About the session
Welcome to Cranfield University - Professor Clifford Friend, Acting Vice Chancellor, Cranfield University The National Manufacturing Debate is an annual event hosted by Cranfield University. The event brings together manufacturing professionals from a range of sectors to discuss and debate current challenges in the industry, and encourage networking and collaboration across the sector to enable continued and long-term growth. Now into its fourth successful year, this FREE event will take place over two days, 20 and 21 May 2013. The UK will drop from its current ranking as 15th most competitive manufacturing nation to 19th over in five years' time, and will be increasingly challenged to maintain a competitive edge by emerging nations such as Brazil and India, according to the 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index report from Deloitte. This timely event will therefore examine whether the UK really needs a manufacturing strategy, what such a strategy should include and who should deliver it.
