Toolmakers are invited to step into the future

The GTMA is inviting all toolmakers to participate in an R and D scoping study aimed at bringing UK toolmaking into the 21st century by using the latest Knowledge Based Engineering techniques.

GTMA invites toolmakers to step into the future The GTMA is inviting all toolmakers to participate in an R and D scoping study aimed at bringing UK toolmaking into the 21st century by using the latest Knowledge Based Engineering techniques.

Together with four partners: Brunel University, Corus Automotive Engineering, Dzus Fasteners and Technology Application Network Limited (TANet), GTMA is gathering information on the current state of UK toolmaking, its place in world rankings and its projected future shape by 2008 - and that is where it is looking for input from UK toolmakers.

GTMA Director, Julia Moore, is enthusiastic, "This study will form the basis of recommendations put forward to the DTI - and it's a great opportunity to make them sit up and listen.

We all know how important the future of toolmaking is to UK manufacturing - but we need evidence to back up our claims.

That is why we are asking all toolmakers, GTMA members or not, to answer the few simple questions in this survey.

Knowledge Based Engineering - KBE - is one of the most likely way in which UK toolmaking can maintain the competitive edge provided by its extensive pool of skills and experience.

At present the quality of tooling and its associated products depends directly on the experience and skills of the designers and the manufacturers involved.

Historically these skills have been handed down - often by word of mouth - and experience gained over long periods.

Now, however, with increasing competition from abroad, no longer confined to low-end, low-expertise products, it is essential to 'capture' UK experience and knowledge quickly and make it available on demand to employees within a company.

This "knowledge capture" and its redeployment - which is essentially what KBE is all about - will enable toolmakers to build on their experience and maximise the utilisation of that knowledge, increasing their value-add to their customers.

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