Building the future of advanced manufacturing

The ability to design and make almost anything is a skill for which HMGCC has been known for the last eight decades. 

But we also know we must stay ahead of the latest manufacturing innovations by working with industry and academia. 

This is why advanced manufacturing is an important part of our Top 10 Technologies campaign. 

The campaign asks innovators from industry and academia to visit our website and send us concepts or news of products they think could be of use to the national security community. 

The campaign, launched at the end of last year, has already attracted more than 150 submissions from innovators keen to tell HMGCC about their latest technologies in 10 key tech areas.  

The goal is to find out if there are any ideas or products that could help support UK tech capability, as well as offering a potentially new market to innovators from outside government. 

So what are we looking for to help support our advanced manufacturing work? 

Our work often involves small runs of making often bespoke products – large and small. We want to hear about: 

Manufacturing workflow management technology that is designed for efficiently managing complex, diverse and low-volume production, especially with tight deadlines. Our service needs to be agile to changing priorities. 

Automation (including AI)  appropriate for low-to-medium production volumes to improve cycle times or quality. For example, automated close-loop inspection, monitoring and adjustment of manufacturing parameters. 

Solutions that can be used very securely, which usually means on-premises (non-cloud) solutions. Security and confidentiality of design is vital. 

Emerging low-volume manufacturing technologies, for example laser micro-machining, and hybrid additive/conventional CNC machining systems. 

Manufacturing tech that supports rapid co-production of both mechanical and electronic items, for example aerosol jet printing. 

Technologies for low-volume semiconductor design and fabrication. 

CEO Simon Fabri said: “We launched the Top 10 Technologies campaign to offer another potential way in for companies and innovators from academia to get involved in creating essential tech for national security and defence. 

“We know people want to talk to us about their ideas and find out about how national security could be a market for them – so we created a way for these conversations to be started – via our website. 

“Our work in manufacturing is vital as our products are used around the world to support national security and defence. They must be high quality and they must be reliable to use – in different types of environment and for many purposes. Taking part in our Top 10 Technologies campaign and starting a conversation with us is a chance to see how your work could potentially be used to help keep the UK safe and build the sovereign capability of the future.”