News: MetLase secures funding for growth
Rotherham-based MetLase, one of the UK's leading specialists in tooling, intelligent fixturing and components, has secured £400k funding through the Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority’s Local Growth Fund.
MetLase, a joint venture between Unipart and Roll-Royce based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, provides bespoke engineering solutions to complex industrial problems.
The funding will be combined with £565k of investment from MetLase to provide an ambitious series of standardised Industry 4.0 digital products that can be taken to market and applied in many areas of manufacturing, both in the UK and globally.
MetLase expects to create up to four new high value engineering careers in the first seven months of the project, whilst also safeguarding a further 10 jobs at the company. Phase two of the project will see MetLase applying its core digital architecture to develop and commercialise a suite of other digital products over a two-year period, including Smart Bench, Smart Cell, Smart Shield, Smart Fixtures and Smart Machining. This will considerably widen MetLase’s digital offering and enable significant business scale-up and global export opportunities. During Phase 2, Metlase is planning to create additional new jobs in the Sheffield City Region over a two-year period.
James Muir, Chair of the Board of Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said: “We are delighted that MetLase will be able to take advantage of this funding, which was introduced as part of our efforts to deliver an economy that works for everyone. The Government devolved powers directly from Whitehall to local people who know their areas best. Opportunities for growth are best identified by those with detailed local knowledge and the Local Growth Fund enables the Sheffield City Region to tailor transformational interventions to local circumstances.
"We look forward to seeing MetLase build on its expertise to become a world-leading company offering smart solutions to manufacturing problems.”
Advertisement
Richard Gould, Business Development Manager for MetLase, added: "We’re delighted to receive this investment which will enable us to develop our standardised digital products to manufacturers. We’re really excited about what it means in terms of expanding our offer to the marketplace and ultimately being able to create even more high value advanced manufacturing jobs in our region."
The funding will go towards the purchase of capital hardware and equipment for R&D, prototype testing materials and personnel costs associated with new/safeguarded jobs.
MetLase’s ambitious plan will see the company developing a suite of digital technologies including control automation, industrial robotics, artificial intelligence, software programming, sensing, 3D printing, machine learning and augmented/virtual reality systems, which it then intends to sell into key markets such as automotive and aerospace. In Phase 1 of the project MetLase will apply these technologies to develop one new digital product, Smart Measurement. This innovation will enable manufacturers to digitally measure their components in a fraction of the time taken using conventional methods.
Gould continues: “We have ambitious plans for the future and see significant export potential for our Smart Measurement product in the next few years. We have also identified major market opportunities for this and the other digital products we are developing in Australia and the USA.”
Rotherham Council Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, Councillor Denise Lelliott, said: “It is fantastic news that MetLase has successfully secured the funding and, as a result, will be investing even more in creating jobs and opportunities in the region. We’re an area that is becoming renowned globally for expertise in advanced manufacturing and technology and Metlase is an important part of this.”
MetLase website
SCR Invest website
Images: MetLase
MetLase, a joint venture between Unipart and Roll-Royce based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, provides bespoke engineering solutions to complex industrial problems.
The funding will be combined with £565k of investment from MetLase to provide an ambitious series of standardised Industry 4.0 digital products that can be taken to market and applied in many areas of manufacturing, both in the UK and globally.
MetLase expects to create up to four new high value engineering careers in the first seven months of the project, whilst also safeguarding a further 10 jobs at the company. Phase two of the project will see MetLase applying its core digital architecture to develop and commercialise a suite of other digital products over a two-year period, including Smart Bench, Smart Cell, Smart Shield, Smart Fixtures and Smart Machining. This will considerably widen MetLase’s digital offering and enable significant business scale-up and global export opportunities. During Phase 2, Metlase is planning to create additional new jobs in the Sheffield City Region over a two-year period.
James Muir, Chair of the Board of Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said: “We are delighted that MetLase will be able to take advantage of this funding, which was introduced as part of our efforts to deliver an economy that works for everyone. The Government devolved powers directly from Whitehall to local people who know their areas best. Opportunities for growth are best identified by those with detailed local knowledge and the Local Growth Fund enables the Sheffield City Region to tailor transformational interventions to local circumstances.
"We look forward to seeing MetLase build on its expertise to become a world-leading company offering smart solutions to manufacturing problems.”
Advertisement
Richard Gould, Business Development Manager for MetLase, added: "We’re delighted to receive this investment which will enable us to develop our standardised digital products to manufacturers. We’re really excited about what it means in terms of expanding our offer to the marketplace and ultimately being able to create even more high value advanced manufacturing jobs in our region."
The funding will go towards the purchase of capital hardware and equipment for R&D, prototype testing materials and personnel costs associated with new/safeguarded jobs.
MetLase’s ambitious plan will see the company developing a suite of digital technologies including control automation, industrial robotics, artificial intelligence, software programming, sensing, 3D printing, machine learning and augmented/virtual reality systems, which it then intends to sell into key markets such as automotive and aerospace. In Phase 1 of the project MetLase will apply these technologies to develop one new digital product, Smart Measurement. This innovation will enable manufacturers to digitally measure their components in a fraction of the time taken using conventional methods.
Gould continues: “We have ambitious plans for the future and see significant export potential for our Smart Measurement product in the next few years. We have also identified major market opportunities for this and the other digital products we are developing in Australia and the USA.”
Rotherham Council Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, Councillor Denise Lelliott, said: “It is fantastic news that MetLase has successfully secured the funding and, as a result, will be investing even more in creating jobs and opportunities in the region. We’re an area that is becoming renowned globally for expertise in advanced manufacturing and technology and Metlase is an important part of this.”
MetLase website
SCR Invest website
Images: MetLase
0 comments:
Post a Comment