Manufacturing together: Solving supply chain challenges through collaboration

Join a community of UK manufacturers and tech innovators for an interactive, in-person workshop exploring how digital solutions can help tackle shared operational challenges.

Built around peer discussion and real-world experience, this session brings together industry voices to exchange insights, learn from one another, and uncover practical approaches to scaling operations, improving visibility, and accelerating digital adoption.

UK manufacturers are navigating a complex landscape shaped by geopolitical uncertainty, rising costs, supply chain disruption, and increasing customer expectations. While these challenges are widely shared, the solutions are often discovered in collaboration.

This in-person workshop brings together a community of UK manufacturers and tech innovators to openly explore what’s working, what isn’t, and what’s next.

Through a highly interactive format of lightning talks, rotating roundtables, and shared problem-solving, participants will:

• Learn directly from peers facing similar operational pressures
• Exchange practical experiences and lessons learned
• Identify digital tools and approaches delivering real value
• Collaboratively explore supply chain visibility challenges
• Surface common barriers and solutions to digital adoption

Designed as a space for honest conversation rather than one-way presentation, this session enables participants to contribute as much as they learn, helping to build a stronger, more connected manufacturing community.

This workshop is designed for professionals across the manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem, including:

• SME manufacturers looking to strengthen operations
• Supply chain, operations, and procurement leaders
• Digital transformation and innovation managers
• Technology providers working with the manufacturing sector

09:30 – Arrivals and registration 

10:00 – Welcome to Digital Catapult 

10:10 – Intro to the Digital Supply Chain Hub
Simran Baughen, Programme Manager – Digital Supply Chain Hub, Digital Catapult

10:20 – Opening Session: Operations shared pressures 

• Lightning Talks (2 speakers sharing practical insights) 

• Roundtables:  

1. Where is your operation under the most pressure?
   A peer discussion on shared challenges across cost, sourcing and demand 
2. Scaling without breaking 
   Learning from each other’s experiences of growth and risk 

• Challenge & Solutions Wall (capture and share ideas across the community) 

10:50 – Insights from the Community 

• Lightning Talks (2 speakers highlighting what’s worked in practice) 

• Roundtables:  

1. Digital tools that actually deliver value
   Peer recommendations on solutions making a real difference 
2. Visibility gaps in supply chains
   Identifying common blind spots and how others are addressing them 

11:20 – Barriers, Trade-offs & Progress 

• Lightning Talks (2 speakers sharing lessons learned) 

• Roundtables:  

1. What’s stopping you moving faster?
   Open discussion on barriers and how others are overcoming them 
2. The toughest supply chain changes
   Sharing experiences, trade-offs and hard-earned lessons 

11:50 – Closing remarks 

12:00 – Lunch & networking 

13:00 – Close