Bi-Annual Technical Meeting (BTM) 2018
6 Mar 2018
Bi-Annual Technical Meeting (BTM) 2018
The three day Bi-Annual Technical Meeting ran from the 6th to the 8th March. Over the three days there were 118 participants from member companies, prospective members and our partners in A*STAR and NTU.
On Day 1, following a welcome from David Low, the CRP programme was covered. 73 members attended final presentations for Cycle 4 projects and observed demonstrations in the workshop of technologies developed in the Condition Monitoring, Hybrid Manufacturing and Cobot projects. In the afternoon, Cycle 5 project proposals were presented. Day 1 finished with a dinner for members that was held at the Cin Cin Cocktail Bar.
Two Workshops were conducted on the second day. In the morning, Workshop 1 was led by academics from NTU, with whom we are preparing a grant proposal for funding to establish the “NTU-ARTC FoM Knowledge Creation Joint Lab”. The workshop asked members to look further into the future and provide views on their longer term technical requirements, as ARTC looks to establish a partnership with NTU to create a pipeline of new technologies at lower TRL. Discussions were clustered around five topic areas: Intelligent and Digital Manufacturing Processes, Advanced Materials and Process Characterisation, Smart Systems: Automation and Robotics, Smart Factory Optimisation and Connectivity and Digital Culture. Around 70 participants put forward their ideas, which will be used to help frame the direction of the Joint Laboratory.
The second workshop focused on “The Future of Manufacturing for Electrification”. 63 participants took part in the session that was designed to identify potential manufacturing challenges members could foresee arising as industry moves towards electrification. Inputs will be analysed, and used to help decide on potential new capabilities that may need to be established in the centre, to support members in the future.
The third day focused on the Model Factory @ ARTC. The day started with a Focus Group Meeting that provided members an update on progress in Phase 1 of the Model Factory. The establishment of a Mini Continuous Manufacturing Line, for high volume production, is one of the major goals of Phase 2 of the programme. A third workshop was held, with around 60 participants from members, A*STAR and prospective members, to identify requirements for the line, prior to completion of the grant application.