Robotics could unleash Yorkshire’s manufacturing potential

YORKSHIRE manufacturers have been urged to embrace robotics and autonomous systems if they are going to make the most of new global opportunities and bring innovations to market.

The rallying call was made during a Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) and Leeds Manufacturing Forum-backed visit to the University of Leeds’ new £4.3m EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotic Systems.

David Whiteley, manufacturing growth coach at MAS, commented: “Robotic and autonomous systems has been identified by the UK Government as one of the ‘eight great technologies’ that are revolutionising our lives, the economy and human society.

“We’ve got this outstanding facility on our doorstep in Leeds, yet not enough manufacturers are taking advantage of it and academia is struggling to engage with the right firms…. this is something we wanted to change with this visit.”

LBBC Technologies’ managing director Howard Pickard, who gave a presentation on how his company had been working with the University on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), added:  “Being a local SME, it is important that we explore the opportunities the University of Leeds can offer us, using its expertise and facilities to further our product innovations.

“We identified the KTP initiative – run by Innovate UK – as the most effective form of collaboration and are nearing the end of a highly successful two and a half-year programme.

“The associate has brought a lot of expertise to our business, expertise we couldn’t have afforded to bring in ourselves and this has resulted in the development of new coating technology that will ensure our products remain globally competitive.”