Major players sign up to £130 million Global Manufacturing Technology deal
Leading lights in industry, academia, research and the public sector have signed on the dotted line to build a unique, £130 million, world-class manufacturing technology centre (MTC) in the Midlands which should put the UK ahead of its competitors.
Significant projects are already in the pipeline to revolutionise hi-tech manufacturing processes and the Centre will allow researchers to demonstrate new processes on an industrial scale to would-be manufacturers.
The MTC at Ansty Park, situated on the border between Leicestershire and Warwickshire, means gaining the competitive edge in terms of knowledge as well as bringing down costs. It also means up to 150 highly-skilled jobs for the region - one of the hardest hit in the recent economic downturn. And its work will support legions of smaller businesses supplying to the manufacturing industry.
The MTC represents one of the largest public sector investments in manufacturing research and development for many years, and supports a key initiative in both Government and regional plans to boost manufacturing competitiveness and ensure sustainable economic growth.
It will concentrate on assembly, fabrication and joining technologies, looking at processes like intelligent automation and operational performance. This will be supported by modelling and simulation work. It will also look at processes which involve less materials input and therefore wastage (near net shape manufacturing).
The initial £40 million building and equipment costs are being jointly funded by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and east midlands development agency (emda). A further £90 million public and private sector revenue funding is planned from the industrial research and development sector over the next ten years.
The MTC will be established and run by founding research partners including Loughborough University, the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham, and TWI Ltd, the operating division of The Welding Institute.
Major companies signed up to the project are Rolls-Royce, Aero Engine Controls and Airbus in the UK, who will be undertaking significant research and development projects at the facility.
Industries who will benefit from the Centre include aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics assembly, and heavy duty construction equipment companies.
Business Minister Ian Lucas said: "I am delighted to see we have reached this key milestone in bringing the Manufacturing Technology Centre to fruition. It is of vital importance that businesses and universities work in collaboration and Ansty Park enables this to happen. It is also a prime example of how we can secure crucial jobs in the regions.
"The recent signatories to the Manufacturing Technology Centre demonstrate that UK manufacturers are at the heart of the economy and that Britain remains a world class manufacturing nation."
For further information contact:
For more information about Advantage West Midlands visit: www.advantagewm.co.uk
For more details about emda visit www.emda.org.uk
For more information about the MTC visit the website at www.the-mtc.org
