A specialist software company is the latest industrial partner to get involved with the Manufacturing Technology Centre’s ERA funded ‘Factory in a Box’ initiative. Senseye, a provider of predictive maintenance analytics, is providing machine condition monitoring and prognostics software to the Factory in a Box project.

The Factory in a Box is a custom-designed, mobile mini-factory developed by the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) with the universities of Birmingham and Loughborough. It is backed by the Energy Research Accelerator, which is funded by Innovate UK.

The Factory in a Box features a range of British-built smart manufacturing technologies – including sensors, advanced automation, big data and remote engineering tools that can be shipped in a container and deployed rapidly almost anywhere in the world. It will support manufacturing supply chains and will enable automated, data-driven insight into the condition of the machinery without the need for expert manual analysis.

Senseye’s algorithms analyse information from sensors to predict failures, diagnose problems and identify the remaining useful life of machinery. Manufacturers using Senseye have halved their levels of unplanned downtime and achieved reductions in maintenance costs of up to 40 percent.

Simon Kampa, CEO of Senseye, comments: “Our unique software can be used on any machine from any manufacturer and we are seeing rapid worldwide adoption. Being part of the Factory in a Box is testament to the quality of our software and provides us with another compelling way of working with forward-thinking manufacturers around the world.”

Robin Thatcher, chief engineer for the Factory in a Box at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, added: “The Factory in a Box provides smart production capacity at pace and precisely where they are required. Senseye’s software adds best-in-class condition monitoring and prognostic capabilities to reduce unplanned machine downtime and increase overall equipment effectiveness, it is an incredibly valuable addition to our product.”