The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) North West, is showcasing a suite of digital technologies powered by Vodafone as part of its Low Carbon Smart Building demonstrator project.
The 6,000m2 research facility features several suppliers and technology partners, including Vodafone, which is helping to deploy more than 20 different IoT technologies, as well as its IoT.nxt management platform. The objective of the demonstrator is to create a working showroom so manufacturers of all sizes can understand how digital technologies can support net zero and energy efficiency objectives.
The AMRC is a world-leading research organisation with a cluster of innovation and research centres across the UK, working with more than 120 industrial partners including Boeing, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Airbus. Vodafone is supporting AMRC North West at the £20 million purpose-built research facility that opened in 2022, by providing some of the latest technology available to industry.
The Low Carbon Smart Building demonstrator is accessible to businesses of all sizes, featuring technology from different suppliers. The range of solutions available will showcase a variety of use cases, catering for the full spectrum of manufacturers (from SME to multi-national), as well as a range of different objectives, from increased productivity, greater automation, improved energy efficiency, health and safety and decarbonisation.
The project focuses on two areas:
- Smart factory: demonstrating how IoT and digital technologies can drive greater efficiency and additional value across the factory workshop through automation, using solutions such as environmental monitoring (such as the detection of hazardous gases), asset tracking and occupancy monitoring
- Smart building: showcasing how IoT technology can improve the sustainability and operational efficiency of an office environment, using solutions such as building usage analysis, data insights from the Building Management System and asset usage and energy consumption to provide insight and automated action
Vodafone’s IoT.nxt is a data management platform with the capability to integrate old and new devices in one system. IoT.nxt allows companies to collect, visualise and manage all digital activities from a single, centralised platform, while also including features to enable a company to benefit from automation and artificial intelligence tools.
Iain Martin, Head of the Low Carbon Smart Building Demonstrator at AMRC North West, said: “As with every other problem to be solved, data plays a crucial role. To know where the opportunities are within your facility, it is important to have a clear understanding of how it operates and what it consumes. Using IoT.nxt makes this information accessible and user-friendly, improving the user’s ability to enhance their efficiency and drive down their carbon footprint.”
Nick Gliddon, Business Director, Vodafone UK, said: “This project brings to life Vodafone’s belief that innovation occurs at the intersection of different technology ecosystems, each acting as a catalyst on the others. With the AMRC, we are blending together mobile, cloud and IoT technologies to form a comprehensive digital platform with sustainability, efficiency and innovation at the core.”
Vodafone research identified that manufacturing accounted for 16.1% of the total economic output in the East Midlands, 15.4% in the North West, 14.3% in Yorkshire and Humberside and 17.2% in Wales. The manufacturing industry is critical to the success of the UK, and digitisation of this sector is paramount for the continued success.
Vodafone has pledged to cut carbon emissions and electronic waste and help its customers do the same.
Digital technologies, such as 5G, IoT, AI and machine learning, can help our customers reduce their carbon footprints. Vodafone research has shown these technologies could help the UK reduce its carbon emissions by 4% a year, particularly in the agriculture, manufacturing and transport sectors. Since 2020, Vodafone has already saved business customers 22.7 million tonnes of CO2e globally through our IoT services, including logistics, fleet management and smart metering.
Vodafone is also using technology to help customers monitor: the health of our forests; flood risk; farming and agriculture; water leaks; and the effect of climate change on coastal erosion.
