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Report Resources Tool Video Webinar

Business Model Innovation and Digital Servitization in UK Manufacturing Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

This project explores the application of digital servitization business models in the context of UK Manufacturing Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), by empirically depicting its antecedents and firm-level implications. Following the completion of a large empirical study, the key contextual and organisational factors that determine successful implementation of business models have been identified. The study’s key findings suggest that SMEs can achieve high performance through adoption of digital servitization business models, depending on how well each model aligns with the organisation’s context and design.  

To assist the UK Manufacturing community, in addition to the main report, the project’s deliverables are accessible to stakeholders through its dedicated microsite, SME toolkit, video training manual and practitioner webinar.

Download “Business Model Innovation and Digital Servitization in UK Manufacturing Small and Medium Sized Enterprises - report” Business-Model-Innovation-and-Digital-Servitization.pdf – Downloaded 136 times – 1.46 MB

Project MicroSite 

The microsite provides SMEs with a valuable resource that practitioners can engage with, to better understand digital servitization and its corresponding business models. Developed in an illustrative manner, the microsite provides a visual overview of the study’s data and key findings and constitutes the project’s primary means of impact on business practice. 

SME Toolkit 

A key project output, the self-assessment toolkit aspires to assist SME principal decision-makers in diagnosing the contextual and organisational conditions of their business and determine the suitability of digital servitization business models. Toolkit users are invited to complete an anonymised questionnaire and in turn, they receive a recommendation of which business model might represent the best match to their current conditions. 

Video Training Manual 

The video training manual represents a step-by-step guide to the toolkit and provides users with the key terms of interest and the process of answering the toolkit questions.  

Online Webinar 

As a primary dissemination activity, the project’s first ex-post webinar has been delivered in early August 2023 to raise awareness about the project, communicate the study’s findings and promote the publication of the main report and its accompanying intellectual outputs. 

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Resources Video

Storytelling Fellowship videos

The Storytelling Fellowship programme is a core element of the InterAct Network. It aims to harness the power of stories to learn from, and address, the human aspects of the diffusion of new technologies in industry. These human aspects include themes such as:

• Productivity
• Resilience
• Competitiveness
• Sustainability
• Levelling-up/inclusion
• Wellbeing

Our Storytelling Fellows have created a growing archive of digital, video stories that you can access below:

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Resources Video

Insights from History: technological change in the mining industry – animated explainer

By widening their field of vision through cases from history, this InterAct funded team from Cranfield and Aston Universities argue that today’s manufacturers have the chance during this digital transition to increase their appreciation of the potential risks and opportunities that lie ahead, and perhaps even stimulate creative solutions to them.

In this video, the team examines how small scale technological changes in the mining industry influenced the lives and capabilities of people employed in the sector, and how this is relevant today.

This research was conducted by Dr. Ahmad Beltagui, Dr. Brian Sudlow of Aston University Dr. Miying Yang and Glen Jonata.of Cranfield University, and Qinglan Liu of Exeter University.

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Resources Video

Making investments into digitalisation: the manufacturer’s perspective – animated explainer

The competitiveness of industry in the UK is dependent on the rapidly growing digitalisation of manufacturers. Digitalisation provides the opportunity to drive the efficiency and innovativeness of manufacturers, and forms the basis for creating new business models. Yet, manufacturers are lagging in their investments into digitalisation and risk missing out on capturing the opportunities digitalisation offers. This video outlines the specific challenges the manufacturing industry faces when making effective investments into digitalisation and identifies the key questions they should address to overcome them.

This research was conducted by Dr Andreas Schroeder, Dr Yang Zhao and Dr Daniel Andrews of Aston University.

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Resources Video

Welcome to the InterAct Network

Find out more about InterAct, our aims and how we’re helping to build a more sustainable, effective manufacturing future.

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Resources Video

Transform Fest 2022 – manufacturing panel discussion

InterAct Co-Director and Dean of Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics, Professor Janet Godsell, hosts a panel discussion on ‘Leading global manufacturing operations against the backdrop of a highly disrupted supply ecosystem’.

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Resources Video Webinar

InterAct Early Career Researcher Fellowship – FAQ webinar

Hear from InterAct Co-director, Professor Jillian MacBryde, as she answers some of the frequently asked questions around our Early Career Researcher (ECR) Fellowship.

Refer to our funding opportunities webpage to find out when the ECR Fellowship application windows are open.

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Resources Video Webinar

Future of Digital Manufacturing Ecosystems – Launch Webinar

UK manufacturing supply chains have been tested to their limits by the global disruptions of recent years, from Brexit to COVID 19 and the crisis in Ukraine.

To regain competitiveness during this turbulent time, firms are urged to take stock of their supply chains and consider:
• What could the future of UK manufacturing look like? • What are the associated business models?
• How can they leverage industrial digital technologies to create a more sustainable, responsible future?

This webinar examined the results of a survey of manufacturing firms in the Midlands region and launching the ‘Future of Digital Manufacturing Ecosystems’ project. This is a joint programme between the InterAct Network led by Professor Jan Godsell (Dean of the School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University), Make UK and Midlands Engine.

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Resources Video Webinar

How to write better grant applications – webinar

This session, led by InterAct Co-director Professor Jan Godsell and featuring successful InterAct grant applicant Dr. Andreas Schroeder examines examples of successful applications, developing opportunities for networking/feedback, and through sharing our knowledge of navigating the administrative processes associated with funding calls.

Find out more about how you can develop better funding proposals and more effectively tie your research in to the overall aims and objectives of InterAct and Made Smarter Innovation.

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Resources Video Webinar

Open Funding Call – Q&A Webinar

Hear from InterAct Co-directors, Professors Jan Godsell and Jillian MacBryde, as they discuss the specifics InterAct Open Funding Call and answer numerous questions pertaining to the call.

The InterAct Open Funding Call is a single Commissioned Research call with a budget of £400,000. There will be up to eight awards, with no minimum value for a request, but the maximum that shall be awarded to any single project is £62,500 (at 100% FEC), of which 80% will be funded by InterAct (i.e., £50,000 maximum funding for a single project).

Projects are welcomed from a broad range of economic and social sciences, that will create ‘actionable insights’ to support the delivery of the five Made Smarter Innovation challenge objectives.

Full details of the funding call are available on our funding opportunities page.