EVENT REVIEW
F
or the first time, Manufacturing Digital brought its community off the page and into the room, as leaders from across operations, production, supply chain and procurement gathered in London for the inaugural Manufacturing LIVE. This one-day event took place on 9 September, co-located at the QEII Centre alongside the two-day Sustainability LIVE, Supply Chain LIVE and Procurement LIVE. Industry experts discussed topics such as the barriers to scaling industrial AI beyond the pilot stage, the widening manufacturing skills gap and how to bridge legacy shop-floor systems with modern AI tools. Attendees heard from Bhavik Pathak of Alstom, Richard Grieveson of Shipshape Manufacturing, Ashley Naughton of PA Consulting and Tarek Ismaeil of Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe, alongside hundreds of speakers on three other stages. With 2,500 attendees across the four co-located events, Manufacturing LIVE’ s debut was the place to be when it comes to networking with the leaders shaping the sector’ s next chapter. After years of talking about these challenges from a distance, the sessions turned that momentum into practical strategies for closing the skills gap and scaling AI, as manufacturers push to move beyond pilot purgatory.
56 October 2026