Made Smarter makes careers for women in engineering

In-Depth

Industry trailblazers Andrea Thompson,BAE Systems, Andrea Hough, ATEC Engineering Solutions, and Donna Edwards,Made Smarter, say that by adopting digital tools, manufacturing SMEs can inspire a generation, close the gender gap, and kick start a golden age for women in the industry

Andrea Thompson has worked her way up from supervising on the shop floor to the top floor and is now managing director for Europe & International Programmes at BAE Systems.

She is now aiming to inspire the next generation of women to follow suit through her role as chair of the Made Smarter Commission's North West Pilot.

Thompson has witnessed significant change during her 30-year career in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

Made Smarter Review makes recommendations for industrial digitalisation

“When I started in manufacturing it was another world,” she said. “I was one of very few women going into the automotive industry – particularly the manufacturing end of it. Women’s interest in the sector just wasn’t there back then in any large numbers.

“I worked on the shop floor, amongst mostly unionised, older, males. The facilities, machinery and processes were so different too. Running a manufacturing business was very manual involving Excel spreadsheets, lots of paper, and counting how many pieces had been made or processed. Data analysis was also extremely manual.

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