Log in
The research has enabled industrial simulation users to investigate and develop larger scale systems faster and cheaper and thus to explore a wider variety of cost-saving options with more precision, and industrial simulation providers to offer new high-performance simulation (HPS) products and services. As a direct result of this work: Ford has made £150,000 cost savings in consultancy and significant process improvements to engine manufacture globally; Saker Solutions (UK SME) has created the first ever HPS system for production and logistics; Sellafield PLC has used this system to make significant process improvements and savings in the management of nuclear waste reprocessing of around £200,000 per year; and Whole Systems Partnership (a UK SME) used a spin-off from this research to generate a £200,000 per year revenue stream from interoperable healthcare decision support systems. Globally, several other companies are adopting the standardisation efforts and other outcomes of the research as the foundation for future innovation.
Lean is a business operations paradigm, originating from post-war Japanese manufacturing, which has its UK and European research roots in Cardiff Business School (CBS). Following the initial success of lean as a concept for improvement, it became evident that there were issues surrounding the sustainability of lean transformations. In addressing this problem, CBS's Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC) has developed a structured training programme, the Lean Competency System (LCS), and delivered tailored lean solutions, which have directly facilitated the implementation of sustainable lean transformation strategies in over 200 public and private sector organisations since 2008. Several thousand people have received LCS accreditation, increasing the longevity of the effects from implementing lean strategies and creating efficiency savings worth millions of pounds.
Multinational companies [text removed for publication] have saved more than 20,000 tonnes of plastic and $10M in less than 4 years, using QUB technology to develop their innovative lightweight plastic bottles.
This has created both economic and environmental impact through the savings in material, transport and energy costs and a reduction in CO2 usage. For example the [text removed for publication] showed savings per year of €3M and 1800 tonnes of plastic and a reduction of CO2 of 800 tonnes/year.
A spin-out company, built on this technology, was created in 2012 and is actively selling process instrumentation (THERMOscan) to both USA and EU customers enabling them to make further reductions in material and energy usage. The product won a clean energy award in 2011.
Publically and industrially funded research at Loughborough University into the simulation, monitoring and control of electronics soldering has had significant impact in the development of new software and hardware technologies, which have delivered substantial commercial and economic benefits, with examples cited for at least two leading companies. One key commercial product is a modelling tool that optimizes reflow oven settings quickly, easily and accurately. It optimises oven settings each time a new product or solder paste is introduced, reducing set up times and scrap levels. More than 700 systems per year continue to be sold, with 90% exported.
In order to address the issue of why so many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) find it difficult to put the principles of Lean production into practice, research at Newcastle developed a `bite-size' methodology suited to their requirements. The research has had impact in three areas: on the practice of 25 SMEs involved in an international project in the North Sea Region of Europe; on the performance of these companies on such measures as cost and productivity; and, in the form of six new Innovative Productivity Centres, on the regional infrastructural support for SMEs.
Management science research that has evolved over two decades at Southampton Management School has provided the Sri Lankan government with the means to revolutionise its dental care system, and to devise new strategies for the more effective recruitment of health care professionals. A computer simulation model, based on Southampton's research, underpinned a government decision to limit dental student intake, create 400 new posts in under-resourced rural areas and grant access to dental care to an additional 1.5 million people. This in turn led to better use of taxpayers' money and improved career prospects for Sri Lankan dentists.
Over 25 years, research by Hendry and Stevenson has explored the specific challenges faced by Make-to-Order (MTO) manufacturing companies and developed a novel Workload Control (WLC) approach, which has been most notably implemented in PDS Engineering. This led to significant increases in successful bids and reductions in lead times for PDS, with a knock on effect through their supply chain that includes large aerospace companies like Rolls-Royce. Publication of this stream of research led to international collaborations including in the Netherlands and Belgium, where an EU project involving 10 firms and further consultancy work has also led to reductions in lead times, typically of over 50%. The WLC approach is now ready for commercialisation in the UK.