AMRC Cymru celebrates five years of impact as a national asset

02 December, 2024

To date more than 50 small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) have also been supported on their digital and sustainable manufacturing journey through AMRC Cymru’s assist programmes, which are fully funded through the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations to local councils. These programmes have provided local manufacturers unparalleled access to advanced manufacturing technology, knowledge transfer, training and upskilling in digital and decarbonisation strategies.

And it’s not just local SMEs that are feeling the benefit of working with the experts at AMRC Cymru. Airbus played a fundamental part in the creation of AMRC Cymru, establishing itself as a tenant in the AMRC Cymru building to develop its next generation wing technologies under its ‘Wing of Tomorrow’ programme, which is part of a global Airbus investment in research and innovation.

Since then, AMRC Cymru has worked closely with Airbus to better understand its needs, with a goal of delivering exceptional value on a programme of immense importance to UK aerospace - the development of the next generation of single-aisle aircraft.

Away from the aerospace sector, the AMRC Cymru team has made strides in the agricultural sector, which is a key part of supply chains for a range of industries, but is under increasing pressure to produce high-quality, low-cost food for the population, whilst reducing environmental impacts.

Amongst a host of challenges, two key aspects compounding the pressures of the sector are labour shortages and consistency of operations. In response, AMRC Cymru is leading the AgBot project - the UK’s first commercially available fully-autonomous tractor.

Through the AgBot and its trials at Coleg Glynllifon, AMRC Cymru is looking to de-risk technology so that informed decisions can be made by farmers in these challenging times.

Such successes continue to build confidence in how innovation can transform Welsh industries, as seen with the recent opening of a new HVM Catapult site in South Wales, HVM Catapult Baglan. Here, AMRC Cymru engineers will run a digital factory hub, giving manufacturers access to state-of-the-art equipment to help them boost their productivity and sustainability, advance manufacturing technology innovation and support Wales’ green industrial transformation.

Katherine Bennett, CEO of HVM Catapult, reflected on the centre’s critical role to manufacturing just months after opening when, during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was turned into a production base for life saving ventilators.

She wished AMRC Cymru ‘Llongyfarchiadau’ on its fifth anniversary, adding: "I know from my time at Airbus how important the site has been for Welsh industry. It has proved itself a true national asset - first as a production facility for thousands of ventilators and now helping manufacturers large and small become more profitable, sustainable and competitive.

"Here's to many more years of supercharging Welsh manufacturing."

AMRC Cymru has no plans to stand still. Looking to the future, it wants to create a vision of what Wales can be, which is why it is establishing itself in the new era of clean energy. The centre has teamed up with Japan Marine United as part of a strategic research partnership to develop floating offshore wind (FLOW) power in Wales, and the rest of the UK, with ambitions of creating supply chain opportunities for Welsh industry that will transform the industrial landscape.

Jason Murphy, strategy and commercial director at AMRC Cymru, said: "in the next five years, AMRC Cymru has the potential to ‘start moving the economic dial for Wales’, creating indigenous supply chains and improving sustainability across the manufacturing industry."

He added: “While the rapid pace of technological change can be overwhelming, success in business remains fundamentally driven by human relationships and collaboration. Striking this balance will be crucial as we work to drive economic growth in Wales by developing a world-class manufacturing sector over the next decade.”

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