The AMRC Data Cloud has been established to offer manufacturers the latest front-line analytics technologies that help reduce the barrier to entry and are affordable and adaptable to the individual challenges they face.
"The AMRC helps manufacturers adopt robotics, sensors, 3D printing and augmented reality in their factories, and the AMRC Data Cloud will unlock new applications, including predictive maintenance, improve forecasting yield, energy consumption and much more," said Jon Stammers, theme lead for connectivity and AI at the AMRC.
WANdisco plc, the Sheffield and Silicon Valley-based live data company, and Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), built the AMRC Data Cloud with support from Databricks and Microsoft.
In parallel, a Data Science Academy will equip manufacturers with the knowledge to introduce data science techniques into their factories. The accredited six-week training course is being delivered by skills provider EyUp in partnership with the AMRC and Innovate UK.
“Through the EyUp Data Science Academy, we want to give people the right training and tools needed to be able to go back into their factories and introduce data science techniques to enable manufacturers to get the most from their data,” said Stammers.
AMRC spin-out FourJaw, a manufacturing analytics software business, has already helped Cradley Heath-based Westley Plastics gain greater visibility of its manufacturing process, which has led to more efficient 24/7 production.
Stammers said that in the near term manufacturers could get access to the AMRC Data Cloud services by participating in the NextGen project, which is aimed at addressing the future of data science and current analytic skills shortages in the manufacturing sector.
“We’ll be equipping businesses with some FourJaw devices and linking the data back to the AMRC Data Cloud, and we’ll even send one of their apprentices [or] young engineers on the Data Science manufacturing course with EyUp,” said Stammers. “We’re here to have a conversation with any interested parties to see what they want to achieve and how we can get them on board.”
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