ABOUT
WHAT IS DIGITAL MANUFACTURING ON A SHOESTRING?
Capturing digital information offers manufacturers the opportunity to create a detailed picture of how their production and processes are working. It helps them to improve their decision making, increase their efficiencies, and puts them in a better position to grow. Additionally, digital processes encourage and develop digital skills, enable greater productivity and provide the opportunity for staff to move into higher value jobs.
Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring is a collaborative project that brings together a range of people working in the manufacturing industry with university researchers to adapt low-cost accessible technologies for companies to use.
Partners include manufacturers such as Warren Services, Kemdent and Buchanan Orthotics; organisations including MakeUK, High Value Manufacturing and Digital Catapults, as well as education-focussed initiatives including ESP-Scotland and SERC (South Eastern Regional College) in Northern Ireland; and, technology providers such as Raspberry Pi, Siemens and Microsoft.
Established in response to the UK Government’s 2017 Digital Strategy, the project seeks to open up the benefits of digitalisation to small-to-medium sized companies who might be overwhelmed by the complexities and cost of commercial digital offerings.
The thought of creating a digital roadmap and embarking on full scale digital transformation can be scary, so Shoestring helps companies get started on the process of exploring digital options. It does this by taking a low-risk approach through adding digital solutions in an incremental manner whilst also providing the support needed to make sure the solution is implemented correctly and can deliver results.
In this way, Shoestring is bringing digital solutions into many small-scale manufacturing environments for the first time, helping them put a ‘toe in the water’ in the digital space, and so giving them a proof of concept and confidence to digitalise further.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
Digital Manufacturing on Shoestring aims to help small-to-medium sized manufacturers by:
- Providing access to affordable digital solutions
- Developing technical digital skills amongst their workforces
- Having a lasting impact on business operations and the wider manufacturing sector
- Encouraging appreciation of the value in investing in new technology
PROJECT FUNDING
This project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with further support from the Foundation of German Business and Impact Accelerator fund, and from Research England’s Pitch-In project.