This week's guest is Mike Woodhall. When Mike is not cycling around Europe making money for Brain Tumour Research & Support (BTRS), he leads a team dedicated to making the life of 'energy consumers' (that's all of us!) easier!

This week i'm delighted to welcome Professor Andy Neely to the show. Andy is the Head of Cambridge University’s Institute for Manufacturing and Founding Director of the Cambridge Service Alliance, an industrial consortium involving the University of Cambridge and BAE Systems, Caterpillar, IBM, Pearson and Zoetis.

My guest this week is Sue Dunkerton OBE. Sue Dunkerton is Director at the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), responsible for priority themes within Health, Agri-Food and Bioscience & Biotechnology as well as H2020 and Smart Specialisation. From 2002 – 2014, Sue ran the Health KTN, and has prior experience in medical technologies, digital health, assisted living, regenerative medicine and stratified medicine.

“It is very easy to make technology complex, it is very difficult to make technology simple. Yet in manufacturing only the simplest workable solution becomes a success”

My guest today is Tomas Hedenborg. He is the Group CEO of Fastems, in Tampere, Finland. Fastems is a leading independent manufacturer of factory automation systems. Unique because of their focus on the business, unique because of the software connecting very sophisticated hardware and unique because of remote diagnostics that rectify 85% of issues. The way the company is run has changed drastically over the last 2 years too...

My guest today is Tim Lawrence. Tim is Head of Manufacturing at the PA Consulting Group. He explains about a shift in mindset in the way manufacturing has redesigned itself. An entrepreneur arrives with an idea (and some money to invest), a team of experts in technology, innovation and marketing analyse the idea and identify a way forward to make the dream a reality! Fascinatingly simple don't you think? We just need to change our minds...

In this episode, Stefano tells us about a journey into marine engineering that can truly be regarded as a gift - not the normal route followed by most! In February 1998, when he was 17 years old, Stefano had a very serious accident when a car struck him and crushed him against a wall whilst he was entering his house...

In this episode, John tells about the 'smart' in smart metering, smart homes, smart appliances and smart grids. Landis+Gyr provides metering solutions for electricity, gas, heat/cold and water for energy measurement solutions for utilities. Since 1896 the company has been helping customers overcome operational, regulatory and consumer driven challenges by capturing the advantages and benefits of technology.

The Economist said "A fizzing analysis of the history and geography of manufacturing and where it is heading" when reviewing the book “The New Industrial Revolution: Consumers, Globalization and the End of Mass Production” written by my guest, Peter Marsh. Peter had a long career at the Financial Times where until recently he was their manufacturing editor. Who better then to talk to about manufacturing than someone who has monitored the topic for so many years.

My guest this week is Lucy Taylor, a young lady who left university with a Masters in chemistry. Call it fate, call it destiny - somehow Lucy found herself as a team leader in a manufacturing facility. Her love affair with manufacturing had begun. Lucy discovered she had a knack in resolving production issues and has gone from agriculture to coal to confectionery! Now, she's Head of Operations for the Fabulous Bakin’ Boys.....