Made Smarter grants for manufacturers in 2026: what they fund and how to apply

Made Smarter Adoption gives SME manufacturers in England free advice on digital technology and, in the North West, up to 50% match funding (capped at £20,000) towards a technology project. You don't apply for the grant on its own. You register, get assessed by a specialist, and the grant becomes one step in an action plan you build with them.

We covered Made Smarter in one paragraph in our guide to funding a digital product in Greater Manchester. This article goes into the detail: who qualifies, what the money covers, the support around it, and how to prepare a project that fits.

What is Made Smarter Adoption?

Made Smarter is a government-backed programme to help manufacturers use digital technology. Its adoption strand started as a pilot in the North West in 2019 and is now delivered region by region across England.

In the North West it is delivered with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Boost, the Business Growth Hub, Cumbria LEP, Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub and The Growth Platform. The programme says it has supported over 2,000 manufacturers in the region.

Is Made Smarter still running in 2026?

Yes. The government's Industrial Strategy included an Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which says Made Smarter Adoption has "secured up to £99 million" from 2026 to continue its rollout to more SMEs. Regional programmes are running 2026/27 cohorts, and the North West leadership programme has its next cohort starting in January 2027.

Which regions and businesses are eligible?

Made Smarter Adoption is open to SME manufacturing and engineering businesses with manufacturing premises in England. The North West programme defines an SME as:

• 249 employees or fewer, and
• turnover under £36m, or a balance sheet under £18m

There are now adoption programmes in all nine English regions: the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West. Each is run by a different local body and the offers are not identical.

Region	Grant offer listed by Made Smarter
North West, West Midlands, East Midlands, London, South West	Match-funded grants up to £20k, hardware and software
South East	Match-funded grants up to £20k, hardware only
Yorkshire and the Humber	Up to £20k match funding for capital investment, plus intensive technical support at up to 50%
North East, East of England	Funding available, amount not stated

The 2025 Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan says only that the government will engage with the devolved governments. The programme's site lists England only, so check before you assume it covers a site outside England.

What does the North West grant cover?

The North West grant offers up to 50% match funding, to a maximum of £20,000, for equipment and specialist advice to implement a project. So a £40,000 project could receive up to £20,000, and you fund the rest.

Made Smarter lists the kinds of technology it supports:

• data and systems integration
• industrial internet of things (sensors)
• robotics and process control automation
• AI and machine learning
• additive manufacturing (3D printing)
• virtual, augmented and mixed reality
• industrial cyber security
• mobile devices and wearables

The detailed rules on eligible costs are agreed with your adviser, so treat the action plan as the place to confirm what your project can claim.

What support do you get besides the grant?

Most of what Made Smarter offers is advice and skills, and much of it comes before any money changes hands. In the North West that includes:

• A Digital Transformation Specialist. An impartial adviser who assesses your business when you register.
• Workshops and a diagnostic. Local digital transformation workshops and a diagnostic process that produces a strategic action plan, including investment recommendations.
• A digital roadmap. Help making sure the technology you pick fits where the business is going.
• Leadership training. The Leading Digital Transformation Programme runs over 14 weeks, about three hours a week, with workshops in Warrington, Manchester and Salford, peer learning forums and visits to technology demonstrators at the University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University.
• Digital interns. Made Smarter funds a digital intern for a project, typically for 300 hours (480 in Yorkshire and the Humber). You employ the intern, and the funding is paid in arrears after each payroll period.

How does the process work?

1. Register on madesmarter.uk as a manufacturer interested in support and grant funding.
2. Get assessed. A Digital Transformation Specialist looks at your business, processes and priorities.
3. Build an action plan. Through workshops and a diagnostic, you agree what to do first. The plan can include leadership training, an intern, a match-funded grant, or a mix.
4. Scope the technology project. You pick the technology and the supplier, and cost the work.
5. Implement. You deliver the project with your supplier and claim the match funding under the programme's rules.

The adviser's role matters here. They are there to give impartial advice, and they will push back on a project that doesn't fit your action plan.

What kinds of projects has Made Smarter supported?

Made Smarter publishes case studies from the North West. Two show the range:

• Door and Window Systems (DAWS), Knowsley. DAWS invested in software that lets customers price and order products themselves, with further software to link production and dispatch. It reports a 50% rise in office productivity from removing manual, repetitive processes.
• Bury Black Pudding Company. Its plan includes collecting data from machines, digitising paper quality records, updating temperature control systems and connecting IT to a new ERP system. The company says it has taken its first steps towards a smart factory.

Both are data projects as much as hardware projects. A first digital twin of a line or plant room is the same kind of project. The value comes from getting information out of machines and paper and into a system people use.

How should you prepare a project?

From the data and sensor projects we have built, a few habits help.

• Start with one process. Pick the job that costs the most time or waste today, such as quoting, scheduling, quality checks or temperature logs. Measure it now so you can show the change later.
• Map the data before you buy anything. Write down what data exists, where it lives (machines, spreadsheets, paper) and who needs it. Most integration problems show up here. Data is also where digital twin budgets most often go wrong.
• Separate the phases. A small first phase that proves the data flow is easier to fund and easier to stop if it doesn't work.
• Get comparable quotes. Ask suppliers to price the same scope so your adviser can compare like with like.
• Plan for the people. Decide who owns the new system, who gets alerts and who acts on them. Training and change are part of the project.
• Don't commit spend early. Check with your adviser before you sign orders.

Where we fit

Third Eye Open is not a Made Smarter technology provider. We are a Manchester design and engineering studio that builds data platforms, sensing and dashboards, and we run our own building sensing product, TEO Sense. If you are a manufacturer working out what a sensor, data or dashboard project should look like before you talk to your adviser, we can help you scope it. See our digital twins work or get in touch.