Smart Factory Expo, part of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024, will feature the Made Smarter Innovation Showcase at the NEC, in Birmingham, on 5-6 June. Over the past four years, the Made Smarter Innovation Challenge has invested £120 million in over 60 pioneering projects, which has attracted an additional £130 million from industry partners, fostering a collaborative innovation ecosystem.
Visiting the Made Smarter Innovation Showcase will demonstrate how Innovate UK and its partners are transforming UK manufacturing, creating a future that is sustainable, productive, and globally competitive. Over 40 businesses will be exhibited, grouped around the themes of net zero, people, productivity, and resilience.
One of the notable innovations on display is Photocentric’s LEAD (Low Energy Autonomous Digital) Factory, which significantly reduces material consumption and energy use in the production of high-performance polymer products. This fully automated, scalable, and flexible additive manufacturing system delivers parts at the speed and cost of injection moulding.
Machine Intelligence, another leading-edge company focused on the aerospace industry, employs AI and custom software for digital X-ray inspection. Its tools allow operators to quickly and accurately identify potential defects in and near welds.
DevTank’s Open Smart monitors assist businesses in managing energy costs and achieving net zero. These devices utilise IoT technology for environmental and energy monitoring. SupplyVue, a B2B SaaS solution, uses genetic algorithms and machine learning to design parameter values for synchronised supply chains, thereby delivering significant efficiency gains.
Several businesses at the expo will showcase robotics, including the Smart Cobotics Research Centre. It aims to develop the next generation of smart, collaborative industrial robotic systems. Their stand will feature a drone used for inspection and repair, a camera setup for human tracking, and two robots—one demonstrating facial recognition and the other the flexibility of tactile grippers.
Addressing supply chain challenges, various solutions will be presented. Reserve Resources offers an innovative software-as-a-service platform for clothing manufacturers, enabling the mapping of waste by composition, type, and location, and matching it with optimal recycling solutions. CONSUS Fresh Solutions focuses on the food sector with its SecQuAL (Secure Quality Assured Logistics for Digital Food Ecosystems) project, supporting the digitalisation and transparency of food supply chains through blockchain technologies.
Commenting on the addition of the Made Smarter Innovation Showcase to Smart Factory Expo Grace Gilling, Managing Director of The Manufacturer said: “The addition of the showcase to the event truly means that visitors can deal with businesses and products at all stages of their evolution. We have the biggest technology brands delivering enterprise level solutions and small businesses evolving from university incubators with products at trial stage. It’s an amazing spectrum and it’s all under one roof during Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week.”
Launched in 2020, the Made Smarter Innovation Challenge is a significant component of the government’s Industrial Strategy Fund (ISCF). Its mission is to advance the UK’s manufacturing sector by leveraging industrial digital technologies (IDTs). The goals include Sustainability Leadership, enhancing the industry’s environmental footprint through increased resource reusability, reduced waste, and lower carbon emissions; Economic Powerhouse, driving a £2.3 billion increase in Gross Value Added (GVA), creating high-skilled jobs, and achieving a 30% productivity boost; and Manufacturing Redefined, attaining a 4.5% reduction in carbon emissions and a 25% decrease in manufacturing waste, solidifying the UK’s position as a global leader in sustainable, efficient manufacturing.
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