THE National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) has announced that it has signed a lease with property investment firm Canmoor for a unit at Westway Park in Renfrew.
The facility will primarily be used for the group’s £11.8 million research and development programme with the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing.
The space, which NMIS said is the around the size of a football pitch, will be refurbished to accommodate the personnel and equipment needed for the Boeing programme. It will also house the group’s engineering equipment to be used in projects with other manufacturing businesses, as well as including a purpose build area dedicated to advancing the use of additive manufacturing in Scotland.
The Boeing programme forms part of the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) which is part of NMIS and the only high value manufacturing catapult centre in Scotland. The firm will establish a research and development team at the Westway facility working with AFRC’s forming and forging technologists.
NMIS said that the research will look into reducing material wastage, possibilities to improvce safety, productivity and environmental impact.
Speaking about the new facility, John Reid CEO of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, said, “This facility is a significant step not only in the development of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, but also in bolstering the future of manufacturing across the country post lockdown.
“We are delighted to be bringing Boeing to Scotland at this time to work on such a critical project with our team and play a crucial role in developing the aerospace supply chain across the country for generations to come.
Sir Martin Donnelly, president of Boeing Europe and managing director of Boeing in the UK and Ireland, added, “We announced our broader Boeing Scotland Alliance with Scottish Enterprise in March at the AFRC because this R&D programme was a cornerstone of that agreement. Seeing such progress with the signing of this lease amid the challenges of 2020 is a testament to the teams involved and a precursor of what we know we will achieve through the talent and resources found in the Glasgow City Region and throughout Scotland.”
