Cranfield University: contribution to the local industrial strategy

Abstract

Cranfield University aims to contribute to the development of the Local Industrial Strategy by specifically focusing on potential collaborations with local manufacturing SMEs through its teaching and research portfolio. Local and national manufacturing surveys were reviewed in order to identify the skills needs of the industry and, based on them, potential training collaborations were discussed. In addition, the global trends that are expected to drive the future of the industry were also reviewed and discussed together with Cranfield’s areas of expertise, available funding opportunities and current SMEs’ research interests. The reviews showed that the partnership between local manufacturing SMEs and Cranfield University is hindered by various factors, reduced operational capabilities of SMEs being probably the most significant component. To overcome these issues, Cranfield must consider the needs of each SME and SMEs must understand the benefits partner with Cranfield can provide.