Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders Councils, along with Dumfries and Galloway and Borders Colleges, South of Scotland Enterprise and key stakeholders including Skills Development Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Engineering Forum and Scottish Borders Training Association have successfully bid to deliver the Advancing Innovative Manufacturing in the South of Scotland (AIMS) project.
AIMS Equipment Survey
Advancing Innovative Manufacturing in the South of Scotland – Equipment survey
This survey is designed to help us understand what new innovative manufacturing equipment and technology would be of most benefit to businesses within the South of Scotland and to establish what innovative manufacturing equipment is currently in use. The survey will remain open until 18th September 2020.
The overall aim of the Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund (AMCF) is for projects to have the scale and level of ambition required to have a significant impact on developing the manufacturing capabilities of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) within Scotland, which should lead to long-term transformational change.
This project is for manufacturing SMEs in the South of Scotland and will provide access to advanced manufacturing technologies. The project will focus on supporting SMEs who have potential new products, to help develop them for market, as well as upskilling the workforce and encouraging innovation.
Services will include:
- Training and upskilling
- R&D investment/innovation/concept development
- Product realisation
- Enabling a manufacturing ecosystem
The project will be delivered through a regional hub and spoke approach aligned with the Skills and Learning Network launched by Dumfries and Galloway and Borders Colleges. Hosted from The Bridge in Dumfries and linking with the Textiles Centre of Excellence in the Borders, partnership working will be developed through siting the advanced equipment within hub and spoke arrangements in both colleges. Additionally, the project will investigate the feasibility of siting equipment within an appropriate host business premises.
The Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. A full list of successful projects is available on the AMCF website. Total investment across Scotland is £15.8 million, with £8.3 million from the European Regional Development Fund, £590,000 from the Scottish Government, and the remainder in match-funding from the chosen projects.
The purpose of the Advancing Innovative Manufacturing in the South of Scotland (AIMS) project, is to provide SMEs, who have ideas for new products, with open access to advanced manufacturing resources incorporating state-of-the-art equipment and ‘Manufacturing 4.0” techniques (such as additive manufacturing, robotics, computer modelling), to support them to develop, test and commercialise new products and upskill their workforce to enable local production. The Project is open to SMEs across all parts of the manufacturing sector within the South of Scotland, such as Construction, Engineering, Food & Drink, Textile, Chemical, Creative Industries and others.
This survey is designed to help us understand what new innovative manufacturing equipment and technology would be of most benefit to businesses within the South of Scotland and to establish what innovative manufacturing equipment is currently in use. The survey will remain open until 18th September 2020.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RJKNCMQ
