Our story

We turn the latest world-leading research into huge practical improvements for industry.

We can reduce the time taken to make a component from 40 hours to just three. We can take an assembly process down from 60 minutes to 60 seconds. And we can take 10 years of production and do it in 10 weeks.

Our background

It all started when Professor Keith Ridgway of the University of Sheffield worked with businessman Adrian Allen on a project with Boeing. At the time, academic research didn’t always filter down into the real world of manufacturing companies.

The two men had an idea: what if we create a centre that bridges the gap between the cutting edge research happening in university labs and the day-to-day needs of the production line? 

And so in 2001, with the help of John Baragwanath and Richard Caborn, the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) was born.

Since then, we have grown to become a world leader in manufacturing excellence, part of the national High Value Manufacturing Catapult network of research centres. We have a network of 70 universities and more than 1,000 companies of all sizes, from fledgling start-ups to the biggest names in manufacturing.

What we do now

Every day we work with companies of all sizes — including SMEs, start-ups and large-scale manufacturers — to help them improve their productivity and save time, money and energy. 

We have more than 500 highly qualified researchers and engineers working on the manufacturing needs of the future, from composites to castings, additive manufacturing to machining. 

Crucially, we also understand the challenges of a day-to-day production line. We know it can be hard to bring innovations into your business when you’re running a 24/7 operation. 

So we take our research and use it to develop bespoke improvements for each company, based on their budget and requirements. We de-risk innovation so you don’t have to.

You might need incremental changes to your processes. Or you might benefit from a complete overhaul, making the most of the latest technologies. Whatever the problem, we can help.

In short, we make things faster, cheaper, safer, cleaner and more sustainable.