The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded £11.4 million to seven projects around the UK, which aim to create novel digital tools, techniques and processes that will support the translation of digital capabilities into the manufacturing sector.

This investment marks the continuation of EPSRC’s longstanding commitment to fostering inter- and multi-disciplinary collaboration and supporting business innovation via digital transformation.

It arose out of work conducted by the Connected Everything Network Plus, which was established to create a multi-disciplinary community focused on industrial systems in the digital age.

Working with a wide range of industrial partners, the seven projects will tackle various challenges in this space, including: improving processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries; developing methods to predict the impact of introducing digital technologies on manufacturing performance; integrating revision control in digital-physical models; improving modelling for the analysis of dynamic loading in engineering and manufacturing; and developing low-cost digital tools for SMEs.

EPSRC chairman Philip Nelson said (www.epsrc.ukri.org): “The adoption of advanced ICT techniques in manufacturing provides an enormous opportunity to improve growth and productivity in the UK.

"The effective implementation of these new technologies requires a multi-disciplinary approach, and these projects will see academic researchers working with a large number of industrial partners to fully harness their potential, which could have an impact in many sectors.”

The industry-led Made Smarter review, chaired by Siemens chief executive Juergen Maier, recently stated that industrial digitalisation could be worth as much as £455 billion to UK manufacturing over the next decade.