James Selka
Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturing Technologies Association
Discover the cutting-edge technologies powering UK manufacturing. Learn how they drive innovation, productivity and sustainability at the heart of industry and national strategy.
Every man-made product starts with a process, and behind that process lies technology. The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) Cluster represents the companies that provide these essential — but often invisible — technologies: the ones that shape, cut, form and assemble raw materials into the products that power our world.
These are the ‘mother technologies’ of manufacturing — essential foundations systems without which modern industry couldn’t function. Today, they are advancing at speed, driven by connectivity, automation and digital transformation. For the first time since the age of Henry Ford, we can manufacture flexibly, efficiently and viably to demand revolutionising productivity and sustainability.
Why manufacturing drives UK excellence
As the Government looks ahead to a new Industrial Strategy, it’s clear that manufacturing plays a pivotal role in shaping a stronger, more resilient UK. From enabling net zero goals and export growth to improving national security, health and food systems, manufacturing technologies are at the heart of solutions for today’s complex global challenges.
James Selka DL, CEO of Manufacturing Technologies Association, says: “Everything starts with our sector. If you want to build anything — whether it’s a satellite, train or turbine — you need the technologies our members provide. We are proud to be the enablers of innovation, productivity and progress.”
Manufacturing plays a pivotal
role in shaping a stronger,
more resilient UK.
Efforts to champion UK industrial revolution
The MTA Cluster is the voice of this sector. We champion the innovation, investment and skills needed to keep the UK at the forefront of industrial excellence. We are owned by the industry we serve and are proud to support businesses across every stage of the supply chain.
We also organise MACH 2026, the UK’s only fully live manufacturing exhibition, where advanced technologies can be seen operating as they would in real production environments.
To realise the ambitions of the new strategy, the UK must invest in the technologies that make everything else possible. This is where the future of manufacturing begins.
