MTC, Coventry
MTC, Liverpool
Extending
reach & scope
Clive Hickman,
MTC’s chief
executive. The MTC
is expanding, but
not duplicating,
its efforts across
the country
With key High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC) partners such as the AMRC and MTC expanding
their footprint, Steed Webzell digs a little deeper to unearth the strategy and end goal
area for digital engineering and Industry 4.0, for people
with great skills in simulation and mathematical
modelling. For the past four years, we’ve had a small
operation at Liverpool John Moores University to attract
those type of skills into the MTC. However, it was always
our intention to do something much bigger.”
For this reason, the MTC set about looking for a site
in Liverpool that would accommodate both a physical
manufacturing activity and a digital twin. “An important
factor as we expand to other regions of the UK is that
each facility must be unique,” Hickman emphasises.
“It would be no good replicating what we do in Coventry.
If we did that and there was a downturn in the market,
the natural tendency would be to consolidate on one
site. Hence, the logic is to look at different sectors and
technologies for each location. So for Liverpool, the
digital engineering expertise there will focus on the
logistics and fast-moving consumer goods FMCG
industries. This contrasts to Coventry, where sectors
such as aerospace, defence, energy and construction are
among primary focus areas.”
Eventually, the MTC wants to scale-up the Liverpool
facility to match that of its operations in Coventry,
including a substantial apprentice programme. And this
strategy could, in fact, be replicated in other UK regions.
“That’s our ambition,” states Hickman. “However, it’s not
about growing to make the business bigger, it’s about
growing to have more impact on manufacturing and
The University of Shef eld’s AMRC (Advanced
Manufacturing Research Centre) has recently
opened a facility in Wales (AMRC Cymru, https://
is.gd/texivu) and now plans to create a site in the
northwest, at the Samlesbury Aerospace Enterprise
Zone (https://is.gd/iquron). Similarly, the MTC
(Manufacturing Technology Centre) is adding to its
current Coventry base by opening a facility at the
Liverpool Science Park (https://is.gd/visexe). Both
facilities are part of the High Value Manufacturing
Catapult (HVMC – https://hvm.catapult.org.uk), Innovate
UK’s initiative to bridge the gap between early research
and industrial production, operating in technology
readiness levels four-six. So what is driving this
expansion in reach and activity, and will it continue?
The MTC was established in 2010 and by the time
the organisation’s Coventry facility opened towards the
end of 2011, it had 16 members and 44 staff. Less
than a decade later, the set-up has over 100 members
and around 800 employees, and is currently training
about 275 apprentices. The planned 4,750 ft2 site at
Liverpool Science Park will add to this footprint, and
bring 60 additional employees onto the roster.
“When we set up the business in Coventry, we
recognised that, as it grew, we would need to recruit
people from further a eld, but not everyone wants to
relocate,” says the MTC’s chief executive, Clive
Hickman. “We knew that Liverpool was a really strong
Above inset:
the MTC in
Coventry and
the proposed
extension site
Below: the MTC
is working with
similar
organisations
the NCC & CPI
The CPI, Sedgefi eld
The NCC, Bristol
10 February 2020 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets
/iquron)
/visexe)
/hvm.catapult.org.uk)
/www.machinery.co.uk