The Government will be investing £147m in the Manufacturing Made Smarter challenge to transform UK manufacturing capabilities through the development and adoption of Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs).
This investment aims to raise productivity by 30%, accelerate the drive to Net Zero emissions, create thousands of highly skilled jobs and allow the UK to shape the future of manufacturing.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through Innovate UK, the government’s innovation agency, has already awarded the challenge its first investment package of £20 million to 14 innovative projects in Round 1, comprising over 70 consortia partners in a competition to transform the productivity and agility of UK manufacturing.
Winning projects include:
• Digitisation of Aluminium welding – Transforming UK bicycle frame-building
Frog Bikes is British SME leading a project innovating the design of children’s bikes. Using the latest digital technologies and manufacturing techniques, they will create a lighter, better performing bike.
• The Digital Sandwich – Digitised Food Supply Chain
Raynor Foods Ltd, an award-winning UK sandwich supplier, is leading a project to create the ‘Digital Sandwich’. This is the world’s first national and ‘open’ software platform: a major piece of software that smaller programmes can operate within.
• Smart Connected Shop Floor – real-time data integration with multi-sector applicability
GKN Aerospace is heading up a cross-sector team involving organisations from the Aerospace, Automotive, and Pharmaceutical industries to trial a combination of digital technologies in live manufacturing environments.
The £20m funding is enhanced by industrial investments worth £30m giving a total value of £50m invested in sectors such as aerospace, automotive, chemicals, digital equipment, FMCG and food and beverage.
“We have tremendous Manufacturing capability in the UK and recent events have reinforced the importance of strengthening this sector for national resilience and economic growth. Rapid advances in Digital and disruptive Manufacturing technologies provide us with the perfect opportunity to shape this outcome,” said Hamid Mughal, Manufacturing Made Smarter Industrial Advisory Group chair.
“By harnessing the potential of this technology, we will be able to make a transformational improvement in productivity, sustainability and global competitiveness and create new products and services that forge modern digital enterprises. This programme is a key step forward as it will help UK Manufacturing companies to jointly address this challenge and develop cost-effective digital solutions for deployment in our Manufacturing Sector.”
Round 2 of challenge competitions are now open - Manufacturing Made Smarter: Digital Supply Chain. Funding of £20m will support innovative feasibility studies and industrial research projects. SME’s can apply for up to 70% funding towards project costs. Applications close 07 October.