The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) was established in 2009 as a collaborative venture with Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government, and founding industry members Rolls-Royce, Boeing and Timet. It was one of the founding centres of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, and remains the only centre of its kind in Scotland. The AFRC is working with the Scottish Government, its agencies and Scottish industry to help deliver its manufacturing action plan, ‘A Manufacturing Future for Scotland’.

The University and AFRC are the anchor partner for the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) – a £65 million factory for the future, and the centrepiece of the developing Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID) at Inchinnan. NMIS is a strategic collaboration between the Scottish Government and the University, aiming to drive fundamental change in the competitiveness of Scottish industry through adoption of cutting edge research, innovation  and skills provision. The University is also a strategic partner in the new industry-led Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), another large-scale example of international collaboration in the AMID.

AFRC is at the heart of the country’s manufacturing R&D sector, enabling all types of company ─ from global original equipment manufacturers through to local manufacturing businesses – to access the technology and expertise needed to deliver innovative processes and products. Demand initially came from the aerospace sector, but AFRC has now grown to support companies from across the manufacturing landscape including oil and gas, medical devices, energy, food and drink, automotive and general engineering.

Strathclyde is part of a new strategic Boeing Scotland Alliance, which includes an £11.8m Research & Development project between Boeing and the AFRC. The project is supported by £3.5m of R&D funding from Scottish Enterprise and will see Boeing establish an R&D team in Scotland to look at metallic component manufacturing as the basis for future aircraft components.

Engineering company Malin Group is set to build a marine manufacturing hub on the banks of the River Clyde. The Glasgow firm’s Scottish Marine Technology Park (SMTP) is to be built near the Erskine Bridge at Old Kilpatrick. It is expected to create nearly 1000 jobs and add £125.4 million a year to the economy, with a large fabrication facility and a deep-water jetty with 1100Te ship hoist, the largest of its kind in Scotland.