New World-class digital manufacturing facility opens in Limerick

A NEW national centre of excellence designed to support Irish-based manufacturers will be officially opened in Limerick this Monday.

Located in the IDA Ireland National Technology Park in Plassey, Digital Manufacturing Ireland (DMI) is designed to support Irish based manufacturers, both multi-national businesses and SMEs, to access, partner and accelerate their adoption of transformative digital technologies and to drive their future competitiveness.

The new facility boasts a unique technology offering in the form of a fully representative end to end Physical and Digital Production Line with digital twin capabilities designed to provide DMI clients with access to the latest digital technologies, expertise and deployment support in a real-world manufacturing environment.

Industry led, and resourced to solve manufacturing industry challenges, DMI will be instrumental in ensuring the future resilience and competitiveness of Irish-based manufacturing.   

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The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney commented that DMI will play a pivotal role in advancing the future competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Ireland as well as supporting the delivery of Ireland’s Industry 4.0 Strategy 2020 – 2025.

"Over 270,000 are employed across MNCs and SMEs in manufacturing in Ireland and are developing and producing world leading products for global supply.  As the world’s supply chains continue to be disrupted, competitiveness challenges prevail and international competition for investment intensifies, it has never been more important for Ireland to invest in the future of its core manufacturing capability. Digital Manufacturing Ireland will support Ireland’s manufacturing base in remaining at the forefront of digital transformation and ensure that Ireland is recognised internationally as having a vibrant, collaborative, competitive and digitally enabled industry base," he said.

Mary Buckley, Interim CEO of IDA Ireland said: "Enhancing Ireland’s manufacturing capability is a strategic national priority and a core component of the transformation agenda within IDA Ireland’s Strategy - Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021-2024.  Engaging with industry, we recognise the challenges facing companies as they balance the need to drive competitiveness with the disruption and opportunities around new technologies.  DMI will ensure that Irish based manufacturers have access to the infrastructure, technology and skills to help them solve real issues and to kickstart and continue to drive their digital transformation journeys”.

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Lionel Alexander, Chairperson of Digital Manufacturing Ireland Board commented: “We are delighted to have officially opened our world-class facility. The manufacturing sector in Ireland, from medtech and biopharma to food and drink and engineering, is a key contributor to Ireland’s economic resilience and ongoing economic success. After the unprecedented global disruption of the last 24-months, now more than ever, it is critical for our manufacturing sector to deploy the new technologies and tools to serve the drive for innovation and ultimately business differentiation."

“We are committed to supporting all manufacturers regardless of their size or level of technological maturity in their transformation journey, right across their manufacturing value chain, through collaborations and partnerships. We will provide a platform to test and create new technologies and use-cases in an industry environment, but also provide the necessary training and capabilities among the Irish workforce to effectively compete by being digital-first.”

Digital Manufacturing Ireland has also announced a new strategic partnership with global Medical Technologies company Edwards Life Sciences to focus on digital transformation across its sites in Limerick and Clare.

Andrew Walls, Plant General Manager of Edwards LifeSciences in Limerick said: “Edwards Lifesciences is proud to be partnering with Digital Manufacturing Ireland, to support the development and delivery of Edwards digital transformation programme. We will collectively be working across the three pillars of Technology, Human Centric Manufacturing and Supply chain operations in order to advance the digital capabilities of our operations and workforce.”