Page 57 - Plastics News March 2026

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

HEYSIDE PLASTICS HAS STRENGTHENED ITS AUTOMATION CAPABILITY
AND ACCELERATED ITS DIGITAL ROADMAP AFTER BRINGING IN SPECIALIST
ROBOTICS EXPERTISE THROUGH MADE SMARTER’S DIGITAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME.

architecture, while also giving me insight into
how digital technologies can be used to improve
manufacturing processes in practice.”

The internship was delivered through Made
Smarter North West, the government-backed
adoption programme supporting SME manufac-
turers with digital transformation. The initiative
enables businesses to test new technologies in a
practical, low-risk way while giving students and
graduates paid experience inside live industrial
he recycled plastics specialist based in
Oldham worked with Enoch Adediran, a environments.
Trobotics and automation student at the Over the past year, Made Smarter North West’s
University of Salford, to explore how automa- latest cohort of 18 interns have worked directly
tion and digital technologies could be deployed on factory floors and in engineering teams, ap-
across its production operations. The three- plying a wide range of digital technologies to
month paid placement gave the manufacturer real production challenges. These include robot-
access to specialist digital skills at a critical time, ics and automation, artificial intelligence, data
helping to address a vital capability gap while and analytics, CNC and CAD-to-CNC workflows,
accelerating plans to modernise processes and virtual reality and digital twins, system integra-
improve operational efficiency. tion and wider workflow digitisation.

Garreth Brown, Business Executive at Heyside Donna Edwards, Programme Director for Made
Plastics, said: “Bringing in Enoch has helped us Smarter North West, said: “These digital intern-
to fill a vital skills gap in the business and fast- ships are delivering exactly what manufactur-
track our digital roadmap. Enoch has been a rev- ers need, practical digital skills and fresh think-
elation and the value he has already brought to ing, while giving students and graduates paid,
the business in such a short time is immense.” hands-on experience on real industrial projects,
During the internship, Enoch worked across live and a direct stepping stone into employment.”
production environments, gaining hands-on ex-
perience in plastics manufacturing while apply- Since its inception in 2019, Made Smarter has
ing automation thinking and digital tools to real supported over 2,500 manufacturers across the
operational challenges. North West, providing access to expert digital
advice, technology adoption roadmaps, skills
Enoch, 28, said: “The internship allowed me to development opportunities, and funded tech-
gain valuable hands-on experience in plastics nology projects.
manufacturing and to see how automation can
be applied in a real production environment. The Source - https://interplasinsights.com
placement has helped me develop my skills fur-
ther in areas such as 3D modelling and network

March 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 57