UK production to be advanced by new Centre
Yesterday, October 22nd, Minister for the South East Jonathan Shaw MP opened the new Renishaw Centre for Manufacturing Productivity at the University of Greenwich in Chatham, which it is hoped, will not only improve the quality of machine tool production skills in the UK, but also lead to research that will result in solving some of the problems involved in the production of micro and nano sized features on parts.
Grahame Baker, senior lecturer in engineering management and manufacturing systems at the University told us that as well as offering short courses based on the “Applying the Productive Process Pyramid”, a two day course developed by Renishaw, he planned to use it as the basis of a new final year engineering course and also hoped to lead on from this into research into such subjects as auto compensation for thermal effects in machining, a crucial problem that has been identified as a barrier to the successful, cost effective production of micro and nano sized features on parts, especially those required for new medical devices for implantation and keyhole surgery.
Renishaw has supplied the course material and measurement equipment, and Chris Pocket, expressed the remark that, “We are not precious about the material”, adding that, “We don’t want the centre to sit in isolation” and made it clear that he hoped it would indeed be used to develop UK precision manufacturing technologies further.
The Centre at Greenwich is Renishaw’s second in the UK. The company has annual sales of around £200 million, 94 per cent of which are for overseas, invested 17 per cent of its turnover in R&D and retains not only its design but also its production in the UK in order to maintain control of and ensure maximum quality.
