Niche Vehicle-Marine Collaborative Opportunities Workshop
July 23, 2012 1:37 PM
4th July 2012,?Morgan Motor Company, Malvern, Worcestershire
The UK niche automotive and leisure marine sectors each contribute annually around ?1bn GVA to the UK economy.? Technological synergies between the sectors include the use of:
- Innovative propulsion technologies, including hybrid/electric and hydrogen
- Novel materials, such as composites and lightweight metals
- Agile low-volume manufacturing techniques
30 representatives of the UK niche automotive, marine and design engineering sectors met at a workshop organized by the Transport KTN (TKTN) at Morgan Motor Company on 4th July 2012.? The workshop aimed to highlight some of the technology synergies identified above through discussion by practitioners in each discipline.? It further aimed to demonstrate how SMEs have worked with their supply chains to develop and market novel products and to scope future collaborative activities with a view to influencing R&D and technology priorities and CR&D funding calls.
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The workshop featured
- Introductory presentations by Adrian Waddams and Peter Speers of the TKTN
- Stephen Hart on Technology Strategy Board (TSB) activities in the UK marine industry
- Dan Primrose of Light Black Design on his experiences of and lessons learned from working in the UK?s niche automotive and leisure marine industries.
- 75 minutes of interactive discussion
Outputs
A full report of the background to the workshop and its outputs is available here.? A summary of the outputs include:
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Strengths/weaknesses
- Both sectors offer world-leading capabilities.
- The UK automotive sector has been galvanised into collective action by the globalised nature of competition and legislation.? This has stimulated continued innovation.
Opportunities/threats
- UK automotive technological progress has been driven by environmental legislation; in the absence to date of comparable legislation in the marine sector there was limited incentive to innovate ? although this is changing with increasing focus on marine by legislators.
- Formed in 2004 from a recognised need for the sector to be proactive and to speak with a common voice, the Niche Vehicle Network (www.nichevehiclenetwork.co.uk) meets every 6-8 weeks, has over 130 member companies and has invested over ?4m for CR&D activities in its members (funded by Advantage West Midlands and TSB).? This offers a potential model for future collaboration in the leisure marine sector.
Next steps
- Information: There is a need for easy to access information on the key technologies of each sector (e.g., marine power requirements) to encourage technology cross over and new entrants.? Participants also requested information on the capabilities of the organisations in the workshop.
- Networking: encourage future collaboration, possibly through technology ?show and tell? events.
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Acknowledgements
The TKTN would like to thank the British Marine Federation (www.britishmarine.co.uk) and the Niche Vehicle Network (www.nichevehiclenetwork.co.uk) for their help and assistance in promoting the workshop to their members.
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