University of Greenwich at Medway teams up with leading manufacturer to help businesses in south-east increase productivity
The University of Greenwich at Medway is launching a regional training centre with Renishaw, the manufacturer of precision engineering tools, to showcase machinery and manufacturing systems which will make businesses more productive.
The Minister for the South East, Jonathan Shaw MP, will open the Renishaw Centre for Manufacturing Productivity at the Medway Campus on Wednesday 22 October.
The university’s School of Engineering will run two-day courses at the centre, developed by Renishaw to help manufacturing companies increase automation and improve quality.
Engineering Professor Alan Reed says: “We estimate that manufacturing industry in the region stands to gain up to £50 million from increases in productivity. This is a timely initiative from Renishaw which fits in well with the services the university provides business.”
“In particular it expands our portfolio of services for manufacturing businesses which includes rapid prototyping, product development, electronics manufacturing, powder and solids processing and handling, engineering management and IT.”
Renishaw’s UK General Manager Marc Saunders says: “Globalisation is putting pressure on UK manufacturers to streamline and automate their processes, at a time when engineering skills are in short supply. This centre is part of a national initiative by Renishaw to offer training in contemporary best practice to companies of all sizes, from SMEs right up to aerospace companies.”
He adds: “The University of Greenwich has the expertise and facilities to deliver the training and match it to the needs of each business. Participants will leave with an action plan to implement process improvements in their own factories.”
The course material is based on Renishaw’s own experiences of developing highly efficient machining processes which enabled it to keep the majority of its manufacturing base in the UK. The company produces over 5,000 different precision components at its Stonehouse, Gloucestershire facility, with an output of over four million parts per year, machined to aerospace tolerances, yet with an exceptional level of automation.
The School of Engineering at the university has been a centre of teaching excellence in the region for over a hundred years. It has benefited from significant investment since moving to the Medway campus ten years ago and brings computer and communications, civil, electronic and mechanical engineering, product design and engineering management under one roof.
ENDS
Editors’ notes
Photo opportunity and launch: Jonathan Shaw MP will be given a short tour of the Renishaw Centre at 10.45am on Wednesday 22 October. Go to reception at Grenville Building on Central Avenue, University of Greenwich at Medway, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB. The launch event with Jonathan Shaw will be at 11.15am in the Pilkington Building, also on Central Avenue.
For more information about services for businesses at the University of Greenwich, please contact Greenwich Research & Enterprise (GRE) on 0208 331 7867 or email: first-stop@gre.ac.uk For more information about the School of Engineering go to http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/engineering
The Renishaw Centre has a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment including various Renishaw machine tool probe systems, Haas VF-2DTR 5 axis machining centre, Haas TM-1 CNC tool room milling m/c, Haas TL-1 CNC tool room lathe, Harrison Alpha CNC tool room lathe, 3D systems wax printer, Stratasys dimension fusion deposition system and CAD-CAM software.
University of Greenwich media contact:
Hester Brown, Press Officer
Tel: 020 8331 7663
Mob: 07876 193 481
Renishaw media contact:
Chris Pockett
Group Marketing Services Manager
Tel: 01453 524133
Mob: 07887 833391