UK-India workshop on distributed manufacturing

Next month, I will be leading a 5-member delegation of manufacturing experts from India to London to attend the UK-India workshop on distributed manufacturing on June 16. This event is being jointly organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Indian National Academy of Engineering with support from the UK Science and Innovation Network India and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The participants at the workshop will come from the academia, industry, and government.

Distributed manufacturing has been defined as ‘on-demand, local manufacturing, made possible by combining digital technologies with new production processes.’ It encompasses several aspects such as virtual prototyping and production, plug-and-play manufacturing, and use of pervasive computing in manufacturing.

A range of topics will be discussed at the workshop including intelligent manufacturing network design, distributed manufacturing in aeronautical and automotive sectors, and implications of distributed manufacturing for industrial innovation. The workshop will be co-chaired by Professor Sir Mike Gregory (Head, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge) and Dr. V. Bhujanga Rao (Director General, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Government of India). Desirable outcomes from the workshop would include identification of strategic areas for UK-India collaboration in distributed manufacturing, knowledge sharing, and understanding of the capabilities and policy challenges in each country.

If you’d like to meet with the key stakeholders from the manufacturing sector in the UK and India, you should not miss this event! If you’re based either in the UK or India, and able to get along to the event, then please register here. However, if you’re unable to attend the workshop, you’ll still be able to access the proceedings, which will be posted on the Royal Academy of Engineering’s website in the near future. Watch for this space to find out more about what was discussed at the workshop!

Distributed manufacturing – opportunities for growth (perspectives from the UK and India)
When: 16 June 2014, 9.00 am – 5.30 pm
Venue: The Royal Academy of Engineering
Prince Philip House
3-4 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5DG

Please contact Ewan Dickson if you’ve any questions regarding the workshop.