AI-improved steelmaking and 3D printing at scale get share of £14m fund

Projects aiming to use AI to make steelmaking more productive and to use 3D printing at ‘record scale’ are among schemes awarded £13.7m in government funding.

Targeting improvements in the energy efficiency, productivity and sustainability of manufacturing processes, the Sustainable Smart Factory Competition, led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will fund projects that harness digital innovations such as AI, ‘big data’ and virtual reality (VR).

The 12 projects awarded funding aim to optimise the use of materials, reduce and reuse waste, or lower energy consumption to increase sustainability in production and drive growth.

Successful applicants include:

• Reducing energy consumption and material loss in steel production using predictive machine learning, led by Deep.Meta, will use machine learning to boost sustainability in the production of steel by predicting where inefficiencies lie
• Lead Factory, led by Photocentric, aims to develop technology for 3D printing at scale using recycled materials
• WasteMap, led by Topolytics, will use machine learning to develop a visual map of reusable manufacturing products that can be extracted from waste
• Inspire, by Pragmatic Semiconductor, aims to tackle global semiconductor shortages by using AI to optimise manufacturing productivity and efficiency.

Industry minister Jackie Doyle-Price said: “Creating and adopting the latest in digital technology solutions will be key to the continued success of our manufacturing sector. It is now critical that companies in industries as varied as baking to advanced robotics are maximising their potential using technology such as AI and VR.

“The projects awarded funding today (7 October) will cut energy consumption and boost growth for businesses in regions right across the UK, while helping our world leading manufacturers keep pace with ever growing global competition.”

The schemes could create 1,000 jobs in the three years after their completion, the government said, while reducing manufacturing CO2 emissions by 300,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent to taking nearly 65,000 cars off the roads.

Large manufacturers, SMEs, universities and research organisations are involved in the projects.

Chris Needham, innovation leader in the Made Smarter Innovation Challenge, said: “Effective digital technologies can have a substantial impact on the manufacturing sector, bringing outdated, inefficient and unproductive products and processes up to the standards needed for a net zero industry of the future. It’s clear from the wide range of applications we received just how far waste and energy issues extend across different industries.”