HVM Catapult Support for Smaller Manufacturers

The High Value Manufacturing Catapult offers a dedicated support service for the UK's SME manufacturing businesses, aiming to help them grow, cut production costs, energy use and waste, access new markets, and build productivity. Support is delivered through a three-step process: Engage, where manufacturing and engineering experts give free, impartial advice on the best direction for a project, whether with the Catapult or another organisation, and help make relevant connections; Discover, where the Catapult works with the business to build a tailored improvement plan through activities such as line walks, site visits and discovery workshops; and Transform, where the business gains access to world-class facilities, equipment and expertise to implement solutions such as innovation projects, tailored training, or a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (a government-funded scheme to recruit a graduate engineer). The service draws on Catapult centres such as the MTC and AMRC, and is illustrated with SME case studies covering areas like lead-time reduction, rapid scale-up of production, and machining process improvements. Access starts with an enquiry via an online form.

Aimed at UK manufacturing SMEs (the page cites the UK's 200,000+ manufacturing SMEs); no further formal eligibility criteria are stated on the page.