ABSTRACT
The 10th National Conference on Manufacturing Research promises to be an exciting and enlightening event, judged by the breadth and quality of papers and authors assembled by the organising team. Hence Loughborough University of Technology (LUT) is particularly delighted to host this event, being a University which prides itself on the relevance of its research and its industrial partnerships. At LUT, “manufacturing” constitutes a major interdisciplinary research theme; a recent audit showing that we have over 300 active researchers in the arena working with a total budget in excess of £10M per annum. Hence, personally, I was delighted to be asked to start the ball rolling. What I aim to do is outline emerging requirements and trends in manufacturing which will set a backcloth for the work of us all.
