Letchworth Garden City, UK – July 2026
We are happy to share exciting news that marks a significant milestone in our business. On-systems has been selected as one of just five UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the AWS Vanguard Programme. This is a prestigious initiative that will help shape the future of British defence manufacturing, a fundamental step forward in how we operate, compete and deliver for clients.
What Is The AWS
Vanguard Programme?
Announced on 25 March 2026 by UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard at the DPRTE event in Farnborough, the Vanguard Programme is a powerful collaboration between Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Make UK trade association and the Ministry of Defence's Office for Small Business Growth. Luke Pollard comments that the programme will “modernise and transform the manufacturing industrial capabilities with the UK’s SME community.”
The programme was set up with a clear purpose to modernise and transform manufacturing capabilities within the UK's SME community. Selected companies will receive AWS credits together with a comprehensive package of support:
- Technical training from AWS specialists
- Direct access to AWS engineers & defence sector experts
- Business development mentorship to support long term growth
In the programme we are proud to be in outstanding company alongside British Rototherm Group (measurement solutions), MSI-Defence Systems Ltd (weapons systems), Shearwater Marine Services (naval engineering) and Whippendell Marine (maritime electronics).
Our Digitisation Strategy
Being part of the Vanguard Programme gives us a rare and valuable opportunity to rethink how our operations function from the ground up. At the centre of our digitisation plans is a strategy to connect our systems, utilise live data and empower our team with better tools and information.
We will be integrating Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms to create a fully consolidated operational environment. This will include automated workflows, smarter production scheduling and a reduction in manual, time consuming tasks that can slow operations. The result is faster response times to challenges and a more consistent, reliable output for our clients.
How The Programme Will Help In Reality
For the On-systems team, the changes will be transformative. Our people will benefit from:
- Live dashboards - real time visibility & faster, confident decision making
- Digital work instructions & SOPs reduce training time & greater consistency across processes
- Improved collaboration tools - more efficient team working & efficiency
Across the wider business we are planning measurable improvements that will strengthen our competitiveness and reliability:
- A 10–20% reduction in downtime
- Faster production cycle times & improved product quality
- Better use of assets & resources
- Enhanced data security - encryption & intellectual property protection
- Stronger compliance with internal standards & external regulatory requirements
- World class client satisfaction
Leading With Smarter
Agile Operations
Behind all of these changes is a commitment to combining real time data, automation, AI insights and scalable cloud infrastructure. Combined, these resources will take On-systems to a more agile, data driven model that can anticipate challenges, optimise performance and continuously improve across every function, from supply chain management to production and finance. John Bowden, Sales Director at On-systems commented:
"This project aligns perfectly with On-systems core drivers for continuous improvement, automation, increased productivity and the adoption of the right digital tools to enable our world class manufacturing and value to our customers".
The Future Of On-systems
This is an exciting time for On-systems and one we are approaching with real ambition. The Vanguard Programme is about getting ahead of technological change. We look forward to sharing our progress and delivering an even better experience for our valued clients in the defence, aerospace and marine sectors.
On-systems is a Herefordshire based power design, manufacture and supply company serving products to the defence, aerospace and sea industries.
Press Contact
Further Enquiries:
Mike Harvey
Director, On-systems
Email: mike.harvey@on-systems.co.uk
Press Enquiries:
Becky Allam
Operations Director, DBWD
Email: becky@dannybarker.co.uk
