SME manufacturing companies and entrepreneurs
Providing access to the expertise, experience, facilities and networks that gives manufacturing SMEs the confidence to take the next steps into innovation.
Working together
Walk the line
We can arrange a walkthrough (virtual or otherwise) of your facility, meet your engineers and production staff and look at your business processes to help you to identify areas where gains could be made.
Consultation
We offer bespoke manufacturing support and can talk through your idea in detail, drawing on expertise from across the whole HVM Catapult.
Technology workshops
We offer access to seminars and workshops to help you decide whether new technologies could offer solutions to the business challenges you face.
Innovation workshops
We can work with your team to explore how innovation could unlock the potential of your business and identify how you can bring your ideas to reality.
Funding advice
We can make recommendations on where to find finance and the best funding direction for your project.
Can we help?
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What we offer
We help turn great ideas into commercial realities
SME partners in 2020/21
Engagements with SMEs in 2020/21
Experts ready to help
The High Value Manufacturing Catapult works with thousands of manufacturing start-ups, scale-ups and other SMEs each year. We’re helping SMEs to improve their business performance by transforming the products they sell, the way they make them, and the skills of their workforce.
We continue to work with WMG to look at our bottlenecks and identify where we can use robotics to drive costs down and speed things up. Having the ongoing support from WMG has been invaluable and we cannot wait to work with WMG’s digital manufacturing team to help us create the ‘Ramfoam Way’ across all our operations.
By continuing to work with MTC Apprenticeships, we ensure we have access to the talented engineers of the future. In my opinion the MTC, amongst a couple of other organisations, have changed the perception of apprenticeships which is helping to transform SMEs.
Our work with the MTC has been truly transformational. We’ve invested in our factory and new technologies. We’ve taken on new staff and improved the skills of our existing employees.
As a result of working with the AMRC, we have purchased our own 3D printer that has been used for a multitude of things, from machine parts, to jigs, to a scaled plan of our factory. It has also helped our business to save a sum of money and we have also seen massive gains in productivity.
The robot cell has enabled us to unblock bottlenecks by freeing up resource. It’s a massive impact for an SME like Footprint Tools, and we could not have done it without the R&D and innovation talents of the AMRC.
Without the AMRC I don’t think we could have reached the point we are at now. It really was that decisive for us; it was a major factor in our business moving forward.
I can’t emphasise enough how happy we’ve been with the work by the AMRC engineers. They produced designs for our guard idea for a handheld laser marking machine, showing that there is real potential for this to be a world-beating product.
Related case studies
CASE STUDY
5G Factory of the Future: the smart factory of tomorrow starts today
Efficiency, productivity and sustainability are everything in manufacturing. From advanced product and machine tracking to autonomous warehouse transportation and remote assistance for operators, these digital technologies can help lower production costs, boost productivity and sharpen competitive edge.
3 February 2022
CASE STUDY
Anti-microbial poles for public transport could help in future pandemics
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic many people have been hesitant about taking public transport. In part, this is due to the potential risk of picking up germs from areas travellers must use, such as the grab-poles on trains, buses and trams.
3 February 2022
CASE STUDY
Attracting global firms to Renfrewshire
Forging new relationships with both industrial leaders and local communities alike, HVM Catapult’s presence in Renfrewshire is bringing tangible benefits to the region and Scotland as a whole.
3 February 2022
Where do I start and how do I get in touch with the HVM Catapult?
Whether you have an idea for a new product, want to make your company more productive or sustainable, or need a hand in moving beyond your current industry market, the HVM Catapult is here for you.
Read our FAQs for answers to some common questions.
