Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring [Digital Shoestring]
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Engineering
Abstract
The digitalisation of manufacturing is a key enabler in the UK Government drive to raise the level of industrial productivity to match and exceed leading competitors. Whilst basic digital technology applications in manufacturing are not new, there are two key trends that predicate the timeliness of the proposed research: (1) manufacturing organisations are increasingly seeing information as a key strategic addition to their product offerings; (2) major innovations in computer science, control and informatics have created new opportunities for major breakthroughs in manufacturing. One of the critical challenges is how to support the digital manufacturing transformation of SMEs and introduce new methods of production that take into account the latest control, communication and AI technologies in a sector characterised by limited capital investment and research potential. Whilst there is significant body of knowledge in this area it is mostly focused on relatively expensive solutions which are often unaffordable to SMEs?
This project will therefore address a common concern that recent developments in digital manufacturing are unlikely to accessible by SMEs owing to the associated capital cost of upgrading industrial computing and communication environments. The project proposes a radically different approach to the digital evolution of a manufacturing operation by focussing predominantly on non industrial solutions to industrial automation and information challenges. It will seek to exploit very low cost commercially available technologies for mobile computing, sensing, AI and tackle the challenges associated with integrating these safely and securely into a small scale manufacturing environment. As well as conventional research activities, the project will more radically involve student hackathons as a means of stimulating low cost software development, will use an in-house technology transfer organisation to access SME organisations, and engage directly with the High Value Manufacturing catapult demonstration network as a means of reaching the maximum number of potential users. Stretch targets for the programme include the introduction of low cost product tracking, exploiting emerging industrial IoT platforms and AI-based flexible control using commercially available AI and voice recognition development environments.
The project will supplement the traditional research and development approaches with some innovative implementation development activities in which (i) undergraduate and graduate students in both engineering and computer science and integrated via a series of hackathons and software and hardware development competitions (ii) a series of workshops will be targeted at local start up and SME IT communities to engage them directly in the development of applications and products (iii) by working directly with technology transfer organisations to ensure that not only the final message but also the starting rationale for the work fully engages the SME manufacturing community.
This project will therefore address a common concern that recent developments in digital manufacturing are unlikely to accessible by SMEs owing to the associated capital cost of upgrading industrial computing and communication environments. The project proposes a radically different approach to the digital evolution of a manufacturing operation by focussing predominantly on non industrial solutions to industrial automation and information challenges. It will seek to exploit very low cost commercially available technologies for mobile computing, sensing, AI and tackle the challenges associated with integrating these safely and securely into a small scale manufacturing environment. As well as conventional research activities, the project will more radically involve student hackathons as a means of stimulating low cost software development, will use an in-house technology transfer organisation to access SME organisations, and engage directly with the High Value Manufacturing catapult demonstration network as a means of reaching the maximum number of potential users. Stretch targets for the programme include the introduction of low cost product tracking, exploiting emerging industrial IoT platforms and AI-based flexible control using commercially available AI and voice recognition development environments.
The project will supplement the traditional research and development approaches with some innovative implementation development activities in which (i) undergraduate and graduate students in both engineering and computer science and integrated via a series of hackathons and software and hardware development competitions (ii) a series of workshops will be targeted at local start up and SME IT communities to engage them directly in the development of applications and products (iii) by working directly with technology transfer organisations to ensure that not only the final message but also the starting rationale for the work fully engages the SME manufacturing community.
Planned Impact
The project will deliver significant knowledge impact by developing for the first time a comprehensive yet economically feasible digital manufacturing transformation methodology, models and architecture applicable to a large set of manufacturing SMEs. The research will deliver a prototype tool for digital manufacturing readiness assessment which will industrially validated using a set of company specific tests. A new step-by-step methodology and prototype support tools for digital transformation of manufacturing SMEs will also be developed and using industrial scenarios.
Manufacturing companies are increasingly striving to obtain competitive advantage by offering a range of services associated with their products thereby delivering economic benefits in terms of employment and wealth creation. Direct impact comes through adoption of research outcomes by Industry. The architecture and solutions developed through this research will help IoT and industrial automation solution providers such as Siemens and Atos to offer new innovative and improved services to their customers - in particular tailored to the needs of SMEs. The SMEs and wider manufacturing industry would be able to exploit the opportunities offered by low-cost digitisation to improve productivity, competitiveness and market positioning. Our industrial partners have confirmed their intend to incorporate the research outputs into their manufacturing systems to enable them to digitise their operations. The planned onsite demonstrators will help them understand the challenges involved and also facilitate the transfer of knowledge through their interactions with the researchers while they are on site.
This work aims to enable low cost digital transformation of manufacturing SMEs with specific focus on reducing the total cost of asset ownership as well as contributing to increased reliability and safety of industrial systems. In addition the proposed research will contribute to significant environmental and societal impact in terms of reduced energy consumption due to the introduction of more efficient overall production processes as well as upskilling of labour and increasing the overall productivity level of the sector. This will also result in reduced impact of manufacturing on the planet's resources and improving quality of life.
We will use public events to showcase our lab demonstrators to wide audiences of all age groups, including many international visitors, thereby helping promote the excellent research done in UK and to generate excitement in the minds of young people attracting them pursue studies in STEM disciplines. The project will directly deliver highly trained post-doctoral researchers by providing them with the opportunity to work in the cutting-edge of this research, and interacting with world-leading academics and practitioners through attending conferences. In addition, the project offers ample opportunities for PhD research across multiple disciplines. We will also incorporate the research findings into appropriate teaching modules in our courses, and involve students from our undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the research project through their dissertations, final year projects, competitions and hackathons thus ensuring a pipeline of suitably-qualified engineers. Along with traditional research activities the project will employ innovative methods for distributed software development by supporting student hackathons which will help bring together students from different disciplines to work on multidisciplinary topics.
Manufacturing companies are increasingly striving to obtain competitive advantage by offering a range of services associated with their products thereby delivering economic benefits in terms of employment and wealth creation. Direct impact comes through adoption of research outcomes by Industry. The architecture and solutions developed through this research will help IoT and industrial automation solution providers such as Siemens and Atos to offer new innovative and improved services to their customers - in particular tailored to the needs of SMEs. The SMEs and wider manufacturing industry would be able to exploit the opportunities offered by low-cost digitisation to improve productivity, competitiveness and market positioning. Our industrial partners have confirmed their intend to incorporate the research outputs into their manufacturing systems to enable them to digitise their operations. The planned onsite demonstrators will help them understand the challenges involved and also facilitate the transfer of knowledge through their interactions with the researchers while they are on site.
This work aims to enable low cost digital transformation of manufacturing SMEs with specific focus on reducing the total cost of asset ownership as well as contributing to increased reliability and safety of industrial systems. In addition the proposed research will contribute to significant environmental and societal impact in terms of reduced energy consumption due to the introduction of more efficient overall production processes as well as upskilling of labour and increasing the overall productivity level of the sector. This will also result in reduced impact of manufacturing on the planet's resources and improving quality of life.
We will use public events to showcase our lab demonstrators to wide audiences of all age groups, including many international visitors, thereby helping promote the excellent research done in UK and to generate excitement in the minds of young people attracting them pursue studies in STEM disciplines. The project will directly deliver highly trained post-doctoral researchers by providing them with the opportunity to work in the cutting-edge of this research, and interacting with world-leading academics and practitioners through attending conferences. In addition, the project offers ample opportunities for PhD research across multiple disciplines. We will also incorporate the research findings into appropriate teaching modules in our courses, and involve students from our undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the research project through their dissertations, final year projects, competitions and hackathons thus ensuring a pipeline of suitably-qualified engineers. Along with traditional research activities the project will employ innovative methods for distributed software development by supporting student hackathons which will help bring together students from different disciplines to work on multidisciplinary topics.
Organisations
- University of Cambridge (Lead Research Organisation)
- DOBB Industries (Collaboration)
- Government of the UK (Collaboration)
- BT Lerson (Collaboration)
- Total Control Pro Limited (Collaboration)
- Tangent Works (Collaboration)
- RTC North (Collaboration)
- Atos (Collaboration)
- British Standards Institute (BSI Group) (Collaboration)
- Warren Services Limited (Collaboration)
- Microsoft Corporation (Collaboration)
- SOUTH EASTERN REGIONAL COLLEGE (Collaboration)
- XpertRule Software Ltd (Collaboration)
- PA Consulting (Collaboration)
- TINSLEY BRIDGE LIMITED (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Composite Braiding Ltd (Collaboration)
- DIGITAL CATAPULT (Collaboration)
- CAMBRIDGE APP LAB LIMITED (Collaboration)
- High Value Manufacturing Catapult (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Denchi Power Ltd (Collaboration)
- ROYAL PAPWORTH HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (Collaboration)
- Innomech Limited (Collaboration)
- Scottish Enterprise (Collaboration)
- SMC Pnuematics (UK) Ltd (Collaboration)
- MettaNoon (Collaboration)
- Raspberry Pi Foundation (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Photofab Limited (Collaboration)
- PCML Group (Collaboration)
- Addenbrooke's Hospital (Collaboration)
- Yamazaki Mazak Corporation (Collaboration)
- Buchanan Orthotics Ltd (Collaboration)
- Fife College (Collaboration)
- Foresight Data Machines Ltd (Collaboration)
- Indian Institute of Technology Indore (Collaboration)
- South West Business Council (Collaboration)
- Manufacturing Technologies Association (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Vos Voco Ltd (Collaboration)
- Make UK (Collaboration)
- Siemens AG (Collaboration)
- Green Custard (Collaboration)
- West Suffolk College (Collaboration)
- HARTING Ltd (Collaboration)
- Siemens plc (UK) (Project Partner)
- Warren Services (Project Partner)
- EEF (Project Partner)
- Precise Component Manufacture (Project Partner)
- Atos (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- BTL Precision (Project Partner)
- PA Consulting Services Ltd (Project Partner)
- Nottinghamshire Manufacturing Network (Project Partner)
- British Standards Institution (Project Partner)
Publications
De Silva L
(2020)
An Application of HRI in Low-Cost Digital Manufacturing
Hawkridge G
(2021)
Monitoring on a shoestring: Low cost solutions for digital manufacturing
in Annual Reviews in Control
Hawkridge G
(2020)
Towards Shoestring Solutions for UK Manufacturing SMEs
Hawkridge G
(2021)
Monitoring on a shoestring: Low cost solutions for digital manufacturing
Kaiser J
(2021)
Towards low-cost machine learning solutions for manufacturing SMEs
in AI & SOCIETY
| Title | Denchi case study video |
| Description | Battery manufacturer, Denchi, used Shoestring to get them started with a job tracking digital solution to improve the frequency and accuracy of job updates. This case study shows how the production and operation teams have embraced the solution, developing it to fit with existing systems and looking at how to roll it out further. It has also become an integral part of their daily reporting. This pilot was part of a regional scoping study in Scotland, supported by Scottish Enterprise, in which a wider team of Scottish Enterprise partners were also involved in delivering the Shoestring workshops to small- and medium sized manufacturers. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Spreading awareness of Shoestring solutions available for SMEs to aid their journey to low cost digitalisation |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfQx2TxhA3I&t=1s |
| Title | Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring Hackathons |
| Description | This youtube channel documents a series of hackathons which invited university students to creatively address some of the real-world problems that manufacturing SMEs face through the use of low-cost, off-the-shelf and open-source technologies. The latest hackathon aimed at the construction of digital solution prototypes in the areas of quality control, virtual processing and smart corrective instructions. This required students to work with off-the-shelf and open source software and hardware, e.g. vision libraries, cameras and microcontrollers. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Still to be seen |
| URL | https://bit.ly/DMSHacksChannel |
| Title | Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring in action at David Smith |
| Description | Simon Wadsworth (Director) explains how using Shoestring's low-cost job-tracking solution has benefitted manufacturing company David Smith. He describes how the solution has given much better visibility of what is happening on the shop floor at any one time. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Excellent showcase for SMEs interested in what Shoestring can do for them, featuring real industry results |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO9rjxfZg-Y |
| Title | Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring: Getting SMEs started |
| Description | An animation illustrating how the Shoestring programme works, and the benefits that manufacturing SMEs can gain by becoming involved |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Still to be seen |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r48WRJRh5Gc |
| Title | Orthogonal case study video |
| Description | The Director of Operations at industrial 3D printing company, Orthogonal, was frustrated as he couldn't monitor the environment temperatures within the industrial 3D printer. Shoestring helped the company set up a low-cost way to monitor the temperature remotely, so that they could intervene immediately if there was any issue with the manufacturing process. This case study was part of a regional scoping pilot in Scotland, supported by Scottish Enterprise, in which a wider team of Scottish Enterprise partners were also involved in delivering the Shoestring workshops to small- and medium sized manufacturers. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Spreading awareness of Shoestring solutions available for SMEs to aid their journey to low cost digitalisation |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSvTtaon70 |
| Title | Shoestring - How SMEs can start digitalising |
| Description | A video showcasing the benefits of following the Shoestring approach to deploying digital solutions, together with a real-world case study and interviews with a manufacturing SME. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Still to be seen |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GbFbYYPzjo |
| Title | Shoestring | Helping smaller companies to start digitalising |
| Description | This short animation illustrates how Shoestring's inventive approach helps small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMEs) embrace digitalisation one step at a time by using off-the-shelf technology to create practical low-cost, low risk digital solutions. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Part of the rebranding of Shoestring during the transition from research project to community programme. We were able to showcase this to our partners during the final partner meeting at the close of the research project. |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVKEQt52--8&t=1s |
| Description | (1) A large study and an analysis has been completed with over 400 manufacturing companies in the UK, with around half of them being SMEs, to develop a prioritised list of the digital solution needs (categorised into 59 areas) of UK manufacturing SMEs; (2) an approach has been further developed for manufacturing SMEs to identify their digitalisation needs and then deploy those as digital solutions, with minimal technical skills needed and by using low-cost and off-the-shelf (e.g. commercial) technologies; (3) more than a dozen industrial demonstrators (9 of which have had a first factory trial) have been built to showcase both the potential for using low-cost and off-the-shelf technologies as well as to trial the pathway that we have developed for digitally transforming manufacturing SMEs; (4) 3 hackathons have been conducted (one physically, one virtually, and one in hybrid mode) with around 200 participants in total, to both engage university students in the project and to kickstart the demonstrator/pilot building process; (5) A Shoestring Unit has been establish within IfM Engage based on the research outputs from this project --a team of 3 have been hired, funded by the Gatsby Unit, to transition the research into a commercially sustainable initiative; (6) our approach to gathering requirements from manufacturing SMEs through workshops has been documented and 'packaged' for others to use and we have successfully run similar workshops for the construction and logistics sectors; (6) we are in the process of developing and trialling educational and training material as part of a "train the trainer" effort, with a particular emphasis on defining and transferring the skills and expertise required to develop regional capability and capacity to support digital solution tailoring and deployments; (7) We have publically released a set of simple, low-cost, low-risk digital solutions for sale, designed to help companies take their first steps towards understanding their digital needs and developing the skills required for further digital innovation and adoption. |
| Exploitation Route | (1) 'Tech savvy' employees at manufacturing SMEs (or a hired systems integrator) could use the approach/pathway developed as part of this project to put together low-cost (and possibly non-critical or temporary) digital solution deployments. (2) Other research labs, universities, technology providers, apprenticeship schemes, and Further Education colleges could use our prioritised list of digital solutions as well as our pathway in order to understand the needs of and build solutions on behalf of (or to train) UK manufacturing SMEs. (3) The industrial demonstrators we have built have been adapted and released for sale on the Shoestring website to aid manufacturing SMEs in digitalising at a low cost. (4) Solution and technology providers could get more business by embedding their technologies and solutions into Shoestring building block elements for integration in future solutions by SMEs. |
| Sectors | Construction Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Other |
| URL | http://www.digitalshoestring.net |
| Description | In general, Shoestring is developing a framework and an approach to allow small (SME) manufacturers to "put their toe in the water" in the digitalisation area - at low risk, low cost and low skills entry level. It provides an ideal framework for supporting the adoption of digitalisation across the UKs 1000,000+ SMEs. More specifically, (1) more than a dozen low-cost industrial demonstrators have been built, 9 of which have been pilotted in the factories of SME partners. (2) A Shoestring Unit has been funded by the Gatsby Foundation and launched with an aim of continuing to develop and proliferate the project outputs. (3) Our approach to gathering requirements from manufacturing SMEs through workshops has been trialled by project partners and colleagues by running similar workshops with other companies/sectors in both the UK and overseas. (4) A catalog of 59 solution areas for SMEs has been developed and published in 2021 (5) Parallel activities in construction, logistics, medical devices, food & drink industries have been launched from the outputs of the Shoestring programme (6) More than 420 companies have participated in digital prioritisation workshops. |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Other |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | East of England regional stakeholder group |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The regional stakeholder group will be able to support and progress the low cost digitalisation of SMEs in the region. |
| Description | Integration of Shoestring in Northern Ireland SME manufacturing activity |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Integration of Shoestring project to lower overall costs in Northern Ireland SME manufacturing activity |
| Description | Integration of Shoestring into Making Scotland's Future programme |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Description | Presentations to BEIS and Innovate UK on digital strategy |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Training of team of practitioners in Cornwall |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The business support advisors we trained will be able to support further rollout of Shoestring solutions amongst industry SMEs to support their low cost digitalisation journey. |
| Description | Training of team of practitioners in North West England |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Improved educational and skill level of practitioners workforce in North West England |
| Description | Western Australia regional Shoestring pilot |
| Geographic Reach | Australia |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | Delivered Phase 1 activity, resulting in the Department of Primary Industry and Primary Care writing a policy paper on National Digitalisation Policies involving Shoestring. |
| Description | Digital Construction on a Shoestring |
| Amount | £396,185 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Digital Built Britain |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Impact Starter Grant |
| Amount | £12,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | Elastic Manufacturing systems - a platform for dynamic, resilient and cost-effective manufacturing services |
| Amount | £2,803,659 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T024429/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2020 |
| End | 09/2024 |
| Description | Gatsby FE Colleges |
| Amount | £28,180 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Gatsby Charitable Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 04/2023 |
| Description | Industry-Academia Consortium for Digitization in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) |
| Amount | £50,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Academy of Engineering |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 04/2021 |
| Description | IoT-based Devices for Non-critical Support in Hospitals |
| Amount | £14,007 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RG96447 |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2020 |
| End | 09/2020 |
| Description | Low Cost Automation using Off the Shelf Technologies |
| Amount | £485,854 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Boeing |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 12/2023 |
| Description | Low Cost Industrial IoT-Oriented Digital Development Environment for Legacy System Integration |
| Amount | £38,997 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RG96447 |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2020 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | Made Smarter Digitalisation for Manufacturers Cornwall |
| Amount | £115,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Oxford Innovation Ltd |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | Made Smarter Innovation - Research Centre for Connected Factories |
| Amount | £5,091,837 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V062123/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2021 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Description | Promoting the Internet of Things via Collaborations between HEIs & Industry (Pitch-In) - Low Cost Automation |
| Amount | £68,652 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2019 |
| End | 07/2020 |
| Description | Promoting the Internet of Things via Collaborations between HEIs & Industry (Pitch-In) - Low Cost Automation follow-up |
| Amount | £39,237 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2020 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | Scottish Enterprise Video Case Studies |
| Amount | £8,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Scottish Enterprise |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 04/2023 |
| Description | Shoestring Business Unit |
| Amount | £362,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Gatsby Charitable Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 04/2024 |
| Description | Shoestring Scoping Study in Egypt |
| Amount | £61,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2023 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | Shoestring in Scotland |
| Amount | £41,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Scottish Enterprise |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2022 |
| End | 12/2022 |
| Description | Shoestring in Western Australia (Phase 1) |
| Amount | £88,563 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Australia |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Shoestring in Western Australia Phase 2 |
| Amount | £129,770 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Australia |
| Start | 03/2023 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | Smart Manufacturing Data Hub |
| Amount | £11,772,705 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | G114035 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2025 |
| Title | A catalogue of digital solution areas for logistics SMEs |
| Description | This article focuses on the barrier corresponding to the lack of technological awareness in logistics SMEs. In particular, we discuss an approach used in the context of manufacturing, with the potential to facilitate the identification of affordable digitalisation opportunities in logistics companies. This paper adapts that approach and uses it to identify a set of digital solution areas that could be deployed at low cost in logistics SMEs. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Catalog of prioritised digital solution areas identified through requirements gathering workshops with UK logistics SMEs |
| URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896322019826?via%3Dihub |
| Title | Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring - Low-Cost Digital Solutions for Manufacturing SMEs: A Catalogue of Digital Solution Areas |
| Description | The aim of this paper is to present a catalogue comprising a set of digital solution areas associated with operational challenges that are relevant to a majority of manufacturing small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The working catalogue has been developed in consultation with over 100 manufacturing SMEs. The working catalogue describes 59 solution areas identified to the end of 2020. Out of all participants in the study, 86% ranked one of the top 5 items in the catalogue as a key priority for their business. These findings can help increase accessibility to digitalisation for manufacturing SMEs. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | List of prioritised digital solution areas identified through requirements gathering workshops with over 100 UK manufacturing SMEs |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/331197 |
| Title | Digital architecture model for the development of simple, low-cost solutions |
| Description | This paper examines the design of low-cost digital solutions for manufacturing. A set of criteria are established that consider the limited designer experience and limited time budget that accompany a low-cost project. Alternatives are assessed and a design approach is proposed that addresses these criteria using a set of identified features. Development of the proposed approach is not yet complete; however, it already provides a simple, accessible, and streamlined method for implementing low-cost digital solutions. Initial version published - subsequent paper coming soon. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | A model that indends to enable those without deep technical knowledge to conceptualise and assemble a digital solution to meet their needs using predefined elements |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/346865 |
| Title | Low-cost (Shoestring) digital solution areas for enabling digitalisation in construction SMEs |
| Description | This is a list of 58 digital solution areas that were developed through workshops with 70 suppliers, and off-site and on-site construction. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The findings can serve as a starting point for the digital transformation of construction SMEs. Change management, digitised work instructions and process monitoring topped the fifteen priority digital solution areas. |
| URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016636152300091X?via%3Dihub |
| Description | ATOS |
| Organisation | Atos |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Addenbrookes |
| Organisation | Addenbrooke's Hospital |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | Built a ventilator sharing device for COVID-19 patients with input from various collaborators at the hospitals |
| Collaborator Contribution | Input was provided from hospital staff in relation to the technical requirements for a ventilator sharing device |
| Impact | This was a collaboration between colleagues from various engineering disciplines, including materials, biotechnology, fluids, and digital manufacturing |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | BSI |
| Organisation | British Standards Institute (BSI Group) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | BT Lerson |
| Organisation | BT Lerson |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Buchanan |
| Organisation | Buchanan Orthotics Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Composite Braiding |
| Organisation | Composite Braiding Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events. Currently developing a pilot based on machine vision. |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | DOBB Industries |
| Organisation | DOBB Industries |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Denchi |
| Organisation | Denchi Power Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Deploying a digital manufacturing industrial demonstrator in their facility |
| Collaborator Contribution | Shoestring workshops, providing feedback on Shoestring solutions, Involvement in Scotland Pilot |
| Impact | Deployed job tracking, participated in workshop and Scotland pilot |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Department of Health and Social Care |
| Organisation | Government of the UK |
| Department | Department of Health and Social Care |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Designing/Deploying an Android/IoS app for facilitating the process of large scale university COVID testing with lateral flow devices |
| Collaborator Contribution | Input and data for designing and deploying the phone app |
| Impact | None |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Digital Catapult |
| Organisation | Digital Catapult |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Fife College |
| Organisation | Fife College |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Presented Shoestring talks and demonstrations at their events. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attended meetings and presentations, hosted Shoestring talks and demonstrations at their events. |
| Impact | No outputs yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Foresight Data Machines |
| Organisation | Foresight Data Machines Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | GMCC |
| Organisation | Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Green Custard |
| Organisation | Green Custard |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | HVMC |
| Organisation | High Value Manufacturing Catapult |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Harting |
| Organisation | HARTING Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events. Plan to develop pilot study using Harting hardware and site |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | IIT Indore |
| Organisation | Indian Institute of Technology Indore |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Advising an intern, and carrying out a workshop in India to gather SME requirements |
| Collaborator Contribution | Funded an intern to work with us remotely on demonstrator development, and supported us with carrying out a large workshop in India |
| Impact | The intern helped develop an initial demonstrator for a UK SME (Composite Braiding, who has since become a partner). Prof Bhupesh helped organise and run a large requirements gathering workshop with SMEs in India. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | IfM Engage |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | IfM Education and Consultancy Services |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Handing some of the research and development work done as part of the Shoestring project over to IfM Engage -- lead by David Lott -- for technology transfer. Hosting the Shoestring Unit, a team of 3 funded by the Gatsby Unit, to transition the research into a commercially sustainable initiative. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Assisted with running requirements workshops throughout the entire duration of the project, as well as attendance at project meetings. Now helping with technology transfer through the Shoestring Unit. |
| Impact | IfM Engage has secured funding from the Gatsby Foundation (£350k) and consultancy projects in Egypt, Cornwall, Scotland and Western Australia to host the Shoestring Unit. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Innomech |
| Organisation | Innomech Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events. |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | MTA |
| Organisation | Manufacturing Technologies Association |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | MakeUK |
| Organisation | Make UK |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Mazak |
| Organisation | Yamazaki Mazak Corporation |
| Department | Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | MettaNoon |
| Organisation | MettaNoon |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Microsoft |
| Organisation | Microsoft Corporation |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Exploring the possibility for the use of Microsoft's cloud computing solution (Azure) as part of the Shoestring project |
| Collaborator Contribution | US$22k Microsoft Azure credits and input/advice on the Shoestring project |
| Impact | Provided input on a visual design portal that is being built as part of the Shoestring project to facilitate the adoption of low-cost digital solutions by manufacturing SMEs. Microsoft has built a similar tool -- MakeCode -- but with a different purpose: to help kids learn how to code. Also provided US$22k of credit to use the Microsoft Azure cloud platform as part of our design portal. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | OrcaScan |
| Organisation | Cambridge App Lab Limited |
| Department | Orca Scan |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | PA Consulting |
| Organisation | PA Consulting |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | PCML |
| Organisation | PCML Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Deploying a digital manufacturing pilot for inventory management |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events. Access to their facilities, and input/advice on the Shoestring project |
| Impact | Deployed a pilot for part tracking and identification, and for managing some of the inventory for PCML. This collaboration has so far led to an increased digital awareness for a couple of employees, and the pilot is expected to provide further economic benefit. This collaboration has also helped the research team apply our solution development approach to their specific problem. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Photofab |
| Organisation | Photofab Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Deploying a digital manufacturing pilot for data extraction from legacy panels |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to their facilities, and help with installing the pilot in the facility |
| Impact | Currently deploying a pilot that uses machine vision to digitise the controls and outputs shown on legacy panels in factories. This collaboration with the SME has so far led to an increased digital awareness for the company's technical director, and the pilot -- once deployed -- is expected to provide economic benefit. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | RTC North |
| Organisation | RTC North |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Shoestring presentations at project meetings and events |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | No outputs yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Raspberry Pi |
| Organisation | Raspberry Pi Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Royal Papworth |
| Organisation | Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Built a ventilator sharing device for COVID-19 patients with input from various collaborators at the hospitals |
| Collaborator Contribution | Input was provided from hospital staff in relation to the technical requirements for a ventilator sharing device |
| Impact | This was a collaboration between colleagues from various engineering disciplines, including materials, biotechnology, fluids, and digital manufacturing |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | SERC |
| Organisation | South Eastern Regional College |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Presentation at project meetings and events |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | No outputs yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | SMAS |
| Organisation | Scottish Enterprise |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Involvement in or feedback on events/studies carried out by SMAS |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dedicated 1-2hrs per week to provide input/advice on the Shoestring project, and organised and facilitated requirements workshops |
| Impact | SMAS have helped organise and facilitate requirements gathering workshops with over 80 people (primarily from UK SMEs). This has helped those SMEs assess what digital manufacturing solutions might be most beneficial for their businesses. These workshops have also triggered a number of one-on-one workshops with some of those companies. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | SMAS |
| Organisation | Scottish Enterprise |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Involvement in or feedback on events/studies carried out by SMAS |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dedicated 1-2hrs per week to provide input/advice on the Shoestring project, and organised and facilitated requirements workshops |
| Impact | SMAS have helped organise and facilitate requirements gathering workshops with over 80 people (primarily from UK SMEs). This has helped those SMEs assess what digital manufacturing solutions might be most beneficial for their businesses. These workshops have also triggered a number of one-on-one workshops with some of those companies. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | SMC |
| Organisation | SMC Pnuematics (UK) Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | SWBC |
| Organisation | South West Business Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Siemens |
| Organisation | Siemens AG |
| Department | Siemens plc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Tangent Works |
| Organisation | Tangent Works |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Tinsley Bridge |
| Organisation | Tinsley Bridge Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Deploying a digital manufacturing pilot for data extraction from legacy panels |
| Collaborator Contribution | Help with installing the pilot in the facility |
| Impact | Currently deploying a pilot that uses machine vision to digitise the controls and outputs shown on legacy panels in factories. This collaboration with the SME has so far led to an increased understanding of specific aspects of machine vision for both ourselves and the company's technical IT manager. The pilot -- once deployed -- is expected to provide economic benefit. This collaboration has also helped the research team apply our solution development approach to their specific problem. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Total Control Pro |
| Organisation | Total Control Pro Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Vos Voco |
| Organisation | Vos Voco Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Advertised Vos Voco's online service as part of a large virtual hackathon organised by the Shoestring project. The service was made into a hackathon challenge, enabling students to develop digital solutions based on the service. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dedicated 1-2hrs per month to provide input/advice on both the Shoestring project and Foundation. In addition to serving as a judge at our hackathon, also provided an interface to Vos Voco's online service for free, to be used as part of our hackathon. |
| Impact | Some preliminary digital solutions were created by the hackathon participants using Vos Voco's online service and interface. This should help Vos Voco improve both their service and the interface based on student feedback and usage data. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Warren Services |
| Organisation | Warren Services Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Deploying a digital manufacturing pilot for visualisting shop floor data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Original project partner. Attendance at project meetings and events. Access to their facilities, software engineering support, and input/advice on the Shoestring project |
| Impact | Deployed an initial pilot for visualising data produced by sensors distributed across a manufacturing SME's shop floor. This has helped the research team apply our solution development approach to their specific problem. The second phase of the pilot is currently underway. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | West Suffolk College |
| Organisation | West Suffolk College |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Presented meetings and events, contributed to education sector working group, provided configurator for testing |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attended meetings and presentations, contributed to education sector working group, tested configurator and gave feedback |
| Impact | No outputs yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | XpertRule |
| Organisation | XpertRule Software Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Project updates at least every 6 months, with valuable information including an updated catalogue with the digitalisation needs of UK manufacturing SMEs, an updated list of low-cost technologies for use in digitalisation, and freely available demonstrators built by the team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Attendance at project meetings and events |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Title | Shoestring Australian Trademark |
| Description | Shoestring trademark has been registered in Australia (No. 2268026). |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Trade Mark |
| Year Protection Granted | 2022 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | The Trademark allows protection of the brand to support expansion of Shoestring initiative in Australia. |
| Title | Shoestring New Zealand Trademark |
| Description | Shoestring trademark has been registered in New Zealand (No. 1223140) |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Trade Mark |
| Year Protection Granted | 2023 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | Shoestring trademark has been registered in New Zealand (No. 1223140) allowing protection of the brand to support expansion of Shoestring initiative |
| Title | Shoestring Trademark |
| Description | Shoestring trademark has been registered in the UK (No. UK00003784862) allowing protection of the brand to support expansion of Shoestring initiative |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Trade Mark |
| Year Protection Granted | 2022 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | Shoestring trademark has been registered in the UK (No. UK00003784862) allowing protection of the brand to support expansion of Shoestring initiative |
| Title | Lateral Flow Device Assist (Android App & IOS Apps) |
| Description | A simple smartphone app to analyse lateral flow tests performed by end-users. Features include test result interpretation, an end-user dashbhoard for confirming that the results were properly interpreted by the app, and the transfer of results to a centralised system. Designed, developed and currently being tested by 3-5 members of staff. The expectation for this digital solution is to be able to capture information from the most popular lateral flow devices: for pregnancy tests, covid-19, etc. |
| Type | Support Tool - For Medical Intervention |
| Current Stage Of Development | Early clinical assessment |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2021 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | Not yet known |
| Title | Ventilator Sharer Device |
| Description | In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some members of the Shoestring team together with the wider IfM responded to a request from clinicians at Royal Papworth Hospital to develop a device that, if needed in an emergency, could be attached to a ventilator to enable two COVID patients to receive tailored respiratory support. Fully developed, and tested in hospitals to some extent. Currently going through the process of certification. The potential use of this device in other (e.g. developing) countries is also being assessed. Funded by various sources within the University. |
| Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices |
| Current Stage Of Development | Market authorisation |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2020 |
| Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
| Impact | None known yet |
| Title | 11 Starter Solutions available for sale online and through other research programmes |
| Description | A set of simple, low-cost, low-risk digital solutions designed to help companies take their first steps towards understanding their digital needs and developing the skills required for further digital innovation and adoption. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | The public release of these digital solutions can speed up the Shoestring rollout among industry SMEs |
| URL | https://www.digitalshoestring.net/buy/ |
| Title | Shoestring specification tool |
| Description | The Shoestring Specification tool is a visual tool that facilitates the development of a functional specification for a low-cost digital system. It captures the user needs for the target solution and guides the process of generating a map of the system inputs and outputs required to meet those needs. It uses branching question trees to ensure that the required detail for each input and output are captured. It outputs all this data in a digital form which will be used in future versions of the configurator to guide the solution developer. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | First round of external partners have completed training on this tool. |
| URL | https://tools.digitalshoestring.net/ |
| Description | Academic Workshop on Low Cost Digitalisation for Manufacturing SMEs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This one-day academic workshop on low-cost digitalisation for smaller manufacturing companies (SMEs) brought together a group of thought leaders on the subject to discuss how existing and future approaches can stimulate more SMEs to start digitalisation. There was a virtual attendance by 75 people and the workshop featured invited talks by international experts (as well as members of the project team) on subjects releant to the project. The videos and slides will be made available to the wider public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Apprentice training |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The apprentices practised solving a problem in industry, setting up a machine monitoring solution at a fraction of the standard cost. Training carried out in Northern Ireland (10/22, 07/23) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Articles in Industry Magazines/Journals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Articles published in: Manufacturing & Management (July/August 2019), University of Cambridge News (2022), The Manufacturer (2022) Interview for: Manufacturing & Logistics IT (2019) Webinars: The Manufacturer (October 2019) Feature article published in: Centre for Digital Built Britain (Apr/2021) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Business support advisor training |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A group of business support advisors were trained in how to run Shoestring workshops and provide tech support from Shoestring solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cambridge Festivals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of the Cambridge University festival celebrations the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring team showcased some of the solutions developed to enable SMEs to digitalise at a low cost |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Demo Videos |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Videos of project demonstrators viewed on YouTube over 2,500 times overall. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYPiy_6F29qoJrVbQ21iMjWx52WuqK1s |
| Description | Hosted LoDiSA 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Delegates from as far afield as Italy, Germany, Australia, the USA, New Zealand and South Korea all convened in Cambridge for Shoestring's academic workshop, Low-cost Digital Solutions for Industrial Automation. The workshop was a huge success, showing how the development of affordable digital solutions is a priority in countries across the world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Industry Digital Awareness Workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Workshops conducted in: East of England (03/23, 06/23), Birmingham (06/23), Egypt (09/23, 10/23), Western Australia (05/23). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Industry Digital Requirements Workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Workshops conducted in: Cambridge (02/19, 06/19, 09/19, 02/20) Dorset (07/19, 09/21) Liverpool (11/19) Scotland (02/19, 01/20, 02/20, 03/20, 06/22) Birmingham/West Midlands (09/19, 10/19, 08/21, 09/22, 03/23) East of England (05/19, 07/19, 05/21, 09/21) International: Australia (07/19, 09/22) New Zealand (11/19) India (12/19) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| Description | Industry Digital Solutions Specifications Workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | In-company (one-on-one) workshops were conducted with the following companies: John Jenkins and Sons (25.02.2020), Composite Braiding (30.07.2020), Buchanan Orthotics (09.10.2020), Vision Engineering (02.02.2021), Kemdent (11.02.2021), Prima Electronics (16.02.2021), Rubber Atkins (01.04.2021, Alex Begg (07.04.2021), Supply Point (13.05.2021), NCC (16.08.2021), Lipco Engineering (16.03.2022), Meachers Global (10.05.2022), Orthogonal Engineering (11.07.2022), AMCO Logistics (12.07.2022), Denchi (28.09.2022), Warren Services (08.02.2023), plus wineries and manufacturers in Western Australia (23.11.2022, 28.11.2022, 05.12.2022, 08.12.2022, 05.01.2023, 26.06.2023, 27.06.2023, 28.06.2023, 14.08.2023, 29.08.2023, 12.09.2023). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| Description | Invited Speaker at Industrial Conferences |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on Shoestring Project approach and results at industrial conference in: Internet of Manufacturing (Farnborough - 05/2019) Cambridge Wireless Conference (Cambridge - 06/2019) ATI Conference (Birmingham - 11/2019) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Invited Speaker at Industrial Conferences |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on Shoestring Project approach and results at: Silverstone Tech Cluster Special Interest Group event on Digital & Advanced Manufacturing (Cranfield - 06/2019), SW Manufacturers' Network Meeting (07/2021), Engineering and Manufacturing Forum organised by the Greater Manchester CoC (01/2021), Smart Manufacturing Alliance Launch Event (10/2021), Digital Manufacturing Week (2020, 2021, 2022), Smart Factory Expo (2019), MakeUK event on Encouraging Manufacturers to Adopt Digital Solutions (12/2021), MTC Talk (11/2021), Small group from Chanel (2023), CambsB2B event by Cambridgeshire COC (11/2023), West Suffolk Manufacturing Group 5th Anniversary event (01/2024). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2021,2022,2023,2024 |
| Description | Invited Speaker at Industrial Conferences |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Keynote speech at IEEE CASE 2020 in Hong Kong (08/2020), Smart Factory Seminar Series at Kyunghee University (11/2021), Keynote as part of IMCC (Virtual) Conference at Northwestern Polytechnical University in China (11/2021), Invited Talk at the Virtual Workshop on Smart Manufacturing ( 02/2021) organised by IIT India; Keynote as part of the Senior Manufacturing Leaders Knowledge Playground Session (11/2021) organised by the Aditya Birla Group, India, Keynote speech at M&E Week (2022) Keynote speech at M&E Week (06/2023). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| Description | Outreach Events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on Shoestring Project approach and results at: a public workshop (September 2019 - Project introduction video viewed on Youtube over 650 times), a Public Webinar (Virtually from Cambridge - 02/2021 - viewed on Youtube 100 times); individual presentations to various Scottish SMEs |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfGK-0fSyFQ |
| Description | Series of Hackathons |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | These high intensive competitions attracted over 200 students, from the Universities of Cambridge, Nottingham and Sheffield, who registered to create low cost digital solutions to address real-world digital manufacturing problems that face small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Various talks were given by the Shoestring project team and industrial partners during the 4 events (two in 2019, one in 2020, three in 2022), to describe the approach developed in the Shoestring programme and to encourage students to use aspects of the approach in their own developments in the competition. This has also led to the creation of a hackathons Youtube channel for the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2022 |
| URL | https://bit.ly/DMSHacksChannel |
| Description | Sustainability requirements workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Shoestring held its first Sustainability Requirements workshop to find out how the Shoestring approach could best help companies improve their sustainability performance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |