.webp)
The team consisiting of Authentise, Lancaster University(J4IC), TWI Ltd. and Lloyd’s Register EMEA has successfully completed the application process for funding under UK Innovation entity.
London, UK, 28th July 2021 – Authentise (www.authentise.com), the leader in data-driven workflow tools for additive manufacturing, is leading a team of industry leaders in a project titled “Digital Supply Chain Adoption Curve (DSCAC)”, which has been accepted for a UK Innovation grant for the competition “Manufacturing made smarter: digital supply chain, feasibility studies”.
The project, which started on the 5th of April, will run for a projected period of 6 months, and aims to provide a product roadmap that helps deliver the vision of a fully integrated, digital supply chain. While the vision is not new, it has been stifled by a lack of adoption. That's despite the fact that such an integration could deliver significant value in terms of efficiency, agility and security.
Yet, the vision has been held back by the fact that tools don't address needs and fears of supply chain participants, particularly SME's.
Through its previous work on both connected Manufacturing Execution Systems and research related to light weight digital supply chain tools, Authentise discovered a myriad of opportunities potentially exist that deliver value but, in falling short of full integration, address some of the challenges that have prevented this full integration from occurring. Intermediate products that address a particular need while limiting the information requirement, the adoption of a fully digital supply chain can be sped up. It is important that these tools are considered holistically to ensure that they are contributing to the vision of a fully integrated supply chain.
Thus, in this feasibility study the main aim is to learn (including reviewing existing solutions and literature and questioning key supply chain stakeholders), design (including identifying potential product areas - both served and unserved - and compiling full product definitions on each of them), and test (including high level test with industry interviews and granular test in the TWI test bed) an integrated digital supply chain.
The result is not just a report but a full set of product definitions that industry participants can use to identify and de-risk potential market opportunities. This type of holistic review yielding a product roadmap has not been available previously. The combination of research organisations (JI4C, TWI) with a software vendor (Authentise) and a certification agency (Lloyd's Register) will ensure that these solutions have both regulatory and academic rigor whilst maintaining an action oriented approach that software vendors can use to deliver real-world results, which may be pursued through a follow on Industrial Research application.
**************************
For information, please contact:
Andre Wegner, CEO Authentise, andre@authentise.com, +1-650-861-7077
Darren Williams, Professor & Director of the Joining 4.0 Innovation Centre Lancaster University, d.williams8@lancaster.ac.uk
Simon McCaldin, UK & European Funding Manager TWI, simon.mccaldin@twi.co.uk
Luke Turner, Innovation Project Leader TWI, luke.turner@twi.co.uk
Miguel Zavala, Laser AM Project Leader TWI, miguel.zavala@twi.co.uk
Andrew Imrie, Principal Technical Consultant Lloyd’s Register EMEA, Andrew.Imrie@lr.org
David Hardacre, Lead Specialist Lloyd’s Register EMEA, David.Hardacre@lr.org
About Authentise
Authentise delivers data-driven process automation software for additive manufacturing. Its two products include AMES, a workflow management engine using machine data for automation, and 3Diax, a platform of manufacturing related software modules. These tools help Boeing, Ricoh, 3M, Danfoss and others at the forefront of R&D, prototyping and production to reduce effort and cost, improve traceability and transparency, and deliver quality. The products also serve as their core contextual data engine in manufacturing, enabling them to easily build connected Industry 4.0 solutions. The company was founded in 2012 in San Francisco and operates offices in Philadelphia, London, and Kiev.
About Lancaster University
(top 10 UK University) recently set up The Joining 4.0 Innovation Centre (J4IC) with the aim of developing a comprehensive research capability focused on the digitalisation of Joining and associated manufacturing technologies underpinned with academic research excellence with an industrial context. The centre aims to integrate the expert joining process knowledge of industry leaders with Lancaster’s world class specialisms in data science, computation and cybersecurity to bring about disruptive innovations in manufacturing systems. Formed in late 2016 the J4IC is supported by industry (via TWI’s strong network of industrial partners), specifically its Welding Systems Integration section (WSI), and by Lancaster’s Engineering and Data Science Institute (DSI). Supporting a wide range of welding, joining and associated repair technologies, materials, manufacturing systems integration activities and product certification.
About Lloyd’s Register
Lloyd’s Register (LR) is a global engineering, technical and business services organisation owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering. Our services give clients confidence that their assets and businesses are safe, sustainable and dependable. LR provides independent assurance and expert advice to companies operating high-risk, capital intensive assets in various sectors. LR helps its clients to ensure the quality, construction and operation of their assets, going beyond basic compliance to ensure focus on operational and safety-critical areas. Furthermore, across a wider range of sectors, LRQA helps companies use management systems to improve performance and reduce risk. These activities match very closely with the tasks in the proposal as the verification of each activity, followed by successful validation of the outputs will be critical in mitigating critical risks and enhancing the consistency, repeatability and quality of the materials and components produced within the supply chain. This allows certification in accordance with the relevant codes, standards and regulations, and subsequently promotes the wider adoption of AM as this allows the evolution through TRLs to production-ready.
About Made Smarter Innovation
Made Smarter Innovation is a national programme to help businesses who make things capitalize on new digital technologies. Our programme will support the transformation of UK’s manufacturing capabilities through the development and innovation of industrial digital technologies (IDTs). We give UK manufacturers access to a digital innovation ecosystem that helps prove their idea, quickly develop it with experts and scale it. The £300 million partnership between government and industry will provide match-funding, specialist advice and result in radical manufacturing solutions. Delivered by UK Research and Innovation.
Media: