The Manufuture 2017 conference was part of the official programme of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and was organised under the patronage of Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia. The theme of the MANUFUTURE 2017 Conference was ‘Moving Up the Value Chain’.
The Manufuture 2017 conference gathered together more than 600 experts and key stakeholders representing industry, universities, research institutions and government from countries across Europe and around the world. The participants gave particular appreciation to the exceptionally strong high-level representation of the Estonian political and public sector decision makers at the event. Estonia has witnessed the transformative effect of digitalisation on society. The Estonian Presidency is also known as 'the digital Presidency' because of Estonia’s ambition to realise the benefits of a digital society for every European.
This conference aimed to support the European Commission’s top priority “…to get Europe growing again and to increase the number of jobs without creating new debt… to restore investment levels – to overcome the crisis, kick-start jobs and growth and sustain them”. Modernizing Europe’s industrial and manufacturing base by moving it up the value chain has a key role in meeting these objectives. Value chain refers to all the activities, from receipt of raw materials to post-sales support that together create and increase the value of a product. The term "moving up the value chain" means using business processes and resources to produce highly profitable products also known as higher-margin products. The focus on moving manufacturing up the value chain will help realize the industrial renaissance in Europe.
The conference was also focusing on relevant cross cutting themes which are essential for maintaining and developing the competitiveness of the European industry. Selected cross cutting themes included Higher value skills, Access to finance, New business models, and Better Regulation. Skills issues across the three conference themes are vital elements for moving manufacturing up the value chain. Access to finance is an interesting topic when discussing of e.g. obstacles to investments, technical assistance to investment projects and smarter use of new and existing financial resources. New business models are key building blocks for the business transformation in the 4th industrial revolution, and better regulation is a strong element if President Juncker’s plan stating that ‘jobs, growth and investment will only return to Europe if we create the right regulatory environment and promote a climate of entrepreneurship and job creation’.
