Hat trick success for Manufacturing Technology Centre

COVENTRY’S pioneering Manufacturing Technology Centre is celebrating triple success after attracting three major international companies to its growing cadre of members.

Global packaging group Crown Packaging, leading retailer Sainsbury’s and European imaging leader Stemmer have all joined the MTC and will begin working on major projects with MTC engineers and technicians.

Crown Packing is a US-owned company and one of the biggest providers of industrial packaging in the world, with divisions in 41 countries. The MTC will be working with Crown’s product developers who are based in Oxfordshire. The company will be using the MTC’s expertise in modelling and simulation to improve production line efficiencies, and are also looking to develop new packaging joining techniques and new sealants.

Crown also plans to use the MTC’s laser processing technologies to develop more effective ways for consumers to pull off can lids.

Sainsbury’s will be working with the MTC to develop novel packaging designs and to develop the way they stock their shelves and design store displays and layouts. They will be using the MTC’s world-leading 3D immersive computer simulation technology.

Stemmer Imaging, a Munch-based company with a UK base at Tongham, near London, is one of Europe’s leading providers of imaging and machine vision technologies. Together, Stemmer and MTC engineers will develop ground-breaking automation techniques.

Clive Hickman, chief executive, MTC said attracting three global names to the MTC at the same time was a major coup for the centre.

“We now have well over 70 industrial member companies across a wide range of sectors. We are now working with the world’s elite engineers and manufacturers and growing at a rate that couldn’t have been envisaged when we were established in 2011. In particular the latest members of the MTC will help us bring our capabilities to bear in the food and drink sector,” he said.