Jamie Hepburn MSP, the Scottish Minister for Higher Education, Further Education, Youth Employment and Training, was one of the first to see the new Smart Hub Lanarkshire after it opened on Wednesday morning.

Based at New College Lanarkshire’s Motherwell Campus, the state-of-the-art centre will help manufacturing SMEs to grow and prepare for the future and has now opened its doors for in-person events.

SMEs can gain an understanding about innovative technology and how it can help with company growth and economic development.

The Smart Hub is a partnership between North Lanarkshire Council, New College Lanarkshire and the University of Strathclyde.

A robotics and automation training facility is housed in the facility alongside a dedicated space for SMEs to meet, learn and access business support and academic expertise.

The centre virtually opened in April 2021 and has since hosted six webinar events, attracting almost 250 attendees from manufacturing businesses.

Councillor Allan Graham, Convener of the Enterprise and Growth Committee at North Lanarkshire Council said: “The virtual events run to date by Smart Hub Lanarkshire have proved very popular with local manufacturing businesses.

“Being able to welcome visitors through the doors is an exciting development and I would encourage businesses to take part in the events available.”

Alongside events, the Hub can host visitors for live demonstrations of collaborative robots, known as cobots.

Hepburn and guests observed one of these demonstrations during their visit, with the centre showcasing the capabilities of cobots and how they can be integrated into different manufacturing environments.

Commenting on collaboration between New College Lanarkshire and the University of Strathclyde, Hepburn said: “This is the type of collaboration we need to see in our tertiary education sector.

“The involvement of North Lanarkshire Council in the partnership is also a great example of a college rooted in and working with its local community, which is also very welcome.

“I look forward to seeing the Smart Hub making a great difference for SMEs in Lanarkshire and for the close working between the College and local employers to continue to flourish.”

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Demonstrations are set to become a regular fixture at the Smart Hub, with SMEs interested in introducing automation into their workspaces able to book and interact with them.

Barry Skea, Head of the Faculty of Engineering at New College Lanarkshire, said: “It was great to welcome Mr Hepburn to the Smart Hub as one of our first visitors and show what our cobots can do.

“Our webinars have been really successful, but there’s something special about getting to run some hands-on demonstrations after all this time.

“We hope to see many SMEs come through our doors as we inspire more companies to take their first steps towards a digital manufacturing process.”

Smart Hub Lanarkshire has guided tours running weekly through November and December 2021.

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