£14m boost for next generation manufacturing in Scotland

A trio of manufacturing-related research initiatives led by the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) have received a £14m funding boost through Glasgow City Region Innovation Accelerator programme.

The three projects will accelerate productivity and sustainability across local manufacturing and engineering specialists, with smaller businesses working alongside partners including Boeing, SSE Renewables, Howden, Thales and Babcock. The projects are supported with £5.4m from the UK government and up to £8.6m from industry partners.

Chris Courtney, CEO of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), said: “These three projects will empower growing companies in the sector to boost productivity and sustainability, particularly at a local level.

“Working collaboratively across these strategic themes for next-generation manufacturing, will help companies position themselves at the forefront of data-driven, sustainable advanced manufacturing.

“By collaborating with leaders and research experts across the manufacturing, engineering and technology sectors, we can provide the workforce of today and tomorrow with the skills they need to make the next generation of greener products.

“Scotland has a vibrant innovation ecosystem and this is a vital opportunity to harness the momentum to future-proof the sector by tackling big challenges.”

One NMIS-led project, Data Driven Design and Manufacturing Colab (D3M_Colab), will explore the potential of data science to solve real-world manufacturing problems and boost productivity. It will upskill 300 local people with 100 hours of free training that includes a transformation project deployed within their workplace and ongoing support from NMIS experts and PhD students from the University of Strathclyde.

International defence company Babcock has extended its involvement in the programme. This follows two successful pilot cohorts in 2022 with more than 16 students from Rosyth participating and solving business data challenges ranging from optimisation of manufacturing processes, accurate reporting of engineering maturity and deeper understanding of workforce demographics.

Another initiative, named Stratellite, led by the NMIS Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC) taps into Scotland’s growing satellite manufacturing sector and focuses on an innovative reconfigurable, modular, and scalable production system developed by the LMC.

Working with Thales, it aims to automate the precision production processes necessary for the manufacture of large satellites. The team from the LMC will also develop the technology so that it is applicable for smaller businesses across a range of sectors to help them become more agile and explore making new products in new markets without a large upfront investment.

NMIS
www.nmis.scot