The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, is opening an office in Sheffield.

This will provide local forging and forming houses with easy access to support from the research centre located near Glasgow Airport in the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland in Renfrewshire.

Supported by Sheffield City Council and operating out of an office on the Olympic Legacy Park, the AFRC’s new base is complementing the existing Hight Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult centres in the region – the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the Nuclear AMRC.

Effectively bringing the research lab directly to the manufacturers, the new office will help South Yorkshire companies tap into the leading metallurgy capabilities, numerical and analytical process modelling tools.

This, as well as some of the most advanced industry-scale forging and forming equipment in the world.

For over a decade, the AFRC has been pushing the limits of advanced manufacturing and engineering. It helps companies of all sizes, from micro family-run businesses to global manufacturing giants to boost productivity and better compete.

This comes ahead of the launch of FutureForge, a £20m facility that includes the world’s most advanced hot forging platform.

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Speaking of the new base, AFRC Chief Operating Officer, Helen Lightbody, said: “Setting up an office in Sheffield is a natural step for the AFRC. It will provide a gateway between our world-leading research expertise and the heart of the UK’s forging community.

“The past year has taught us that we can connect with people and companies anywhere in the world, and here we are putting that into practice – if there is a problem manufacturing a part on a drop stamp, we can plug into the modelling and simulation facilities in Glasgow but carry out testing on the manufacturer’s shop floor in South Yorkshire.

“Our support can be anything from helping the transition from gas to electric furnaces to reducing energy costs, to exploring ways to meet sustainability targets, improving products and processes, or accessing large scale collaborative research projects with global manufacturing companies.”

Steve Foxley, CEO of the University of Sheffield AMRC, said: “Advanced forging techniques are a key capability of the manufacturing business community in the Sheffield City Region.

“As such, it is good to see our HVM Catapult network partners at the Advanced Forming Research Centre investing in forging simulation and modelling capabilities close to the local community.”

A specialist technology centre within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), the AFRC is the only High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre in Scotland.

AFRC Executive Chair Keith Ridgway is the Co-Founder and former Executive Dean of the University of Sheffield AMRC.

Sheffield, or the ‘steel city’ as it is known, was once the steel-making capital of the world and is still home to hundreds of forging and forming houses extending to the West Midlands.

The metals sector also remains key to the UK economy and is critical to achieving the national objective of expanding high value manufacturing.