NRC announces infrastructure spending for its Factory of the Future program

Programming under development

The National Research Council (NRC) is building the foundation for the biggest program under its restructuring with new investments in Winnipeg and its London facility. Two announcements made in June are valued at $65 million to enhance the equipment and infrastructure required for The Factory of the Future (FoF) program — first announced by prime minister Stephen Harper last November (R$, November 27/14).

The NRC's Montreal facilities are currently being evaluated to determine how they can be aligned with the new program, which is billed as a systems approach to provide a platform for manufacturing facilities to be rapidly realigned and fine-tuned for making specific products.

Recent statistics show that manufacturing is in decline in Canada although some sectors and geographic concentrations remain vibrant and globally competitive. Yet concern is rising that, without a strategic approach to the future technological needs of industry and accompanying funding, Canada's 15th place in global manufacturing could deteriorate further with a subsequent loss of government revenue and high-paying jobs.

The NRC's decision to become a major player in advancing manufacturing competitiveness has been championed internally for several years by Dr Ian Potter, the research and technology organization's VP engineering and business management.

Concern about supply chains and adequate talent prompted Potter to begin questioning how the refocused agency could meet the needs of manufacturers. Using technology foresight and consultation with a range of stakeholders, the FoF concept was hatched and successfully sold to the federal government.

In an interview with RE$EARCH MONEY, Potter says the government has supported of the need for enhanced infrastructure, highlighted by the prime minister's 2014 FoF announcement as part of a $380-million allocation for major repairs and upgrading of federal laboratories and research facilities. That in turn is part of a $5.8-billion. three-year commitment to public infrastructure.

NRC is also consulting closely with companies and manufacturing-related industry associations such as Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada.

With infrastructure requirements now being addressed, NRC officials are working to develop an operational plan for the programs to be offered. A program leader is currently being sought and a full launch is anticipated before the end of the current FY.

"Aerospace and automotive are major players so we needed to focus on them but the approach could be used by other sectors in the future. When we discussed with industry players what they required, they told us programs needed to be dynamic, flexible and linked to the resources sector. They also said it needed leadership so we volunteered and developed the program," says Potter. "We're progressing with program development and talking to industry and academia. This is a national program."

Potter says work is ongoing in Ottawa and Montreal to develop an enabling platform he describes as "plug and play" that can be configured in a laboratory setting.

New facility for Winnipeg

While Potter would not divulge the overall cost of the program, Winnipeg is the recipient of the largest FoF funding to date with $60 million allocated to construct a special-purpose facility.

Once completed in two-and-a-half years, the building will house what's described as a "flexible manufacturing pilot train laboratory". The facility will also assist firms with research tools for process design, simulation and integration, repair and overhaul research and manufacturing life cycle assesment. Winnipeg is home to more than 43,000 manufacturing jobs at firms primarily in the aerospace and automotive sectors, particularly a cluster of operations and maintenance firms.

"Winnipeg is the sweet spot where everything comes together ... This is systems engineering with the whole supply chain behind it with a plug and play approach to produce a particular product," says Potter. "We can retune factory capabilities in short order and ensure the people and the supply chain are in place."

London upgrade

The London facility will use its $5-million allocation to enhance existing capabilities in additive manufacturing, advanced materials development (composites and strong, lightweight materials), systems engineering and product and process validation.

London has made significant progress in the areas of lasers and 3-D printing which will be taken to the next level with the additional funding. The final program offering is still in development.

As it stands, the three sites of FoF program will be closely coordinated but each will have a specific role. The Montreal facility will be engaged in tooling and cutting, and the London facility will construct the necessary machinery which will be put into play at the future Winnipeg facility.

Is Canada playing catch up?

Potter says he's not concerned about the apparent lead other nations such as the US have in developing their advanced manufacturing capacity and linking it to industry at a precompetitive level (R$, June 4/12).

In the US, the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership has launched four manufacturing innovation institutes with another four to be announced in the near future. It has also pumped more than US$1 billion into community college upgrade courses for workers seeking advanced manufacturing jobs and increased investments in applied research for emerging, cross-cutting manufacturing technologies.

While the FoF program may be new, the NRC has been working on many of the technologies that support advanced manufacturing for several years. Potter also contends that the FoF program is more comprehensive than the initiatives of other nations.

"To me, this is taking it to the next level to compete in the global market in the future. Other international efforts are limited in focus but we're taking a systems approach and reaching out to our partners and to other countries to collaborate. Some Canadian technologies are world leading," says Potter. "It will run for eight years and then we'll see how it's going. The NRC will always have a manufacturing platform."

HQP concern

Discussions with academia are also a key component of the FoF program as the advanced technologies set to enter the market often require different or more sophisticated skill sets. Potter says manufacturing programs have "withered away in academia" since the 1990s and must be rejuvenated if the NRC is to deliver on the program's potential. "I will be restricted by people. We need more broad-based skills development," he says.

The biggest plus for the success of FoF is the new portfolio structure of the NRC, allowing expertise and infrastructure across the country to be marshalled more effectively in the service of industry.

"We couldn't do this under the old NRC structure. Now we can," says Potter. "I've been pushing hard and I'm pleased with the response from industry and government."

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