Enw'r sefydliad: Swansea University
Cyflwynwyd: 11/11/2011 gan b.c.suddell@swansea.ac.uk
- Busnes craidd y sefydliad: Higher education and Research
- Beth fydd y prosiect yn ei wneud?: The project will provide dedicated expertise to help improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing supply chain in the competitiveness region of Wales. Much of our manufacturing industry lacks the central R&D facilities to fully exploit the opportunities for innovation that are constantly arising. The proposed project will bring together a unique combination of engineering and business expertise supported by access to unrivalled resources within the Welsh HEI sector to focus on the challenges faced by businesses in the Wales Competitiveness region. In these regions the support offered by this project will enable businesses to develop new technologies or improve on existing business practices by giving them access to expertise and facilities which would not be readily available. The ERDF funded ASTUTE project which is ongoing and is successfully serving the convergence region, will be used as the model for this particular project. This new project will offer similar services to companies targeted by ASTUTE, but in this instance will support the remaining areas in Wales to provide a truly PAN Wales industry focused activity. One of the main raisons d’être for ASTUTE is the promotion of sustainability, this theme will continue to be a core aspect of the work undertaken in this region. Using an already well established and supported group of HEI’s who have the necessary expertise and previously funded facilities in this area, will provide the project with a strong foundation to enable the project to save both time and make cost savings when compared to establishing a totally new and unproven concept. There is a clear demand for this type of project activity as shown by the following points: o Enterprise Zones: of the five enterprise zones announced for Wales (Anglesey: Energy; Cardiff Central: Financial services; Deeside: Advanced manufacturing; Ebbw Vale: Automotive; St Athan: Aerospace) - a number will be based within the competitiveness region. There are two of direct relevance - one which is most aligned to the activity of ASTUTE (the ASTUTE acronym stands for Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies) is the enterprise zone to be based in Deeside which will have an advanced manufacturing theme. There is also another new zone identified for St. Athan (Vale of Glamorgan) with an Aerospace theme, again in the competitiveness region which ASTUTE will be able to support directly due to the nature of its core activities, which are ‘aerospace, automotive and high value manufacturing’. o Supply chains: ASTUTE will be able to build on the existing manufacturing in the competitiveness region through linking up with blue chip companies such as Airbus, Toyota, TATA steel, Vauxhall and their associated supply chains. TATA Steel has a number of supply chains based within both the competitiveness region and convergence areas. Likewise, TATA supplies products across the whole of Wales into both regions. As another example, Airbus is located within the competitiveness region and is starting to develop its composites manufacturing capability. We would be able to provide full supply chain support for those companies supplying goods and services to Airbus based within the competitiveness region of Wales. Recent figures supplied by the Welsh government show that in the case of Airbus’ supply chain there are 24 companies based within Wales, 16 of which are located in the competitiveness region (includes airframe, cabin and cargo and general procurement businesses). For ASTUTE to be able to work successfully with the entire supply chains of these larger organisations (and indeed the larger organisations themselves) we need to be able to operate with their supply chain companies which are often located in both regions. o Companies within competitiveness region will benefit from the expertise and support that ASTUTE is currently providing to those companies within the convergence region. The number of manufacturing Enterprises in the Competitive Region is 2,112, so there is a justification for carrying out this type of activity within the competitiveness region where there could potentially be a significant demand for ASTUTE’s services. Thereby enhancing Wales’ advanced manufacturing capability. o Greater focus on Pharmaceutical and chemical companies in the competitiveness area. Of the 75 companies identified in a recent study, 40 of these are based in the Competitiveness area. 10 of the top 12 companies are located in this area alone. o ASTUTE already has 4 academic partner institutions located within the competitiveness region which includes: Cardiff; Newport; Glyndwr and UWIC and is therefore already well positioned to make a significant impact in this region with a strong academic partner base. o ASTUTE already has a well established administration structure which will be used to facilitate activity within the competitiveness area, thereby saving any additional costs that would be required if this project was instigated by another group not currently undertaking this type of activity.
- Ardaloedd gofodol y bydd y prosiect yn eu cynnwys: Holl Ardal Gystadleurwydd
- Pwy fydd y buddiolwyr yn y pen draw?: The key beneficiaries will be the supply chain industry centered around manufacturing technologies that encompass areas such as: automotive; aerospace; optoelectronics; high value manufacturing; food industry etc. This sector is comprised of a mix of primarily Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Multi National Enterprises (MNEs). The objective is to help companies in the region improve their competitiveness and enable them to operate at the leading edge of manufacturing technology. Although focused predominantly on SME’s a number of major companies such as Airbus, for example, will be targeted due to their strategic location within the competitiveness region (along with their associated supply chains which are invariably located in close proximity).
- Pa ganlyniadau allai fod i'r prosiect?: The project involves a partnership of Universities throughout Wales that will harness the engineering, science and business expertise within them to improve the economic prosperity of the Competitiveness Region. The project will be led by Swansea University, building on established expertise and track record of the ASTUTE project (where the focus resides in the convergence regions) and will involve key academic partners within the competitiveness region that includes: Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University (UWIC), University of Wales Newport and Glyndwr University. The consortium will also be supported by centers of expertise located at Universities within the convergence region such as Aberystwyth, Bangor, Swansea and Swansea Metropolitan. The project will be delivered by research officers located at HEI partner institutions. The project will be administered by a team of staff responsible for Targets, financial and legal aspects. Overall the project will be managed by an experienced project manager, already involved as the project manager on the ASTUTE project thereby providing continuity between the two projects. A number of business development managers will be appointed who will initially develop leads with companies and then provide the necessary bridging contact between the relevant HEI and the new company contact. These will be new posts (initially based in Swansea) and will be supported by academic expertise from existing staff in the College of Engineering at Swansea University. The project team will promote the project through a number of events (such as breakfast briefings which are shorter themed events targeting specific areas, more suited to SME’s and their time constraints) along with other dissemintaion and knowledge transfer activities.
- Pa allbynnau (mesurau gweithgarwch) allai fod i'r prosiect?: This project (running alongside the ASTUTE Project) this will provide a pan Wales delivery vehicle for the design, optimisation and support of sustainable manufacturing technologies, targeted at the high added value components and systems within the automotive, aerospace and high technology industry sectors. From experience the support provided to companies will (in most cases) lead to a collaborative research and development project. We also envisage technological support capabilities for manufacturing with capacity across Wales. Also, support in the development, introduction and implementation of high value and novel manufacturing technologies throughout Wales are envisaged.
- Pa ganlyniadau allai fod i'r prosiect?: A well established R&D function able to resource support added value manufacturing industries within Wales, notably automotive, aerospace, and the high technology sectors. A number of results are expected from this project such as enterprises assisted, collaborative R&D projects, new jobs created, investment induced and new products, processes or services registered and launched.
- Beth fyddai effaith y prosiect?: The main impact would be enabling the manufacturing industry in the competitiveness region to grow by adopting more advanced technologies, and at the same time improving its sustainability by reducing its environmental impact. The improvements made to existing technologies will focus not only on the effectiveness of the product but also on the efficiency of the manufacturing processes. So, the impact would be significant. There are currently around 193,000 jobs in the manufacturing and production industries throughout Wales, with 13,000 enterprises contributing a combined annual turnover of £32bn. Many of these jobs are highly skilled and of high value. If both the volume of jobs in manufacturing and their skill level could be raised, then the economic impact upon Wales would be extremely significant for the next 20 years or so. Additionally, the assistance provided to the manufacturing companies will ultimately also help support the supply chain and make the businesses more competitive in both UK and global markets.
- Beth yw'r amcangyfrif o gost y prosiect?: £5,500,000