The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) has agreed a ‘Tier One Partnership’ with global technology giant Siemens to stimulate the uptake of digital technologies by the manufacturing industry and support the factories of the future in Scotland.

Combining advanced manufacturing and digital expertise, the two organisations will work together to increase the adoption of Industry 4.0 in the UK supply chain, encouraging firms of all sizes to embrace digital manufacturing
to boost their efficiency and productivity.

Smart factories are highly digitalised and connected production facilities that use a constant stream of data to adapt to new demands.

This brings enormous opportunity for improvement across all stages of manufacture, along with back office and supply chain management.

A global leader in technology for industrial automation and digitalisation, Siemens will provide the world-leading research centre — located next to Glasgow Airport — with support in kind to the value of £200,000 per year.

The company (www.siemens.com) will supply innovative software and hardware, in addition to consultancy and access to research, unlocking the smart usage of data to improve manufacturing processes.

It will collaborate with the AFRC’s digital manufacturing team, sharing expertise and acting as a test-bed for de-risking innovation as firms seek to adopt new technologies.

Siemens technology is already in use in the AFRC’s collaborative research and development projects, including the creation of a digital twin for the whisky cask filling process and a platform offering an industry 4.0-based solution
for machinery.

Both Siemens and the AFRC (www.strath.ac.uk) are also collab-orating with AFRC Tier One Partner Virtalis to help firms across Scotland enhance their decision making and plan for the future using digital technology.