Digital transformation boost from PTC for Coventry's Manufacturing Technology Centre

By Nicky Godding

25 August 2021

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A world leader in digital transformation has signed a new partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry that will help industry embrace the latest technologies.

American software company PTC, which employs more than 200 people in the UK, has become a Tier 2 member at the MTC and, as part of the agreement, will commit to providing the latest Augmented Reality, Industrial Internet of Things platforms, Product Lifecycle Management and CAD solutions to projects designed to equip OEMs and SMEs with more digital capability.

This means sector-leading solutions, including Vuforia, Thingworx , Windchill and Creo software, will all be available for experts at the Coventry-based centre to use to accelerate product and service innovation, improve operational efficiency, and increase workforce productivity.

It marks the latest step in a six-year relationship that has already seen the two organisations work closely together to deliver VIVAR (Virtual Instruction Inspection and Verification using Augmented Reality).

This focused on an enterprise integrated Augmented Reality work instruction delivery platform, leveraging PTC’s Vuforia tracking technologies to position contextual assembly, maintenance, repair and training operation instructions.

Dave Hughes, Director of pre-sales at PTC, said: “PTC has a long history of support for the High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres, and we’re delighted to be partnering with the MTC in a bid to strengthen the UK’s digital manufacturing capability.

“Our software can make a real difference to manufacturers as they navigate the digital journey, and it is vital that all parts of the supply chain find new ways where they can adopt Industry 4.0 technologies.”

He continued: “The MTC provides a fantastic proving ground for our solutions, with its reach spanning over 100 OEMs and SMEs. This broad involvement on MTC projects will not only provide the UK with a competitive edge across many industrial sectors, but will also generate real-world feedback that we can use to develop our own technologies.”

Thomas Driscoll, Technology Manager, Digital Engineering at the MTC, said: “We have been collaborating with PTC for a number of years, so I’m really pleased to see the relationship reinforced via this membership.

“The link between the physical and digital world is key to so many of our industrial projects and this partnership can only further our ability to deliver innovation to UK manufacturing.”

The organisations are now planning collaboration across the MTC’s Core Research Programmes, thereby increasing access to PTC’s Industry 4.0 technologies for UK manufacturers via the Smart Factory Innovation Hub and other key initiatives.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.