Manufacturing Biz #6 - Magazine - Page 28
Digital transformation reshaping
opportunities for women in
manufacturing, Made Smarter
Yorkshire insights show
I
nsights from women working across
Yorkshire’s manufacturing sector
suggest digital transformation
is widening opportunities, opening
leadership pathways and reshaping
traditional roles across the industry.
To mark International Women’s Day
2026 (IWD26), Made Smarter Yorkshire,
the government-backed technology and
skills adoption programme, gathered
perspectives from 10 women working from
shop floor to boardroom across the region,
spanning sectors including engineering,
energy, textiles, technology and traditional
28
craft manufacturing.
While women still account for only
around a quarter of the UK manufacturing
workforce, according to research, voices
from across Yorkshire suggest change
inside many businesses may be moving
faster than national figures currently
reflect, offering a snapshot of wider change
taking place across UK manufacturing.
From the physical to the technical
For many respondents, the most
profound shift in recent decades has been
technological.
M A N U FA C T U R I N G B I Z M A G A Z I N E A P R I L 2 0 2 6
Sarah Brown, General Manager of
Hull-based manufacturer Solutions
Are Looming, started her career as a
labourer 25 years ago before progressing
through procurement and departmental
management into senior leadership.
She believes digital technology has
fundamentally changed both expectations
and opportunities in manufacturing.
“Back then, manufacturing work was
widely seen as physically demanding
manual labour,” she said. “While that’s
still true in some areas, technology has
transformed the sector. The programming
