Funding secured for £43m state-of-the-art research factory

THE University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing has secured funding for a new £43m state-of-the-art research factory.

The AMRC Factory 2050 will be the UK’s first fully reconfigurable assembly and component manufacturing facility for collaborative research, capable of rapidly switching production between different high-value components and one-off parts.

The creation of the new facility is supported by a £10m grant from the Research Partnership Investment Fund, managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Leading manufacturers including Boeing, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Spirit AeroSystems are also committed to supporting the project.

Professor Keith Ridgway, executive dean of the University of Sheffield AMRC, said: “This will be the most advanced factory in the world. It will give us a home for the research and demonstration work associated with building the next generation of aircraft and energy technologies.

“The aim is to be able to manufacture any component as a one-off, and instantaneously switch between components. This will be a totally reconfigurable factory, one of the goals of the advanced manufacturing research strategy.”

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Professor Sir Keith Burnett, said: “We are delighted that HEFCE is supporting the AMRC Factory 2050, and deeply proud of the vision and talent of our engineers who have a global reputation for advanced manufacturing research which works directly with industry in ways which transform business, create jobs and strengthen our economy.

“This new facility brings together government, business and the University to drive the innovation that is so important to the UK’s future economy and assures our place at the forefront of global high value manufacturing.”

The AMRC Factory 2050 will combine technologies including advanced robotics, flexible automation, unmanned workspace, off-line programming in virtual environments linked to plug-and-play robotics, 3D printing from flexible automated systems, man-machine interfaces, and new programming and training tools. Around 50 researchers and engineers will work in the new facility.
The building will have an area of around 4,500 sq m, and will be built to BREEAM ‘Excellent’ environmental standards. It will be constructed largely from glass, to showcase the advanced manufacturing technologies being developed within. The location is yet to be decided.

Around 50 researchers and engineers will work in the new facility, which will be completed around the end of 2014.