Manufacturing is the one UK sector with a genuinely dedicated digital/AI adoption grant — so the funding picture here is clearer than most. Here are the real routes in 2026, cited to official sources. (dgm implements osFoundry as an independent partner.)

Made Smarter: the dedicated route

For SME manufacturers, Made Smarter Adoption is the standout. It offers expert advice, action plans, training and match-funded grants up to £20,000 at 50% of project costs — so a £40,000 project attracts a £20,000 grant. It’s aimed at SME manufacturers (roughly 10–249 employees, under £50m turnover) and is delivered region-by-region across eligible English regions, so check your region’s live offer. Made Smarter even published an AI adoption toolkit using a “Scan, Pilot, Scale” framework.

R&D tax relief for genuine development

If you’re developing something novel — a bespoke computer-vision inspection system, a predictive-maintenance model trained on your own sensor data — that may qualify for R&D tax relief (20% RDEC, or ERIS worth ~£27 per £100 for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs). Deploying an off-the-shelf tool doesn’t qualify; genuine technological advance does.

KTPs and Robotics Adoption Hubs

The honest caveat

Even in manufacturing, no grant simply buys AI software. Made Smarter is match-funded (you pay 50%), R&D relief comes after the spend, and KTPs build capability. Budget to invest, and use these to offset.

High-value AI use cases for manufacturers

  • Predictive maintenance — anticipate equipment failure from sensor/maintenance data.
  • Quality inspection — computer vision for defects.
  • Production scheduling and demand forecasting.
  • Back-office automation — orders, documentation, supplier comms.

Where osFoundry and dgm fit

dgm scopes and implements these on osFoundry — usage-priced, bring-your-own-key, with local/self-hosted inference that suits shop-floor data control. For UK data-sensitive work we’d use an EU region or a self-hosted deployment in your own cloud (osFoundry publishes US/EU/JP regions, not a UK one).

dgm is an independent integration partner with zero integrations so far, and not a grant-writing service. The Made Smarter application runs through your regional hub. To scope a fundable manufacturing AI project, book a consultation with dgm. General information; confirm scheme terms with the official sources.