How technology can supercharge Welsh manufacturing

Five years ago, on November 28, 2019, AMRC Cymru was launched with a mission — use advanced technology to supercharge the Welsh economy.

It started with myself and Andy Silcox, AMRC Cymru’s commercial director, sitting in a tiny classroom at Coleg Cambria. Today we employ more than 50 highly talented people. Together we’ve helped more than 100 Welsh businesses make their products faster, cheaper, safer, cleaner and more sustainable.

Now we’re working with Wales’s biggest companies to introduce much-needed technological changes — with the power to boost the whole economy.

A vision for Wales

At first, this was a risk. When the Welsh government assigned £20m to our state-of-the-art technology centre in Broughton five years ago, some nervously recalled earlier failed efforts at kickstarting the Welsh manufacturing sector.

But something was clearly needed. In 2000, Wales’s average output per capita was just 71 per cent of the UK average. Twenty years later, that figure stood at just 74 per cent.

A new approach was needed. UK manufacturing as a whole has become uncompetitive, lagging behind our global competitors and dropping down international league tables. Countries like the USA, Germany and France have invested heavily in robotics, while we have stood still.

Restoring Welsh manufacturing

Some might think that UK manufacturing has had its day — that our economy now runs on services, and the products we rely on are made in southeast Asia. But in recent years, rocked by seismic events like the pandemic and the Ukraine war, the EU and the USA have invested trillions of dollars in their own manufacturing sectors.

We can’t afford to be left behind, relying on foreign supply chains and being vulnerable to global shocks.

The evidence shows that left to its own devices, the private sector does not invest enough in research and development. So AMRC Cymru, also a part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, is a collaboration between the University of Sheffield, the Welsh government and aerospace giant Airbus — is perfectly placed to bring the latest knowledge and expertise to Welsh industry.

We want to build something bigger — improving productivity in the manufacturing sector, bringing supply chains back to Wales, and finally bringing growth to the Welsh economy.
Making a difference across Wales

Such lofty ambitions take time. But in our first five years we have already made a significant difference to industry across Wales.

In Flintshire and Powys, fully funded through their council’s UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund allocation, we’re working with the councils to help businesses decarbonise, increase productivity and upskill their employees.

In Denbighshire, we worked with Denbighshire County Council, to support ten businesses use smart technology to transform their operations, funded by the UK government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Across Wales we’ve run more than 20 programmes teaching companies how to measure their energy use digitally. By bringing this data alive we have reduced their energy consumption by five per cent — good news for balance sheets, and the planet.

Meanwhile, more than 100 small businesses in Wales have benefited from our expertise on specific projects to solve their problems.

We helped a waffle maker in west Wales use robots to pack their products faster. We worked with an inventor who has designed carbon-free engines for boats, helping progress his idea towards reality. And we helped speed up the manufacture of prosthetic limb covers, potentially saving a Conwy-based designer £100,000 in capital costs.

Fit for the future

All our projects have a common aim: to get Welsh industry fit for the future. We focus on digital design, sustainability and supply chain resilience. But what does this look like on the ground?

Granada Cranes makes davits that are installed on wind turbines. It approached us to help develop a new product. Our lead engineer created a beautiful new concept, inspired by nature and architecture. Best of all, it’s 20 per cent more efficient to manufacture, and it already has orders worth more than £20m. We’re now looking at automating the assembly line to provide even greater savings.

Food and drink companies contribute a lot to the Welsh economy, but tight profit margins mean they invest less in research and development than other sectors.

In North Wales we developed a new state-of-the-art manufacturing assembly line for The Pudding Compartment, which makes baked products for schools and train companies. They tell us the introduction of digital systems and data harnessing has revolutionised the business — and they have recently recorded record outputs.

Supply chains are incredibly important. We are working with national frontier firms to understand how we can reduce our reliability on imported parts. By bringing these supply chains back to Wales we could add £100m a year to the Welsh economy.

For example, we are exploring how we can use recycled steel in the new electric arc furnaces at Tata for the production of large fabricated structures in South West Wales, using automated welding techniques. This could lead to infrastructure like wind turbine towers being made entirely with Welsh materials, with Welsh people and Welsh creativity – with huge potential benefits for the regional economy and sustainability.

Pride and promise

We are immensely proud of what we have built over the last five years. Our team is full of incredibly talented, passionate people who all want to deliver for Wales. We have created a fantastic foundation on which we can build something really significant.

Together with the Welsh government, we’re building a vision of what Wales can be. In the next five to ten years we have the potential to grow national productivity towards world-class levels and create supply chain and inward investment opportunities across Wales.

On our fifth birthday, we can look back with pride — and look ahead with promise and confidence.

Jason Murphy, strategy and commercial director, AMRC Cymru