The MTC, a Coventry research and technology organisation founded in 2010 that helps manufacturers test automation, robotics and new production methods.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre, known as the MTC, is an independent research and technology organisation based at Ansty Park in Coventry. It helps manufacturers move ideas from university research into real factories, closing what it calls the valley of death between the two. Its sectors include aerospace, automotive, rail, food and drink, construction, electronics, energy and defence. Automation and robotics is one of its listed technology capabilities, and intelligent automation was one of its original themes. It has run robot demonstrations and published work on the skills gaps that slow the adoption of automation.
The MTC was founded in 2010 by the universities of Birmingham, Loughborough and Nottingham, together with TWI Ltd. It opened after a 40 million pound public investment, according to a 2013 Catapult page, which is dated. Its vision, in its own words, is to inspire great British manufacturing on the global stage. It is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and is supported by Innovate UK. Dr Graham Hoare became chief executive in 2023, with Dr Clive Hickman chairing the board.
The MTC is based at Ansty Park in Coventry, and its campus has grown to three sites in the UK, including the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre and the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing. Industrial members have included Rolls-Royce, Airbus and BAE Systems. The organisation has grown from 10 or 44 staff at the start (sources differ) to nearly 1,000 employees, most of them scientists and engineers.
On culture, the MTC describes itself as "one team, not multiple", and lists its values as responsibility, inspiration, humanity, integrity and teamwork. These are the company's own statements. It reports being named among the top 100 apprenticeship employers and the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2020, and winning an EcoSmart Gold sustainability award in 2021. Those are dated claims we did not verify.
Roles span robotics and automation engineers, machining and additive manufacturing specialists, data and software engineers, project managers and business teams. Coventry and the Midlands are home to many car and aerospace firms, so the MTC is well placed to see how automation is used across them. As with the AMRC, the MTC does not sell robots; it helps other companies decide how to use them.
Website: www.the-mtc.org
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