reduce energy cost without constraining production.
Build a stronger investment case for efficiency, flexibility and on-site energy infrastructure.
Round Table 5 - AI With a Business Case: Moving From Pilot to Measurable Operational Value
Discussion points:
Distinguish credible manufacturing use cases from technology-led pilots with no clear commercial return.
Identify the data, process, skills and governance foundations required before AI can scale.
Define success measures and decision gates for stopping, improving or expanding an AI initiative.
Round Table 6 - From One Site to Every Site: Why Improvement Programmes Fail to Scale
Discussion points:
Diagnose why successful pilots lose momentum when they move across sites, teams or business units.
Determine which processes should be standardised and where local adaptation is essential.
Create a repeatable rollout model with clear ownership, resource commitments and benefits tracking.
Round Table 7 - Legacy Systems, Modern Demands: Improving Performance Without a Full-System Replacement
Discussion points:
Identify where legacy technology is genuinely constraining performance and where the underlying problem lies elsewhere.
Explore practical ways to improve connectivity, data access and automation while protecting uptime and security.
Build a phased modernisation roadmap tied to operational value rather than a costly rip-and-replace programme.
Round Table 8 -Yield, Scrap and Material Cost: Where Margin Is Being Lost on the Factory Floor
Discussion points:
Identify the largest sources of margin leakage across yield loss, rework, scrap and material variance.
Connect production, quality and process data to uncover the root causes of recurring waste.
Prioritise improvements that raise first-pass yield, reduce material consumption and deliver measurable savings.
Round Table 9 - The Execution Bottleneck: Too Many Priorities, Too Little Management Capacity
Discussion points:
Turn competing initiatives into explicit choices based on value, urgency, resource requirements and execution risk.
Align leadership attention, ownership and operational capacity behind the priorities that matter most.
Decide which projects to accelerate, sequence, pause or stop before resources are spread too thinly.
Round Table 10 - Growth Under Cost Pressure: Protecting Margin While Investing for the Next Cycle
Discussion points:
Identify which growth investments remain commercially defensible when demand, input costs and policy are uncertain.
Balance short-term margin protection with longer-term investment in capacity, technology, skills and resilience.
Use scenarios, milestones and clear investment criteria to sequence strategic bets and limit downside risk.
11:40 - 12:10
Morning Networking Break
12:10 - 12:30
KEYNOTE: From AI Pilot to Operational Payback — Where Data and Technology Are Delivering Value
Cut through the noise around AI and digitalisation to identify measurable gains in cost, quality, uptime and decision speed.
12:30 - 13:00
Peer Roundtable Rotation 3
Test another business priority with peers and identify practical actions you can take back into your organisation.
13:00 - 14:00
Networking Lunch
Build new relationships and continue the morning’s conversations with speakers, table hosts and fellow manufacturing leaders.
14:00 – 14:20
KEYNOTE: Designing for Disruption — Protecting Output, Margin and Customer Service
Explore how manufacturers are redesigning operations and supply chains to absorb disruption without sacrificing output, margin or customer commitments.
14:20 - 14:50
PANEL: The Cost of Fragility — Where Manufacturing Resilience Breaks Down and What to Fix First
Senior leaders examine where hidden dependencies, weak visibility and constrained capacity create risk—and which interventions should take priority.
14:50 - 15:20
Afternoon Networking Break
Continue the debate, compare priorities and make the connections that can turn the day’s ideas into practical action.
15:20 - 15:40
PANEL: The Decisions That Cannot Wait — Balancing Margin, Resilience and Growth
A candid discussion on the trade-offs leaders face when capital is limited, conditions are uncertain and every priority appears urgent.
15:40 - 16:00
Open Q&A - The 90-Day Agenda — What Should Manufacturing Leaders Act on First?
Turn the day’s insight into a focused 90-day agenda, with clear priorities for performance, resilience, investment and execution.
