Leading figures from across the manufacturing industry launched a new national strategy in Through-life Engineering Services (TES) on Tuesday 5th July, calling for the UK to realise the economic potential of TES.
 
Through-Life Engineering Services create and support high-value, long-life assets that work better and for longer. The strategy’s goal is to achieve a 20% reduction in cost of ownership, with a 20% improvement in availability of complex engineering assets (such as aero engines, trains or power stations) which account for at least £31.6bn of annual UK economic output.
 
Cranfield University, Rolls-Royce, and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult have been leading the strategy with the support of many of the biggest names in UK manufacturing including Babcock International, Bombardier Transportation, BAE Systems and Siemens. Together, these companies have committed to forming a cross-sector National “TES Council” to inspire UK industry.
 
The strategy sets a clear direction of travel for the UK to embrace changes in behaviours, new business and economic models while exploiting new technologies.
 
Launching the strategy, Professor Rajkumar Roy, Cranfield’s Director of Manufacturing, commented: “There is a global race to capture this lucrative emerging market. The UK needs to act decisively to avoid missing out. Investment in Through-Life Engineering Services could be a game changer for the UK in terms of national productivity and global competiveness.
 
“The world is rapidly shifting to a service economy, demanding increased manufacturing flexibility and closeness to customers. It is time for government and all of us involved in manufacturing to seize this opportunity.”
 
The growth of TES will enable more integration between manufacturing, engineering and technology, and business model innovation, across a number of sectors such as aerospace, defence, and energy. TES innovators, including SMEs need to be able to adapt to the changing market more easily, with speed and less risk.
 
Speaking at the launch of the strategy, Chris White MP, Co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Manufacturing said: “The UK has a proud manufacturing tradition and, since the industrial revolution, has been in a strong position in terms of creativity and design. This remains true today as we enter the ‘fourth epoch’ of manufacturing created through digital innovation and the ‘Internet of Things’.
 
“The market influence for engineering services, manufacturing and technology is huge. This strategy provides a framework for this cooperative capacity and capability development across all relevant industrial sectors that rely on or provide “complex engineering assets.”
 
The TES centre, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is hosted by Cranfield and Durham Universities. The centre gives researchers and students the opportunity to study and design high-value engineering systems based on manufacturing for TES.