What's next for manufacturing leadership?
Event recap by Liz McArdle, Innovation Manager, WMG.
On Tuesday 11th March 2025, we held our event 'What's next for manufacturing leadership?' at WMG, the University of Warwick. The event offered a taster of our newly developed manufacturing leadership course, showcasing key learnings, and exploring how we can shape the future of leadership in SME manufacturing businesses, together.
Background
After developing our new leadership programme, myself and Gun Gokmen, Technology Transfer Engineer at WMG, wanted to showcase our findings from the course, its real-world impact and future direction.
For manufacturers, by manufacturers; with over 30 years working within the manufacturing community, we identified a gap in the market.
With so many challenges; energy hikes, Net Zero, automation and AI, it's easy to be distracted from the key focus on what can make or break a manufacturing business: leadership.
The event provided a unique opportunity to connect with key stakeholders, learn about further deployment of the leadership programme, and contribute to a shared vision for the future of manufacturing leadership.
Our event included:
- An introduction by Prof David Greenwood, Director for Industrial Engagement, and CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG.
- An interactive session, led by myself and Gun on our Future Sustainable Manufacturing Leaders Programme.
- A panel discussion: 'The future of leadership in manufacturing', with leadership experts from the industry and participants from the programme.
- Insights about leadership styles and what makes a great leader.
- An opportunity to network with key figures from the manufacturing sector.
About the event
Hosted by James Black, Principal Engineer at WMG, we spent the morning taking our attendees on a journey through the future of leadership in manufacturing.
The panel discussion, led by Zoe Mobberley, Marketing Officer at WMG was a highlight, as we heard the direct impact the programme had on our participants and how they were able to apply their new leadership skills back in their workplaces.
The panel included participants from the programme, Jacqui Ward and Mo Younis, sponsor Martin Harrison from Samuel Heath, Kevin Mole from Warwick Business School and myself, Liz McArdle.
We had a great turnout for this event, and attendees were excited to discuss and explore how we can increase awareness and drive impact in SME manufacturing businesses in the West Midlands, through developing leadership skills.
Get involved
It was a great event and we enjoyed showcasing the results of the programme with our attendees, which included some of our collaboration partners such as West Midlands Combined Authority and Sustainability West Midlands.
We can't wait to see where this programme can go in the future, and to see how our participants apply their new viewpoints on leadership to create lasting impact in the industry.
Through this programme, future leaders are equipped with the skills to lead confidently and drive sustainable success in manufacturing.
Want to shape the future of leadership in manufacturing together? Register your interest in sponsoring, attending or participating in a future programme: email WMGSME@warwick.ac.uk