Source: Yorkshire Post 07/03/07
The days when engineering was all about rags and spanners are long gone.
Boeing and Rolls Royce have joined forces with Yorkshire Forward to create a £14m Factory of the Future, which will develop products for aerospace companies without a grimy overall in sight.
The facility, which forms the second phase of development of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) near Rotherham, will contribute to the work of the region's advanced engineering and materials sectors.
The AMRC, a collaboration between Sheffield University and aircraft maker Boeing, was established five years ago as an international centre of excellence in engineering for the metals industry.
The Factory of the Future will allow businesses to test products in a full-scale commercial production unit, before making high-risk investment decisions.
It was dedicated yesterday at a ceremony led by Barton Moenster, director and functional technology leader of the advanced manufacturing research and development team in the Boeing Phantom Works, and Rolls-Royce engineering and technology director, Colin Smith.
Using Sheffield-made shovels, Mr Moenster and Mr Smith buried a stainless steel time capsule engraved with the 'Made in Sheffield' mark.
Tom Riordan, chief executive of Yorkshire Forward, said: "Yorkshire Forward's £6.5m investment in the Factory of the Future will support the region's advanced manufacturing and engineering companies as they continue to compete in a global marketplace.
"It is essential that they adopt new technologies that will help them to gain competitive edge by producing goods more cost effectively."
There are four other buildings on the AMP and Yorkshire Forward is in negotiations for six others, and remains "highly optimistic" that most of them can be secured during 2007/8.
One of these is a proposed Environmental Energy Technology Centre, which is expected to support companies developing products that save energy.