Last week, seven businesses were recognised in the seventh annual Made in Scotland Awards.
Insider and the judging panel were privy to all the entries, but many were so inspiring that we're going to let them share how they got here, what they did recently that was so award winning, and what their plans are for the future.
So what follows is the inside track on how some of Scotland's most innovative product manufacturers do what they do best.
Wasted Degrees Brewing
This Blair Atholl-based craft brewery was established in August 2016, owned and operated by two brothers local to the area – Conall and Jack Low.
From some plastic home brew buckets in a garage, to producing up to 20,000 litres of beer a month, the business has grown significantly, but has always tried to do the best by its people and the environment.
"The example we try to set shows that inaction on any one of these things - product development, community enhancement, environmental protection - is not acceptable in modern business and that growth can be done for the common good and not just for our own bottom line," explained director Jack Low.
In 2022, Wasted Degrees' wholesale side enhanced its operations in fundamental and material ways. Much of the change was carbon-conscious, like breaking-up with plastic packaging, moving from glass bottles to aluminium cans, further reducing food miles in the supply chain and delivering community enhancements such as free sustainable period products.
"The highlight of our year was the commissioning of our new canning line, the first automation in our packaging operations," said Low. "From a four-day bottling operation per batch of beer, we can now package the same volume of beer in just seven hours."
Aside from enabling carbon savings of around 101 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents in the next five years and the immediate scalability of operations, the cans are also better for the beer as they eliminate UV light penetration and drastically reduce dissolved oxygen, ensuring it stays fresher for longer on-shelf.
The most noteworthy commercial outcome last year was the brewery's first export - and the largest single order in the history of the business - exporting 12,500 cans of beer to The Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy.
Growth looks set to continue, as in the first four months of 2023, Wasted Degrees has ordered as many labels as it had in the entirety of 2022. Also during the first quarter, the business has brewed 55% of the total volume brewed in all of 2022 and fulfilled its next big export deal, with more in the pipeline.
"In the short term, a lease on additional warehousing will add an additional 66% to our overall floorspace," Low said of future expansion plans. "In the long term, something transformational has begun: a project to construct our own, purpose-built facility."
Wasted Degrees is progressing an acquisition of land to build its 'forever home', with the deal likely represent the largest single investment that will ever be made by the business.
"Ultimately, this will enable the brewery to continue to meet demand and will act as an enabler for future growth and the creation of new, skilled jobs," Low added.
Emergency One UK
Emergency One UK was founded in 1989 in Cumnock and started out with approximately eight builds a year.
Gradually, the company expanding its workforce and build capacity, with E1 merging with Clan Tools & Plant in 2012, resulting in a one-stop-shop for all firefighter needs.
Since then, the company has increased the size of its premises and is now the largest employer in the area, supplying fire engines to the majority of the UK, while also increasing international exports.
After the launch of the E1 EV0, the world’s first fully-electric fire engine, the company has received orders from France and North America, New Zealand, Malta, the UAE and more.
"Our first EV0 was sold to London Fire Brigade and has been a huge success," stated marketing manager Claire Carson. "Since then, we have developed and manufactured our new product, which is Scotland’s first electric fire engine, the E1 EV0 Mark II.
"But our range and development have not stopped there, as we've worked closely with our American counterpart to launch a new product, REV Groups appliance The Vector, which has recently been used for The Great American Race at Daytona."
As well as the continuous development of its electric appliance technology, the company was recently been approved for grant funding from Advanced Propulsion Centre to further advance hydrogen-fuelled appliances in the future.
Emergency One and its partners have been awarded £3.9m by the UK Government, matched by industry to a total of £7.9m, for a project with Oxfordshire County Council to develop solutions for hydrogen-powered vehicles. The HYER Power project will develop a hydrogen fuel cell range extender module to integrate into electric vehicles used for specialist applications such as ambulances, fire engines and street sweepers.
It is expected that the hydrogen fire engine, named the E1 HV0, will be complete by the end of 2024.
Focusing on low-emission appliances, a sustainable business model and further expansion into international markets are top priorities for the company over the next 12 months.
Apprentices also play a huge role in the success of the company - it was the runner up in the new Manufacturing Apprentice category - with many of them progressing into key roles.
Two directors came up through the apprenticeship programme and Emergency One aims to continue developing young people's skills and confidence within the trade.
Dxcover
Dxcover have been operating since 2019 and has raised £14.5m of equity and grant funding over three funding rounds since then.
Originally called ClinSpec Diagnostics, the company is a University of Strathclyde spin-out based on the research of chief technology officer Matthew Baker.
Initial funding was awarded by the Scottish Enterprise High Growth Spin-Out programme, which enabled the company to bring together the founding team and develop the Dxcover Brain Cancer Liquid Biopsy – the world’s first blood test for detecting brain tumours.
Having initially proven the Dxcover Platform in detection of brain cancer, it expanded to eight cancers last year, with enhanced detection of early-stage tumors. The company is now advancing its colorectal cancer test and a multi-centre trial of brain cancer detection starts in Europe during July.
Holly Butler, co-founder and head of product development, said: "We believe that the Dxcover Platform has the potential to transform cancer diagnosis throughout the world.
"Detecting cancer at its earliest stage has the best outcome for patients and we are looking forward to taking our Dxcover Brain Cancer test to market by achieving the CE Mark.
"Recent funding also allows us to develop a blood test for colorectal cancer, which is one of the leading causes of death worldwide."
Alongside this summer's regulatory study and development of the colorectal cancer product, the company's technology is also complimentary to other technologies and has the ability to enhance them, "so while we develop our independent pipeline we are also actively seeking strategic collaborations to accelerate our development and commercialisation," added Butler.
McMillan Coppersmiths and Fabricators
McMillan Coppersmiths and Fabricators, based in Prestonpans, is a copper distillation equipment manufacturer.
McMillan and its predecessor Archibald McMillan & Co have been a significant supplier of copper distilling equipment since the company was originally founded in 1867.
The business has been influential in maintaining traditional Scottish copper smithing techniques, with craftsmen taking pride in turning copper sheet into pot stills. In a world of automation and high-speed machinery, McMillan aims to protect the manual manufacturing process required for copper smithing.
Part of Briggs of Burton Group since 2020, the company has played a key role in supporting the delivery of large scale engineering, procurement and construction projects for the distilled spirits industry. The acquisition has enabled McMillan to influence bigger projects globally, receive investment to upgrade facilities and grow the workforce through an apprenticeship training programme.
Over the last 12 months, McMillan has won several distillery expansion projects globally alongside Briggs of Burton, including Ardgowan Distillery and GlenDronach Distillery in Scotland, as well as Don Julio and Casamigos Tequila in Mexico and copper distillation equipment systems in the USA and Australia to help brewers diversify into distilled spirits and produce whisky, gin and vodka.
Investment over the last two years has helped to improve the McMillan's offices and manufacturing workshop, with new flooring, implementation of visual production aids, updated welding protection and the installation of solar panels. The changes have enabled a more modern working environment, while maintaining traditional techniques.
Further investment is planned into the facility, replacing and modernising the external cladding, while the apprenticeship scheme is being developed into a McMillan Coppersmiths Training Academy, to provide additional support to young people.
McMillan is seeing a rise in projects from distilleries in Scotland, many of whom are seeking support to achieve their sustainability targets and reduce the effects of rising energy costs.
This transition towards decarbonisation and electrification means the company is developing solutions such as Thermal Vapour Recompression and Mechanical Vapour Recompression to reduce the energy, waste and water from the still house by up to 85%.
It is expected that the implementation of these systems in both the wash and spirit stills offered by McMillan can reduce the energy required in a malt whisky distillery from an average of 10 kWh/litre of pure alcohol, down to 3kWh/lpa.
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