AMRC With Boeing Rolls Out Mobile Manufacturing Demonstator Vehicle "MANTRA"

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing has won £500,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to take its advanced manufacturing techniques on the road.

MANTRA is a specially equipped HGV, fitted with the latest manufacturing equipment. It will introduce companies to the latest production engineering techniques, developed by the AMRC, that have enabled partner companies to make significant improvements in productivity. The specially equipped lorry is set to take to the road during the second quarter of 2008.

MANTRA will initially focus on two key areas: Advanced Machining, including technologies such as tooling optimisation, damping and post machining inspection and Advanced Assembly, which includes technologies such as GPS, laser alignment, smart tooling, virtual assembly and robotics. The interrelated demonstrations will show companies how such technologies have been successfully integrated; typically reducing manufacturing times by at least a factor of five.

"It is well recognised that transferring knowledge quickly from the research base to industry is vital to the competitiveness of UK manufacturing," says Research Director of the AMRC, Professor Keith Ridgway. "The EPSRC-funded MANTRA project will enable knowledge developed within the AMRC to reach many more companies."

Bart Moenster of the Boeing Company and Chairman of the AMRC with Boeing expressed his delight in receiving the EPSRC award. "A competitive UK aerospace supply chain is crucial to the success of Boeing. The AMRC is without doubt the most successful university-based knowledge transfer organisation to have been established in recent years; the degree of co-operation between the industrial partners is without precedent and MANTRA will extend the benefits to even more UK companies."

The AMRC's success is built on an extensive partnership. It is situated on an Advanced Manufacturing Park, where it is co-located with other internationally significant research and technology transfer organisations, such as TWI and CTI. The AMRC has benefited directly from ongoing support and funding from Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund.

Professor Keith Ridgway, Research Director at the AMRC said, "We are fortunate indeed to have an RDA that backed manufacturing during some of its darkest days. That foresight is now bearing fruit and manufacturing in Yorkshire and the Humber is looking forward to a far brighter future."

MANTRA will also visit schools throughout the UK and play a significant role in encouraging young men and women to consider careers in science and engineering.

Commercial Director, Adrian Allen said: "Our target, our passion, is to enthuse young people to help make good the UK deficit caused by a lost generation of engineers."

For more information on having MANTRA visit your company or school please contact Chris Ridgway at c.ridgway@sheffield.ac.uk, or phone 0114 2221747.

Editors Notes:

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing is a £45million partnership of the University of Sheffield and over 40 partner companies, which builds on the shared scientific excellence, expertise and technological innovation of the world's leading aerospace companies, and world-class research within the University of Sheffield's Faculty of Engineering. It develops innovative and advanced technology solutions for materials forming, metal working and castings. It also has internationally acknowledged research in the field of composite materials, an area crucial to the development of Boeing's next generation aircraft.

The AMRC is project part-financed by the European Union Regional Development Fund, and supported by Yorkshire Forward. It has recently been awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize, to be presented in 2008.

For further information about the AMRC please contact Timothy Scherer, PR and Communication Manager for the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre by phone at (0114) 222 7676 on the web at www.amrc.co.uk or e-mail t.scherer@amrc.co.uk.

About the Award

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's Knowledge Transfer Challenge (EPSRC KT Challenge) is a national competition which promotes and assists knowledge transfer between business and UK universities.

The prestigious award is the culmination of several years successful work in knowledge transfer activities by the AMRC, which has been championed and backed financially by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency, and the European Secretariat of the Government Office for Yorkshire & the Humber.