International Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing (SDM2014)

We would like to thank the speakers, reviewers, supporters & sponsors, track & session chairs and all those who attended the inaugural International Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing (SDM 2014) and contributed to making it such a successful event. 130 delegates from 21 countries attended the three day event, co-hosted by Cardiff University and KES International, in close association with the Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies (ASTUTE) consortium of Welsh Universities, and over 100 papers were presented.

Following a morning of industrial visits on the 28th April, where conference delegates had the opportunity to visit the new Renishaw PLC plant at Miskin and the Tata Steel site at Port Talbot, the conference opened with an evening welcome reception hosted by Ms. Edwina Hart MBE CStJ AM, Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Science and Transport. The reception was held in the Committee rooms of Cardiff University’s historic Glamorgan Building, where around 70 guests, including conference delegates and senior representatives from Cardiff University were in attendance to hear a welcome address by Ms. Hart, followed by an opportunity for refreshments and to enjoy an evening of musical entertainment with a traditional Welsh flavour.

Two days of formal proceedings then took place at the Mercure Holland House hotel situated in the centre of Cardiff. The conference programme was formally opened by Professor Karen Holford, Cardiff University Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering, followed by short welcome addresses from Professor Rossi Setchi (Cardiff University School of Engineering, SDM 2014 General Chair) and Professor Bob Howlett (KES International, SDM 2014 Executive Chair). Mr Rob Rolley, Director of Research and Development at General Dynamics UK then gave the first of four keynote speeches, in which he discussed Open Innovation in the real world and how it works in practice. Mr Rolley demonstrated how, through an innovation facility and framework of collaboration with SMEs, General Dynamics has developed an environment which enables innovation to flourish, resulting in the rapid delivery of increased capability solutions to its customer, including some from surprising sources.

Three further keynote speeches were made over the two days of the conference, as follows:

• Mr Dick Elsy, Chief Executive of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, who talked about the progress and achievements of this high profile programme of collaborative and industrially applied research and development, an initiative jointly supported by industry and the Technology Strategy Board.
• Mr Geoff McFarland, Group Engineering Director at Renishaw PLC, who spoke about the challenges faced in the drive to re-balance national economies to have a greater focus on manufacturing following the 2008/9 banking crisis and specifically the need to take a long term strategic view, including investing in research and innovation in order to develop a sustainable portfolio of competitive products.
• Mr Gary Toyne, Director of Sales at Siemens Industry Software, UK, spoke about the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, which will be built on  major advances in information technology and automation, including the ‘Internet of Things’, in order to meet the fast changing needs of a manufacturing industry facing the combined challenges of globalisation, individualisation, time to market and sustainability.  He described how the merging of the digital virtual world with intelligent integrated control systems will provide industry with the agility to optimise and adapt the entire product lifecycle to deliver competitive sustainable products.

In addition to the general track, which included 42 papers spread across three themes, respectively focussing on  ‘Sustainable Products & Processes’, ‘Sustainable Manufacturing Systems & Enterprises’ and ‘ Decision Support Tools for Sustainability’ a further 56 papers were presented across 10 invited sessions. Themes covered by the invited sessions included:

• Sustainability and Intelligence in Engineering Ecosystems
• Sustainability Metrics for Complex Industrial Problems
• Towards Zero-Defect Manufacturing
• Computational Modelling for Sustainable Manufacturing Processes
• Sustainable Supply Chains
• Sustainable and Efficient Products & Processes
• Sustainable Machining Technologies and Applications
• Eco-friendly and Efficient Laser Technologies for Factories of the Future
• Innovative Production Design
• Knowledge Management & the Learning Organisation

On the evening of the 29th April the delegates traveled to Cardiff Bay for a drinks reception (sponsored by CAMSAC) and gala conference dinner held at La Marina Restaurant in the Custom House at Penarth Marina, where they enjoyed an evening including spectacular views of Cardiff and excellent food.

The closing session of the conference included a prize giving session, with prizes sponsored and awarded by KES International and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)in the following categories:

• KES International Best Paper Award -Is There a Relationship Between Product Shape Complexity and Energy Consumption in EBM? M. Baumers, I. Ashcroft, R. Hague, C. Tuck, R. Wildman – Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, UK
• KES International Best Student Paper Award –  Knowledge Management and Knowledge Discovery for Process Improvement and Sustainable Manufacturing: a Foundry Case Study.  C. Giannetti, D. Bould, D. Gethin, M. Ransing, R. Ransing, J. Sienz – College of Engineering, Swansea University, UK
• IET Best Technology Paper Award – Investigations on Repetition Rate and Laser Wavelength for Efficient Generation of Black Silicon Solar Cells,V.  Schütz, J. Koch, L. Overmeyer, O. Suttmann – Laser Zentrum, Hannover, Germany
• IET Best Presented Paper – Using the Value Mapping Tool for Sustainable Business Thinking, N. Bocken, P. Rana, S. Short – Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, UK

Conference Organisation:

• General Chair: Professor Rossi Setchi, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
• Executive Chair: Professor Robert J. Howlett, KES International & Bournemouth University, UK
• Programme Co-Chairs: Professor Mohamed Naim, Cardiff University and Professor Johann Sienz, Swansea University
• Track Chairs: Dr. David Bould, Swansea University (Sustainable Products & Processes), Daniel Eyers, Cardiff University (Sustainable Manufacturing Systems & Enterprises), Dr Ying Liu, Cardiff University (Decision Support Tools for Sustainability)
• Co-Chairs of the Organising Committee: Dr Andrew Davies and Andrew Hopkins, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
• SDM2014 Local Venue and Logistics Management: Ms. Rebecca Nelson & Ms. Rebecca Travers, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
• KES International Conference Management: Ms Faye Alexander, Mr Peter Cushion, Mr Russ Hepworth

Further information on the conference can be obtained by contacting Dr Andrew Davies, Manager of CAMSAC and Co-Chair of the SDM 2014 organising committee, while the  Manufacturer magazine has also published a news article on the conference on its website.