The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and the world’s largest aerospace company Boeing have officially opened a new research and development (R&D) facility in Westway Park in Renfrew within the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland.

Key figures, including Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee, attended the event on Tuesday, marking a significant development within the region and Scotland’s growing advanced manufacturing industry.

At over sixty thousand square feet, the new NMIS facility incorporates the Metallics Research Centre with Boeing, which will see the delivery of Boeing’s £11.8 million R&D programme in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the NMIS Group.

Aiming to reduce materials waste and identify opportunities to improve safety, productivity, and the environmental impact of its aircraft, technical teams from Boeing and NMIS are exploring novel manufacturing technologies for metallic components, building on over a decade’s worth of R&D with the University of Strathclyde and the AFRC, where Boeing is a founding partner.

Part-funded by Scottish Enterprise, the programme is the first initiative within the Boeing Scotland Alliance, which is exploring opportunities to work together in Scotland, with the aim of doubling Boeing’s supply chain and creating 200 new quality jobs in the next five years.

The new R&D facility will also house cutting edge manufacturing equipment for use across NMIS projects with other innovative manufacturing businesses across the country, bolstering the support already provided through its specialist technology centres the AFRC and its Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC).

In the adjacent manufacturing district site, construction is continuing on the new NMIS headquarters set to open later next year, which will include a skills academy, collaboration hub and digital factory.

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