Sheffield Digital member Razor has secured a place on the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s (AMRC) new digital framework. Alongside two other digital consultancies, Razor will deliver a digitisation strategy to put the AMRC at the forefront of digital innovation in the UK manufacturing industries. This is excellent news for the region and of course, for the team at Razor – we’re excited to see the work unfold! Here are more details about the framework and the AMRC’s vision.

The digital framework forms part of the AMRC’s wider mission to become a champion for digital integration in the manufacturing environment. They plan to become a centre of excellence to inspire manufacturers throughout the UK to consider the benefits that digitisation can achieve. The overall objective of the AMRC strategy is to provide a robust, manageable and highly capable data and information processing platform.

Razor has secured a two-year contract – with potential to extend to four – which will see the company deliver an innovative digitisation strategy bringing in emerging AI, machine learning and big data technology.

The company has worked alongside the AMRC on a number of projects in recent years so is well-placed to take on the new challenge. Jamie Hinton, CEO and Co-Founder at Razor, commented:

“The AMRC has been a part of our world for a number of years now. After being invited to one of their first digital meet manufacturing events, myself and the team were captivated from the start. It’s incredible to be in this position now.

“From our recent work together, we feel like part of the family. It’s coffee, pizza, and solving some pretty huge and exciting challenges for the names in manufacturing we’ve admired throughout our careers. It’s not just the big names too, we’re working with lean spin-offs and start-ups coming out of the AMRC that are kicking up some groundbreaking tech.

“This partnership is huge for us at Razor, and we’re delighted our two organisations are coming together. Both Razor and the AMRC believe in the potential of our region. We are on the cusp of a new industrial revolution fuelled by relationships like ours, which supercharge the connection between digital and advanced manufacturing. We can’t wait to get started.”

With the AMRC’s strong research links to the University of Sheffield, this partnership is a flagship example of academia, advanced manufacturing and disruptive digital technology coming together to solve the most challenging engineering problems facing the industry.

Dr Aiden Lockwood, Principal Enterprise Architect at the AMRC said: “This project will bring together all our expertise and use the AMRC as a whole to demonstrate how enterprise scale modern IT could be used across the UK manufacturing sector. This is an exciting new era for the AMRC which will allow us to fully connect our staff, members and partners into a unified digital platform.”

Steven Foxley, CEO at the AMRC said: “Razor is at the forefront of the fast-growing digital tech community in the Sheffield City Region. Through their work with us they’ve proven time and again that they are capable of the forward-thinking, fast moving and innovative approach this work requires.

“The AMRC is determined to bring together the digital and manufacturing communities in the North of England to drive growth and productivity through innovation. This new partnership is that and much more. We hope to position the AMRC – with Razor’s energy and approach – wholly as a demonstration of the use of modern IT capabilities in an enterprise-scale organisation.”

Congratulations to Razor!