SMART FINANCING
Advancements in additive manufacturing such as the further development of 3D printing products are taking the industry by storm
investment in critical technological and process improvements , such as automation and robotics , will place UK supply chains behind counterparts in other countries . Obsolete machinery is more susceptible to malfunction and run the risk of lengthy unplanned downtime , in addition to putting throughput in jeopardy . Now that the UK economy is on more solid ground , investment plans that have been postponed previously have now been gradually realised , with manufacturing investment having increased 48 percent from its trough in 2009 .
For many small- and medium-sized manufacturers , however , securing bank credit can still remain a slow and difficult process . According to the latest Credit Conditions Review from the Bank of England , the annual growth rate in the stock of lending to SMEs has been negative for over five years . A growing number of manufacturers are therefore increasingly turning to alternative financing techniques to fund equipment investment . According to a research conducted amongst the global top 40 industrial machinery
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