Canmoor Westway

Full Steam Ahead at Boeing’s Metallics Research Centre at AMIDS

The world’s largest aerospace company is now well-established at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) in Renfrewshire.

The world’s largest aerospace company is now well-established at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) in Renfrewshire.

Together with the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), Boeing officially opened the Metallics Research Centre at Westway in October 2021 in a 60,000 sq. ft facility that is also home to cutting edge manufacturing equipment used across NMIS projects with innovative manufacturers across the country.

The past year has seen technical teams from Boeing and NMIS specialist technology centre the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced

Forming Research Centre (AFRC) collaborate on an £11.8million research and development (R&D) programme aimed at exploring new manufacturing technologies for metallic components, with early trials proving successful.

The programme is supported by £3.5million of R&D funding from Scottish Enterprise after it partnered with Boeing to form the Boeing Scotland Alliance announced in April 2020, which was an agreement aiming to double Boeing’s supply chain and create 200 new quality jobs within five years.

Sir Martin Donnelly, president of Boeing Europe and managing director of Boeing in the UK and Ireland, said: “The opening of the Metallics Research Centre was a key milestone for Boeing as the first project announced as part of the Boeing Scotland Alliance, cementing our commitment to the future of advanced manufacturing and the aerospace sector in Scotland.”

The development of AMIDS is a collaborative project led by Renfrewshire Council and has been enabled through Glasgow City Region City Deal funding, which delivered the underpinning infrastructure and enhanced connections.

Toby Saul, said: “Westway being located at the heart of the AMIDS has been of great benefit in attracting key occupiers and supporting the ongoing growth and development of the park in recent years.”