News article
30 October 2020
FDF Cymru announced as AMRC Cymru partner as part of WGov business outreach programme
Back to list of articles
FDF Cymru announced as AMRC Cymru partner as part of WGov business outreach
programme
FDF Cymru, which represents Welsh food and drink manufacturers, has been
announced as a
partner to the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
(AMRC) Cymru. This
follows September's announcement of a £2m investment from Welsh Government to
create a Food
and Drink Packaging Sustainability Centre in North Wales.
The new collaboration will see both organisations engage with businesses across
the food and
drink sector in Wales to scope out potential challenges in the adoption of
emerging technologies. The
outreach will involve collating demonstrator case studies to assist the
industry
in practice, as well as
on-going webinars and networking events.
It is hoped the activities undertaken as part of the partnership will support
the broader industry
needs of the food and drink manufacturing sector in Wales, particularly as it
deals with the impact of
the Covid-19 crisis.
Pete Robertson, Acting Director, FDF Cymru, said:
“I'm delighted that FDF Cymru has been chosen as effectively a brand ambassador
for AMRC
Cymru. By working together we will better understand the barriers food and
drink
manufacturers
currently face when it comes to implementing newer technologies, and in doing
so
we hope to be
able to support wider productivity gains across the industry. I'm very much
looking forward to putting
in place a programme of engagement so we can begin speaking to as many
businesses as
possible.”
In addition to prototyping and functional test equipment for new packaging
solutions, the Food
and Drink Packaging Sustainability Centre at AMRC Cymru will have a central
demonstrator to
exhibit the AMRC's capabilities in advanced automation, collaborative robotics,
additive
manufacturing and visualisation.
Bobby Manesh, AMRC Cymru's Food and Drink Technical Lead, said:
"The team at AMRC Cymru is very much looking forward to working closely with FDF
Cymru. The
food and drink sector is a new area for the AMRC so having this partnership
with
FDF Cymru will be
invaluable as we demonstrate that Industry 4.0 technologies can be easily
implemented in a new
manufacturing set up at relatively low cost but with significant rewards.”
The demonstrator will be based on a conveyor system which will be linked
together with
collaborative robots, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and AMRC engineers
wearing exoskeletons.
More information
Contact Megan Bevan, Corporate Affairs Division, at: Megan.Bevan@fdf.org.uk, or 07946 340 998.
Back to list of articles