Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0

**米德兰兹先进陶瓷工业4.0:** 1827万英镑的SIPF投资将是一个8000多万英镑计划的一部分，该计划旨在使米德兰兹成为先进陶瓷的全球领导者（目标是在伍斯特郡、斯塔福德郡、黑郡、沃里克郡、伯明翰、诺丁汉郡、德比郡和莱斯特郡的米德兰兹制造业的核心）。由于其高强度、低腐蚀、热学和电学性能，先进陶瓷对能源、卫生、航空航天、汽车和国防等许多制造业都是至关重要的“推动者”。鉴于它们在先进制造业中发挥的重要作用，全球对它们的需求呈指数级增长（到2023年，全球先进陶瓷市场预计将达到1430亿英镑，自2015年以来价值翻了一番以上），米德兰兹先进陶瓷增长计划由米德兰兹工业陶瓷集团（MICG）指导，这是一个由劳斯莱斯主持的新财团。它包括全球跨国企业、中小企业、一家私营部门研发市场的领导者和罗素集团（russell group）的三所大学。作为行业发展整体计划的一部分，SIPF资金将用于解决中部地区公司面临的关键技术挑战。开发新的先进陶瓷技术目前基于各种实验方法，返工多，废品率高，导致昂贵和耗时的工作。MICG研究人员联盟将利用尖端的数字建模和投资于前沿试验线和数字双胞胎，开发简化的流程，以更快地证明并将新的先进陶瓷技术推向市场，同时减少能源消耗和碳排放。这将消除目前开发新陶瓷技术的许多通信和技术转移障碍。它将能够有效地解决问题，加快新产品的商业化，从而提高下一代产品的性能，包括燃料电池和电池、5G通信、用于航空发动机的CMC（陶瓷基复合材料）和医疗设备。上述行业主导的研发将通过更广泛的努力来发展该行业，其中包括：先进陶瓷园区（北斯塔福德郡该行业120,000平方英尺以上的研发和商业空间），积极促进中部地区的外国直接投资，协调支持和融资，为中部地区的行业业务以及该行业未来劳动力的技能发展。其影响将是对中部地区高附加值工作岗位的直接保障和增长，中部地区在该领域的创新能力的逐步改变，从长远来看，确保中部地区在先进陶瓷技术和生产方面领先世界，建立在其陶瓷卓越的历史声誉之上。

**Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0:** £18.27m SIPF investment would be part of an £80m+ programme to make the Midlands a global leader in advanced-ceramics (targeting the heart of Midlands manufacturing across Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Black Country, Warwickshire, Birmingham, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire).Advanced-ceramics are vital 'enablers' for many manufacturing sectors, like energy, health, aerospace, automotive and defence owing to their high strength, low corrosion, thermal and electrical properties. Given their importance to unlocking performance in advanced manufacturing the global demand for them is growing exponentially (the global advanced-ceramics market is projected to reach £143 billion by 2023, more than doubling in value since 2015)A Midlands advanced-ceramics growth programme is being guided by the Midlands-Industrial-Ceramics-Group (MICG), a new consortium chaired by Rolls-Royce. It includes global multinationals to SMEs, a private-sector R&D market leader and three Russell-Group universities. As part of their holistic programme for sector growth, SIPF funding will be used to tackle critical technical challenges facing Midlands companies.Developing new advanced ceramics technologies is currently based on a variety of experimental approaches with much reworking and high rejection rates, resulting in expensive and time consuming work. Using cutting-edge digital modelling and investing in leading edge pilot-lines and digital twins, the MICG consortium of researchers, will develop streamlined processes for proving and bringing new advanced ceramics technologies to market faster, with less energy usage and lower carbon emissions. This will remove many of the current communication and technology transfer barriers to developing new ceramic technologies. It will enable effective problem solving and faster commercialisation of new products, so unlocking improved performance for next generation products including fuel cells and batteries, 5G communications, CMC (Ceramic matrix composites) for aero engines, and medical devices.The industry-led R&D detailed above will be complemented by wider efforts to grow the sector that will include: an Advanced-Ceramics Campus (120,000 sqft+ of R&D and commercial space for the sector in North Staffordshire), proactive promotion of the Midlands for foreign direct investment, coordinating support and finance for the sectors businesses in the Midlands and the development of skills for the sector's future workforce.The impact will be the immediate safeguarding and growth in high-value-added jobs in the Midlands, a step-change in the Midlands innovation capacity in this sector and over the longer-term ensuring the Midlands leads the world in advanced ceramics technology and production, building on its historical reputation of excellence in ceramics.