Amey and ESI sign up to MTC
ENGINEERING consultancy Amey and virtual prototype firm ESI have become the latest businesses to sign up to join Coventry’s Manufacturing Technology Centre.
Amey, a key player in engineering, asset management and strategic infrastructure, is responsible for major road, rail, aviation, utilities, local and central government and defence projects throughout the UK and overseas. It has joined the MTC as a prestigious tier one member.
The company aims to work with MTC engineers and technicians to develop technology-driven solutions to health and safety issues, and research innovative ways of removing the risks associated with hazardous environments including working at height, working underwater and working close to road and rail infrastructure.
Dr Clive Hickman, MTC chief executive, said that Amey was the first member to represent the civil engineering sector – and the first new sign-up for 2015.
“While the core purpose of the MTC is to support manufacturing, the expertise of the centre is fundamentally about process control and realisation, which does not necessarily have to be associated with manufacturing,” he said.
“The MTC’s core competences include remote technology, robotics, cybernetics, visualisation and simulation, all of which can be appropriate to Amey’s needs.”
Andy Milner, managing director of Amey’s Consulting and Strategic Infrastructure business said: “Together we aim to find innovative solutions to eliminate or minimise risks that our employees and sub-contractors are exposed to when working on roads, railways, at height or underwater.”
ESI, a pioneer and world leader in virtual prototyping, has also joined the MTC.
The firm, which has its UK base in Cannock, has been providing its virtual reality software to the MTC for some time, and has now formally joins as a Tier Two member.
Virtual reality experts from ESI are working hand in hand with MTC engineers and technicians from other member companies to develop ESI’s simulation software for manufacturing companies of all sizes.
ESI, a French company with bases all over the world, provides virtual prototyping software and services to a wide range of sectors, aiming to replace physical prototypes with numerical models.
Providing a realistic and accurate simulation of product behaviour during testing, ESI’s software allows the correction of design errors and the development of fabrication and assembly processes before committing major investment.
Also joining the MTC are Droitwich-based radio frequency identification and bar-coding specialist Fairfield and Edgecam, a provider of CAD/CAM software for CNC machining which is part of Cheltenham-based Vero Software.
