The Development of a UK National Strategy for Through-Life Engineering Services: Rationale and Process

Abstract

This chapter describes the journey of the development of the UK National Strategy for Through-life Engineering Services (TES) from initial discussions with industry as to the need, through the issuing of a number of sector strategies in the UK, which omitted any reference to TES, to the design of the strategy development workshops. Initial industrial soundings are detailed which supported the need for the UK National Strategy as is the creation of an emergent industrial momentum. The importance of coherence of vision is underlined by extensive work with the voluntary industrial steering committee. The methodology adopted to generate the launch event white paper and cross-sectoral industrial economic study is given in detail. Pilots, tests and the consequent evolution of the workshops are described together with the range and depth of industrial engagement with the process. The chapter begins with a description of the industrial engagement strategy of the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Through-life Engineering Services from which the UK National Strategy was born.