Scaling-up the digital capability of UK industry
Context
UKRI – Made Smarter Innovation funded a series of initiatives to support UK manufacturing investment in and adoption of new digital technologies. Ultimately this would increase competitiveness and realise an ambition to become a global leader in industrial digitalisation.
To achieve this vision, the universities of Sheffield, Loughborough and Strathclyde recognised the importance of bringing industry and academia together to address not only the technology challenges, but the associated economic and social issues too.
Many of the barriers to digital innovation in manufacturing are not technological, but economic and behavioural. Social science, with its focus on human behaviour, has much to contribute to help industry overcome these challenges.
Objectives
The team wanted to bridge the gap between academia and industry by:
Commissioning fresh research and fostering greater collaboration
Create cutting edge new tools to facilitate the adoption of technologies
Disseminate the latest knowledge to industry partners in accessible formats
Improve the competitiveness of UK manufacturing
Approach
Firehaus worked in close partnership with the Directors of the research network and UKRI teams to: devise a brand identity for the project - one which tied in with the parent Made Smarter brand,
Create a distinct name and proposition that conveyed the social science remit and the collaborative model
Create the brand identity and manifesto film (below)
Develop a range of assets for the nascent brand to quickly establish its identity and purpose
Interact – Pioneering Insight for Industry
The name reflected the collaborative, interdisciplinary and action-oriented agenda between academia and industry
The stand-out two-tone colour treatment and visual device (T-shaped people) emphasised the human focus of Interact’s work
Results
The impact of the brand development coupled with inspirational leadership from the Directors, drove a sense of belonging and pride across multiple research teams across disparate locations.
“Firehaus were great to work with. They explained everything and discussed our choices. They listened to our multiple stakeholders and were very flexible. We ended up with something we are delighted with – but would never have been able to do ourselves!”
Professor Jill MacBryde, Director of Interact
Branded content series: Insights from History
With the Interact brand off to a confident start, we were invited to support a number of research teams including Aston University academics Dr Ahmad Beltagui and Dr Brian Sudlow. Their work explored what today’s manufacturing innovators can learn from the way industrial technologies have been adopted in the past.
“Firehaus were excellent. They kept up a good dialogue with us while working towards the right scripts for our films, supporting us through filming itself.”
Dr Brian Sudlow, Lecturer in History, Aston University