New centre of excellence for manufacturers

Posted on 11 Mar 2008 by The Manufacturer

A centre dedicated to improving manufacturers’ assembly processes has been officially opened by Top Gear’s Perry McCarthy.

The Centre of Excellence in Customised Assembly (CECA) is the only initiative of its kind in the UK, and has been launched at the Rolls-Royce Factory of the Future, also the home of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing.

CECA, which is a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Loughborough and Nottingham, provides cost-effective assembly solutions for defence, aerospace, pharmaceutical/medical, device and niche automotive supply chains.
Industrial partners supporting the venture include Rolls-Royce, Boeing, the Ford Motor Company and Messier-Dowty.

“CECA is a pioneering collaboration between industry and academia that’s delivering the latest assembly technologies to manufacturers,” said Professor Keith Ridgway, CECA academic director and director of the University of Sheffield’s AMRC with Boeing. “It’s a ground-breaking example of an industrial-quality research and development facility assisting and enhancing the capabilities of British manufacturing.”