Leader named for new Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Limerick

9 Dec 2021

Advanced Manufacturing Centre. Image: IDA Ireland

The facility, slated to open next year, aims to help Ireland’s manufacturing industry stay competitive with the ‘right infrastructure and latest technology’.

A site director has been appointed to lead a new centre in Limerick that will look to boost Ireland’s manufacturing industry with digital technology.

The Advanced Manufacturing Centre (AMC) is currently being constructed at Limerick’s National Technology Park and is slated to open next year.

IDA Ireland announced today (9 December) that Domhnall Carroll, Siemens’ former country lead in digital industries, will be AMC’s site director.

The agency responsible for foreign direct investment also revealed that a strategic partnership has been made with Swiss automation giant ABB, which will become AMC’s key technology partner and provide digital manufacturing tech including digital twin capabilities.

The 30,000 sq ft facility is due to be completed by mid-2022, according to the Nenagh Guardian, and an additional €4m was allocated in the 2022 Budget for its completion.

The AMC will allow multinationals and SMEs to trial and adopt digital technologies with the aim of boosting Ireland’s manufacturing industry, which currently employs more than 260,000 people.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, said this is an industry that “must keep pace with the relentless need to remain competitive”.

“Companies at the top of their market in areas such as biopharmaceuticals, medtech, electronics, engineering and industrial technologies are operating across the country, 84pc of which are outside of Dublin,” he added.

“The Government is committed to ensuring that the right infrastructure and latest technology is available to the industry here to allow it to evolve and continue to thrive.”

Speaking about his appointment, Carroll also said Ireland’s manufacturing base faces “unprecedented” challenges due to Brexit, Covid-19 and the need to transform business models in a timely and cost-efficient way.

“The AMC is here to support such transformation and will provide a range of supports, from a Digital Transformation Showcase, an end-to-end physical production environment, a digital control (and digital twin) environment, technical expertise and upskilling, thereby delivering a practical, hands-on destination for companies to address the challenges and opportunities around digitisation.”

Earlier this year, an advanced manufacturing tech cluster aimed at SMEs in the midlands launched at Athlone Institute of Technology.

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Leigh Mc Gowran is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com