Made Smarter North West, a plain guide for Lancashire manufacturers.

Made Smarter's North West page says support is open to SME manufacturing or engineering companies that meet all of these.⁠^{Source [1]}

• 249 employees or fewer.
• A turnover under £36 million, or a balance sheet under £18 million.
• A significant portion of your operations based in England.

To register for the fully funded advice you need manufacturing premises in England. The North West offer is for small and medium sized manufacturers based in the North West. Lancashire firms are covered, and Boost, Lancashire's business growth hub, is one of the named delivery partners.⁠^{Source [1]Source [2]Source [4]}

Two points catch people out.

• The leadership programme uses a different size test. The Leading Digital Transformation programme defines an SME as fewer than 250 employees with a turnover under €50 million or a balance sheet under €43 million, and it is only open to North West based SME manufacturers.⁠^{Source [5]}
• This is public money. Made Smarter's FAQ says its support is publicly funded and that your adviser will explain the subsidy rules that apply to you. Have a list of any other public grants you have received in the last three years ready for that conversation.⁠^{Source [3]}

Free advice and planning. Specialist technology advice, digital transformation workshops and strategic support are fully funded. In the North West that includes a fully funded assessment, a digital transformation workshop with a roadmap for your business, and advice on making sure your people, culture and organisation are ready for change. The workshop is a one day session with an expert adviser that builds your digital strategy and roadmap.⁠^{Source [2]Source [3]}

The grant. Up to 50% match funding, capped at £20,000. The North West page describes it as funding for equipment and specialist advice to implement projects. The programme's support page and FAQ describe it as funding for hardware and software. Boost's listing describes it as funding for equipment and software.⁠^{Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]Source [6]}

The kinds of project it backs. The FAQ says eligible projects must relate to adopting and implementing new digital technologies. It gives these examples.⁠^{Source [3]}

• Seeing your production processes clearly so you can predict maintenance and respond to demand faster.
• Joining up, automating and connecting your machinery and manufacturing software so you can use real time data.
• Combining physical production with digital technology, machine learning and big data so decisions are better informed.
• Assessing and protecting your data systems with cyber security.

A funded digital intern. A student or recent graduate can help with your technology strategy or implementation. Made Smarter funds the intern at £13.45 an hour for up to 300 hours, up to £4,035. You employ the intern and the funding is paid in arrears after each payroll period.⁠^{Source [1]Source [7]}

There are two leadership and staff programmes.

• Leading Digital Transformation is a funded programme for senior leaders and managers of North West SME manufacturers. It runs over 14 weeks, takes about 3 hours a week after an induction day, adds up to 32 learning hours and mixes online and face to face sessions. The next cohort starts in January 2027.⁠^{Source [5]}
• Leading Change for Digital Champions is a fully funded programme for operational staff who will help lead change on the shop floor. It uses two face to face workshops, site visits and online coaching.⁠^{Source [8]}

• The other half. Match funding means the grant covers up to 50%, so your business pays the rest.⁠^{Source [1]}
• Anything above the cap. The grant tops out at £20,000.⁠^{Source [1]}
• Businesses outside the rules. Firms that are not manufacturing or engineering SMEs, are over the size limits, or are not based in the North West fall outside this offer.⁠^{Source [1]Source [2]}
• Projects that are not about new digital technology. The FAQ ties eligible projects to adopting and implementing new digital technologies.⁠^{Source [3]}
• A guaranteed award. An independent panel decides, and the level of funding depends on a points rating for each proposal.⁠^{Source [3]}

The official pages do not publish a full list of exclusions. Do not assume a cost is covered until your adviser confirms it. The pages also do not say that money spent before approval can be claimed, so do not order or pay for anything until you have a decision.

1. 1 Step 1. Register. Use the Start your Made Smarter journey form on the Made Smarter website and choose the option for manufacturers interested in support and grant funding.⁠^{Source [9]}
2. 2 Step 2. Talk to an adviser. A local adviser gets in touch to arrange a free business assessment that looks at how your operations work.⁠^{Source [3]Source [10]}
3. 3 Step 3. Do the workshop. Take part in the one day digital transformation workshop and come away with a roadmap. Made Smarter strongly recommends this before you apply for a grant, and suggests inviting a range of staff, managers and decision makers.⁠^{Source [3]}
4. 4 Step 4. Scope the project. A technology specialist scopes your project and supports you with the application. Advisers also look at skills and leadership needs. If you already have a project in mind, they will help you test whether it is feasible.⁠^{Source [3]}
5. 5 Step 5. Choose your provider. You can keep working with a provider you already use. If you do not have one, Made Smarter has a technology providers directory, which it does not endorse.⁠^{Source [3]Source [11]}
6. 6 Step 6. Complete the application. Fill in the application form and the financial checks.⁠^{Source [3]}
7. 7 Step 7. Panel decision. Your adviser presents the project to an independent panel of industry, academic and business support experts. You find out on the day whether you have been successful and how much funding you get.⁠^{Source [3]}
8. 8 Step 8. Payment. If the project is approved, the money is released within two working weeks.⁠^{Source [3]}

There is no fixed amount of time an adviser spends with each business, and Made Smarter says it has removed as much paperwork as it can.⁠^{Source [3]}

• Start on the official Made Smarter North West page

Here is what the scheme's own wording says about AI.

• Made Smarter lists data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning among the industrial digital technologies it supports, with uses that include machine maintenance and more accurate demand forecasting.⁠^{Source [12]}
• Its introduction to Industry 4.0 lists artificial intelligence, data and systems integration, robotics and process control automation, and industrial cyber security.⁠^{Source [13]}
• When the North West programme opened a £1 million funding round in April 2025, it said the match funded grants would help SMEs adopt technologies including robotics, automation, the Internet of Things, AI and additive manufacturing.⁠^{Source [14]}
• The North West team has published its own approach to generative AI. It breaks jobs down into tasks, judges each task for technical feasibility and business value, then builds a prioritised list of AI projects. Its view is that AI automates tasks rather than whole jobs.⁠^{Source [15]}
• At an AI event in Burnley on National Manufacturing Day in September 2026, Made Smarter North West's lead technology adoption specialist told manufacturers to start with the business problem, start small and keep people at the heart of the work.⁠^{Source [16]}

Two published North West examples show the kind of systems work the programme has backed. Neither involved Lancashire AI.

• Door and Window Systems in Knowsley invested in software that lets customers price their own orders and turns the quote into an order, with a next phase to move orders automatically to the shop floor.⁠^{Source [17]}
• Cookson and Clegg in Blackburn planned a production management system that records each stage of a garment's production in real time, to improve planning, costing and delivery dates.⁠^{Source [18]}

Both describe the companies' own plans and expectations as Made Smarter published them.

Our reading, which is judgement and not the programme's rule. AI work that uses production or operations data is the closest match to this wording. Examples are linking order, production and dispatch systems, predicting maintenance, forecasting demand or capturing quality data. A project that only changes office admin, with no link to how you make things, is a weaker match. Raise it with your adviser before you build a plan around it. In every case the panel decides.

• Seven manufacturing workflows and how well each fits Made Smarter

If your roadmap includes an AI automation project, such as automating quotes, order entry or production reporting, we can scope it and give you a written quote to take to your adviser. You are free to choose any provider, and Made Smarter does not endorse any of them.⁠^{Source [3]}

• Quote and invoice automation
• AI admin automation
• AI training for your team
• Talk to us about your project

1. 1 Step 1. Buying before the decision. The official pages do not say that earlier spend can be claimed. Wait for the panel.
2. 2 Step 2. Starting with a tool instead of a problem. Made Smarter's own advice is to start with the business problem. Write down the task that wastes the most time before you look at software.⁠^{Source [16]}
3. 3 Step 3. Skipping the workshop. Made Smarter strongly recommends it before grant funding. It also gives you the roadmap the rest of the process builds on.⁠^{Source [3]}
4. 4 Step 4. Forgetting your half. The grant covers up to 50%. Budget for your share, and ask your adviser how payment lines up with your supplier's terms.⁠^{Source [1]}
5. 5 Step 5. Assuming your data is ready. Speakers at the Burnley event stressed good data, the right skills, governance and security, and people who check what the technology produces. Look at the records the project depends on before you commit.⁠^{Source [16]}
6. 6 Step 6. Leaving your team out. The programme runs leadership and digital champion programmes because new tools change how people work.⁠^{Source [8]}
7. 7 Step 7. Not mentioning other public funding. Your adviser has to check the subsidy rules. Tell them early.⁠^{Source [3]}
8. 8 Step 8. Treating a directory listing as an endorsement. Made Smarter says its technology providers directory is open to all and not endorsed. Check any provider's references yourself.⁠^{Source [11]}