August 2021

n NEWS July/August 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com 12 THE GOVERNMENT has announced £53m of new funding to drive the development of digital manufacturing in the UK, including the establishment of five new research centres, a digital supply chain innovation hub, and 37 projects designed to digitalise and transform manufacturing supply chains. The funding has been awarded though the Made Smarter programme. The aim is to achieve wider adoption of technologies such as robotics, smart machines, AI and blockchain to help manufacturers boost productivity, become more sustainable and build back better from the pandemic. Nearly £25m will be invested in five new industry-sponsored manufacturing research centres designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge digital technologies. Each will focus on a different area and will include the: n Research Centre for Smart, Collaborative Industrial Robotics , based at Loughborough, Strathclyde, Cranfield, Bristol and Warwick Universities, which will look to eliminate barriers to adopting robotics and accelerate their wider use. n Research Centre for Connected Factories , at Nottingham, Cambridge and Sheffield Universities, which will create a “morphing factory”where production can be repurposed easily in response to changing market demands – as happened when drinks manufacturers transformed production lines last year to make hand sanitiser. n Materials Made Smarter Research Centre , based in Sheffield, Cambridge and Loughborough Universities, which will work to overcome technological challenges preventing the adoption of new materials and manufacturing processes. n People-Led Digitalisation , at Bath, Nottingham and Loughborough Universities, which aims to boost manufacturing productivity by increasing digital knowledge and awareness among manufacturers. n Digital Medicines Manufacturing Research Centre , at Strathclyde, Cambridge and Loughborough Universities, which aims to create digital supply chains that enable medicines to be supplied on demand and enable clinical trials to operate more flexibly. A further £18m has been awarded through the Digital Supply Chain Competition to 37 collaborative projects supporting the development of innovations aimed at helping supply chains to become more productive and sustainable. These include: n One led by Jaguar Land Rover that will investigate the use of blockchain technology when tanning leather to improve traceability and reduce environmental and other risks. n One led by Durham-based Pragmatic Printing that aims to use digital technology and intelligent automation to track and sort packaging waste for recycling. n One led by Circulor , which has developed a blockchain platform that allows businesses to monitor and track the origin and quality of raw materials in their supply chain, including tracking of CO 2 emissions. n One called Food for Thought which hopes to improve the use of robots and other technologies to increase food traceability and make better use of cold storage infrastructure. n One led by Perpetual Labs , which aims to create a digital model-driven approach to manufacturing which makes information accessible in one place in one language for all involved in the supply chain. Announcing the new programmes, minister for investment Lord Grimstone, said: “As we embark on a digital manufacturing revolution, we want to make sure our manufacturers are bolstered by the latest cutting-edge technology as we all work to build back better from the pandemic. “Improving productivity and becoming more competitive is not just about sophisticated manufacturing, but also about smarter manufacturing, and we want to make it as easy as possible for companies large and small to make the changes needed to take full advantage of the innovative technology being developed.” £53m of funding aims to drive the take-up of digital manufacturing More News reports on our Web site We post many more news reports on our Web site than we have space for in the magazine. Often theWeb site also carries longer versions of reports in the magazine. Here are some of the stories that we have posted since the last issue of Drives & Controls appeared. n Siemens plans to shift software sales to SaaS model https://drivesncontrols.news/ebmhkc n Rockwell buys Plex for $2.2bn to boost its cloud activities https://drivesncontrols.news/g36dyk n Global robot sales fell by 2% in 2020, but China leads recovery https://drivesncontrols.news/adhknj n Hackers harness industrial control systems to mine for crypto-coins https://drivesncontrols.news/ejvx4u n Google’s robot software firm emerges from five years of stealth r&d https://drivesncontrols.news/wzj6xg n Fall in UK exports to EU began before Brexit happened https://drivesncontrols.news/wt2av7 n Video service links robot users to experts via their phones https://drivesncontrols.news/e7avzh n UK manufacturers ask Government to help solve post- Brexit blues https://drivesncontrols.news/vhnqq8 n Turntide buys third Tyneside firm to expand transport division https://drivesncontrols.news/62vwt n EnDat 3 interface is designed for digital manufacturing https://drivesncontrols.news/hxzvaq n Pandemic pushes manufacturers to adopt AI technologies https://drivesncontrols.news/yxtpvb n Make UK doubles 2021 manufacturing growth forecast to 7.8% https://drivesncontrols.news/pgqmt9 Lord Grimstone: making it easier for UK manufacturers to take advantage of innovative