Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit: shaping the sector’s future

This coming 4–5 June, the NEC Birmingham will once again become the centre of industrial innovation as The Manufacturer hosts its fifth annual Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit, co-located with Smart Manufacturing Week. This year’s event promises to be the most ambitious yet, tackling the most urgent challenges and most exciting opportunities facing manufacturers today.

With the pace of change accelerating across every sector, the summit provides a crucial platform for manufacturing leaders to come together, exchange ideas and explore practical solutions for digital transformation. From scaling smart factory initiatives to integrating AI and building agile supply chains, the summit’s keynote sessions and interactive roundtables will provide insight, inspiration and actionable strategies.

Addressing the real challenges facing UK manufacturers

The manufacturing sector is undergoing a seismic shift. Technology is no longer a bolt-on, it’s the backbone of future competitiveness. But with this opportunity comes complexity. Many of the themes explored at this year’s summit reflect the very real challenges manufacturers are facing on their digital journeys.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a major focus. While the potential of AI to optimise quality control, automate key processes and enhance supply chain planning is widely recognised, many manufacturers still struggle to move from pilot projects to production-scale deployment. A dedicated roundtable will examine how to use AI for predictive maintenance, reduce waste and streamline operations – without losing the vital human expertise that drives innovation.

Data, ERP and the pursuit of smart operations

Despite the wealth of data generated by modern manufacturing environments, many businesses are not yet leveraging it to full effect. At the summit, a roundtable on data-driven decision-making will explore how to break down siloes, connect insights across the business and embed a culture of data into day-to-day operations.

No digitalisation strategy is complete without tackling ERP modernisation. While ERP is often seen as a back-end system, when aligned with broader transformation goals, it can become a key enabler of agility and growth. This year’s summit will host a roundtable on avoiding the common pitfalls of ERP projects, aligning them with AI and MES rollouts, and driving true businesswide engagement.

Another standout theme will be the shift from Industry 4.0 to smart operations. It’s not just about digital connectivity anymore – it’s about transforming how operational decisions are made in real-time using AI agents, automation and intelligent workflows. This evolution demands new thinking about roles, responsibilities and the nature of frontline empowerment. Sessions will explore how to make digital tools genuinely useful for the people using them – and how to ensure adoption takes root at every level of the organisation.

Unlocking the potential of 5G, intelligent workflows and process mining

With connectivity now critical to digital transformation, several sessions will explore the rise of private 5G networks and how they can underpin secure, scalable and agile manufacturing. The focus will be on building infrastructure that supports dataintensive operations, AI applications and real-time analysis – without compromising reliability or security.

Process mining and intelligent workflows will also feature prominently. Process mining software is now helping manufacturers map what actually happens on the factory floor, uncover inefficiencies and drive automation in weeks rather than months. Similarly, intelligent workflows are redefining the relationship between people, machines and data – enabling agile responses, sharper decisions and more engaged teams. One of the biggest hurdles that still remains is cyber security.

Despite growing threats, cyber security is still too often viewed as an IT problem rather than a business-critical priority. A key session will focus on how manufacturers can overcome internal resistance, secure executive buy-in and foster a proactive, security-first culture across the business. The discussion will explore how to make cyber security a shared responsibility and a source of competitive advantage.

Real dialogue, real insight Unlike traditional conferences, the Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit is built around interactive, off-the-record roundtables designed to encourage open discussion and honest insight. Delegates will have the opportunity to choose from a range of discussion topics across both days, covering everything from quality modernisation and frontline transformation to supply chain resilience and scaling smart factory initiatives.

This peer-to-peer format is what sets the summit apart. Whether you’re just starting your digital journey or leading enterprise-wide change, the summit is a space to challenge ideas, test strategies, and share lessons with fellow manufacturers facing the same pressures and ambitions.