NAA Event Review: Accelerate your journey to Net Zero – A roadmap to decarbonisation through digital technologies
Our most recent networking event: Accelerate your journey to Net Zero – A roadmap to decarbonisation through digital technologies, was held at Sci-Tech Daresbury last month.
The event was hosted by C&W4.0, which is a Digital transformation programme for SMEs in Cheshire and Warrington delivered through a consortium of organisations including the Virtual Engineering Centre (University of Liverpool), Liverpool John Moores University, the Science Technology Facilities Council, and the Northern Automotive Alliance. CW4.0 is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Co-hosts were Eco-I NW, which is a collaboration of 6 universities supporting NW businesses in making the transition to low carbon.
The event was opened by our CEO, Paul Jones, who highlighted the importance of decarbonisation for all manufacturing businesses; that it is not optional going forward and that digital technology can be a real enabler for this journey.
Session 1 was then opened by Professor Andy Plater – Professor of Geography and Planning – University of Liverpool, who gave an overview of the Eco-I NW programme covering Business-University Collaboration for Net Zero.
This was followed by Sally Hepton, Director of Government Relations & Sustainable Luxury at NAA member Bentley Motors, who gave an overview of Bentley’s Journey Towards End-To-End Carbon Neutrality.
Next was Ben Goodwin, UK Automotive Sector Head at NAA member DHL Supply Chain, who shared a summary of DHL’s Decarbonisation Journey.
Finally, Karen Green, Director at NAA member Klarity 4.0 HR gave a presentation on Bringing your workforce with you; practical steps for successful Digital Adoption.
A Panel Discussion and Q&A session then followed with the four speakers and was chaired by Andy Pickard, Project Manager Eco-I North West, Centre for Global Eco-Innovation at Lancaster University.
Session 2 was then opened by Apryl Biddle, Managing Director at Tithebarn, a Cheshire-based animal feed manufacturer, and focused on Energy Monitoring through digital sensors and a dashboard.
This was followed by David Lowe, Managing Director at NAA member Autac Products, who gave an overview of the recent Factory Scanning exercise carried out by the Virtual Engineering Centre, to assist with the planning, simulation and subsequent move to Autac’s new second manufacturing facility in Macclesfield.
Finally, Tim Powell, Automotive Specialist at NAA member the Hartree Centre, gave a presentation on a number of SME business assists, titled Batteries, Wind Tunnels, & More – Taking the Digital Approach. Companies supported have included Faraday Batteries and NAA member BAC.
A second Panel Discussion and Q&A session then followed with the three speakers and was chaired by Craig Beck, Industrial Innovation Lead at NAA member, the Virtual Engineering Centre.
The formal section of the event was then wrapped up by Adam Sanderson, Industrial Liaison Manager at The Innovatory, University of Liverpool.
Attendees then had the opportunity to participate in a number of tours around VEC and Hartree, which also included a number of technical demonstrations.
