1b Llys Onnen, Parc Menai Pencoed Technology Centre Bangor, Bridgend, South LL57 4DF CF35 5HZ

T: 01248 671101 T: 01656 861536 F: 01248 671102 W: www.bic -innovation.com

INNOVATION NETWORK PARTNERSHIP WALES PARTNERIAETH RHWYDWAITH ARLOESEDD CYMRU

North Wales - Gogledd Cymru

Date: 30 Jun 2010 Location: Sharp Delegates:

Name Organization Email 1 Huw Watkins BIC Innovation [email protected] 2 Mike Gibson BIC Innovation [email protected] 3 Phil Care Sharp [email protected] 4 Paul Byard EEF – The Manufacturers Org [email protected]

5 Christian Byard Observer [email protected]

6 Lynne Lewis Wrexham County Council Eco D [email protected] 7 Peter Scott Wrexham County Council Eco D [email protected] 8 Sasha Davies Cyngor Ynys Mon [email protected] 9 Mark Williams WAG [email protected] 10 Eirian Harrison Enterprise Network Europe [email protected] 11 Gareth Hughes WAG [email protected] 12 Dyfan Searell [email protected] 13 Gwion Owain [email protected] 14 Suzanne Riley Glyndwr University [email protected] 15 Rebecca Irving Glyndwr University [email protected]

16 Peter S. Excell Glyndwr University [email protected] 17 Graham Smith Glyndwr University [email protected] 18 Jan Milburn Magnox Northsites [email protected] 19 Menna Jones Antur [email protected] 20 Huw Davies Antur Waunfawr [email protected] 21 Susan Sherridan WOF (OpTIC Glyndwr) [email protected] 22 Trish Carlin Flintshire Council economic dev [email protected] 23 Trish Reid Mgmt Centre [email protected] 24 Ian Thompson [email protected] 25 Gary Hopkins WAG [email protected] 26 John Davies EEF – The Manufacturers Org [email protected]

Chair Huw Watkins Director BIC Innovation

Comments made by INPART North members at the round table discussion Huw Watkins – BIC Innovation

Huw opened the meeting officially by extending a warm welcome to everyone, particularly the high number of new attendees. He also thanked Philip Care for the invitation to Sharp and for the tour of manufacturing facilities and Solar Energy centre, that followed the meeting.

Apologies were received from the following individuals & organisations: Jon Pinnington Cyngor Ynys Mon Chris Gardiner BI-DS Isobel Garner Wrexham Howard Tothill BI-MS Della Pritchard & team WAG - IBW John Parkes WIN Colin Morris Cyngor Gwynedd Gwion Williams Innovation Manager Nia Mon Menter a Busnes Jeff Williams-Jones HRD advisor Sion Hughes Menter a Busnes / Ken Toop & Tony SEMTA LSDP Leahy Dave Johnson WAG Bob Hughes HRD advisor Celia Williams Construction Skills Samantha Williams WAG - RM Maldwyn Williiams Venture Wales Cheryl Whitaker WAG –RM Dylan Williams Cyngor Ynys Mon Ray Thomas HRD advisor Eurwyn Edwards Grwp Llandrillo Joyce Sneddon Grwp Llandrillo Richard Day Glyndwr University Barrie Lee NHS

Note – the meeting clashed with the launch of the National Composites Centre, which some members attended.

Introduction & Overview

The theme of the meeting was innovation in local solar PV technology and supply chain developments. It is also of note that the announcement for the Economic renewal programme is due on 5 July, and that this may affect a wide range of programmes, subsequent to the meeting.

Presentation – Sharp

Philip Care

Philip is the head of marketing for Sharp at Wrexham. The factory makes ‘European solutions’ for European markets –. His presentation can be downloaded from BIC Innovation’s website .

There is additional information at www.sharpmanufacturing.co.uk of particular note for the attendees is: • The ‘Ecohouse’ shop – sells all Sharp products that have been refurbished on site. • The solar education centre, which is used by schools and universities, is available for public visits by pre-booking via web. • There are new products, eg plasma cluster ion products available for new markets.

There was an extensive discussion through the presentation, the key points of which were:

• The focus is on high value products; as a local manufacturer they want to offer equal opportunities for South, Mid and for solar PV. • Sharp are active in the ‘Arbed’ project (see previous meeting minutes 24 March & Feb 10), and there is a focus on the 5 regeneration areas across Wales. • There are North Wales projects (Energy Island, Mon a Menai) that can benefit from a close relationship with the PV centre & local manufacture clearly reduces ‘carbon foot print’ • Low energy / PV powered lighting systems newly introduced by Wrexham Council on Whitegate industrial estate – and there is possible development of replacement lighting heads for the Council. • There are opportunities to develop the local supply chain links, especially where new products (eg lighting systems) are being introduced, as volumes are low and should build steadily. • It is harder to find local manufacturing capabilities to ‘instantly’ support high levels of production demand – although this is possible for new projects where volumes are lower as routes to market are still being developed (eg solar amenity lighting and 60W PV modules) – see the Supply Chain presentation.

There was a natural lead in to the discussion on supply chains at a local & regional level to address a variety of issues.

The discussion was complemented by a subsequent tour of both the manufacturing facilities and solar education centre. The meeting ended with Huw’s thanks for an inspiring presentation of Sharp’s capabilities and approach to innovation.

Presentation – Supply Chains

Paul Byard

Paul is Head of External Affairs for the EEF – the Manufacturers Organisation. Paul explained that the presentation set a context based on the recession as a ‘starting point’. Events of the last few years had provided an opportunity to re-evaluate the way supply chains respond to fluctuating demand and the way stock is moved around the world. The importance of Total Acquisition Costs was re-iterated, along with strategies such as dual (local and low cost) sourcing. His presentation can be downloaded from BIC Innovation’s website.

There was an extensive discussion following the presentation, the key points of which were:

• Traditional ‘lean’ only addresses 5-15% of cost ( ie labour) • There are greater economies to be made in both supply chain and environmental (energy) areas. • Air freight is often used to manage risk in ‘low cost country’ supply chains. • Good design is key to reducing product cost and meeting customer requirements • Local supply chains have an innovation advantage. • A key question is ‘what is the rate of innovation?’ and how sustainable is it in any one company – and how can this be benchmarked. • The Manufacturing Strategy for Wales is delayed due to the Economic Renewal programme (ERP). • Implementing changes in small companies is difficult, due to a lack of ‘in house’ resource & tackling supply chain issues requires both time and understanding. o The basis is a cultural attitude shift o There are a plethora of schemes that might help companies – so a challenge to management is identifying the right one(s). o Business Innovation (with Design, Manufacturing, IP, Commercialisation & Innovation strands) is an excellent ‘one stop shop’ for manufacturers – complemented by other schemes (eg Skills for Growth & Workforce Development from DCELLS). • Aligning skills growth in companies with the growth strategy and innovation is key element for companies to tackle.

Round the table discussion: Brief updates & news

Sasha Davies – Cygnor Ynys Mon

There is a small Arbed project in , which includes Solar panels. There is clearly an opportunity with the Mon a Menai and Energy Island projects to invigorate the ‘energy’ agenda; Mon Menai is focussing on the Low Carbon economy. Key issues are cultural change for users and the availability of demonstrator projects. This needs some detailed actions, with a meeting needed with Sharp.

Jan Milburn – Magnox

There is a need to move from discussion to action; it is clear that the vision of large scale energy efficiency is fundamental – along with the link to driving down the carbon footprint of north Wales. A locally based global leader, like Sharp, is key to deploying expertise, pilot demonstrators and the education centre is a great resource for changing culture. We will contact Sharp to arrange a meeting. Additionally we would like to talk to Glyndwr and Bangor Universities regarding research in energy projects.

Gareth Hughes – WAG Relationship Manager

The ProAct programme is ending and there is a move to ‘Skills for Growth’, as the successor programme. Much depends now on the outcome of the Economic Renewal programme (ERP). Graham Smith – Glyndwr University (Electrical Engineering)

The Higher National Diplomas available through the franchise to Coleg Menai provide an essential stepping stone to the Foundation Degree in nuclear power generation. The follow on development is a BEng in renewable energy, to provide a pathway for students embarking on the diploma courses.

Peter Excell – Glyndwr University (Associate Dean, University Institute for Arts, Science and Technology, and Academic Leader Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)

Peter highlighted the development path towards an MSc in renewables, along with work developing it with a wind-power company, using support from the ‘Access to Masters’ scheme. He raised questions regarding approaches to energy storage and smart grids – along with the need to engage consumers on a ‘one stop shop’ basis for renewables. More information on a wide variety of activities at Glyndwr is contained in the previous minutes (of 26 May 2010, downloadable from www.bic-innovation.com )

. Suzanne Riley – Glyndwr Innovations (Commercial Manager)

Suzanne highlighted the volume of businesses in the area that had received ProAct funding - the programme ended on 30 th June to be replaced by New Skills Wales. Suzanne requested that she may have some good case studies that she could take into businesses to help them buy into the new way of Supply Change Management. There were some queries about what happened if after receiving the ProAct funding the company still made people redundant. This needed to be discussed with the ProAct DCELLS project manager. Mike undertook to provide details of the ProAct project manager to Suzanne.

Rebecca Irving – Glyndwr University (Employer Engagement)

Rebecca is looking at the progression of employees, for instance with regard to BEng / nuclear engineering degrees. She can help identify pathways for relevant work based learning.

Dyfan Searell – Coleg Menai

Dyfan manages the CAM innovation centre, and is in close contact with the Energy Island team. The CAM programme provides design, engineer, prototyping and CADCAM expertise and equipment. There is a network of over 30 suppliers, which has demonstrated that a network can achieve more than the individual components on their own. The CAM programme, coupled with the Solidworks user group clearly has the opportunity to provide extra resource and support to help companies. There is a new build £6m facility planned for completion in 2011 on Anglesey; CAM will move from Bangor into this at the first opportunity, which is likely to be in early 2011.

The next Solidworks user group meeting on 1 July was highlighted.

. Paul Byard & John Davies – EEF

Highlighted the Climate Change Task Force is trying to stimulate demand and examining opportunities for mass production to drive price down as demand rises. It is clear that demand has to be stimulated – and a key question is how to reduce payback periods of 4-7 years to a smaller value.

Paul suggested that strategic solutions for supply chains can be found – for instance in reducing carbon foot prints through clustering. It was thought that the EEF could discuss this with a number of the organisations represented at the meeting.

It was agreed that EEF would contact the Inpart facilitators for more discussions on this.

Ian Thompson – Coleg Llandrillo

Ian highlighted that Llandrillo has the only renewable technologies training centre in North Wales (see previous InPart minutes). A close working relationship between Llandrillo & Sharp would be good to drive innovation forward, as would an introduction to the EEF. Agreed to supply information regarding accredited local installers to OpTIC & Sharp.

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Gary Hopkins – WAG

Gary leads the WAG Relationship Management team across Wales on renewable energy & environmental. His key role is to develop suppliers in these fields. Paul highlighted the supply chain initiatives discussed by Paul Byard and the importance of capitalising on key projects, demonstration sites and supply chain potential.

Huw Watkins – BIC / Chair InPart

Huw had facilitated a previous workshop in mapping PhotoVoltaic (PV) technologies. BIC are a key part of the Rural Development Plan (RDP) in Gwynedd and he reported an ‘explosion’ of interest in PV and other renewable schemes since the introduction of the Feed In Tariff (FIT) in April 10. FIT provides an opportunity to sustain incomes over a 20 year period, and there is clearly an opportunity for Sharp & others to engage with RDP, especially as there is a lot of local capability in this technology (Welsh Opto- Electronics Forum have a booklet directory of this)

Eirian Harrison – Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)

Eirian recapped the EEN role of assisting SMEs in technology transfer and tendering across Europe (see Minutes of the CAST meeting on 26/5/10). Of particular relevance to the renewable topic is the FP7 programme and that there is an EEN Energy & Environment Officer, based in South Wales.

Menna Jones – Antur Waunfawr

Antur Waunfawr is a leading social enterprise providing employment and training opportunities for people with learning disabilities in their own . As well as playing an important role in the community, Antur Waunfawr is also a key player in the regeneration of the local economy, with a 25 year history of blending social care with new opportunities for business. Aside from working with BIC on process improvements, we are looking at energy efficiency projects. A meeting was proposed with Magnox to develop this later point further.

Huw Davies – Antur Waunfawr

Huw is the operations manager, working with various community segments to keep work and money circulating locally on a variety of recycling projects. There is an opportunity for innovation towards the ‘zero watse’ target by treating waste as a resource.

Susan Sherridan – Optic Glyndwr / Welsh OptoElectonics Forum

Susan highlighted the Focus on Innovation event at Optic on 7 July. She asked for a list of approved installers for PV systems, because of the number of ‘walk in’ enquiries at Optic. Ian Thompson agreed to seek this information from Coleg Llandrillo. Susan indicated that there could be another ‘PV Roadmapping’ event involving Prof Stuart Irvine & the Centre for Solar Energy Research in the autumn and would contact Huw regarding his facilitation of the previous event. Prof Irvine also heads the PV Special Interest Group of WOF and, following a recent meeting at Swansea, a supply chain report is being printed. A ‘green’ photonics event will be held in November – details to be circulated.

There is a KTP at the Photonics academy to work with school children to design a solar powered ‘magical home’. A WOF newsletter will be issued soon. There were direct discussions regarding ‘engagement with renewables’ issues raised by others present and the ‘magical home’. ______

Trish Reid – Bangor Unviersity

The Aber Bangor Skills Centre (ABSC) is trying to establish links to the Sector Skills Councils, industry fora and individual organisations. The aim is to use the skill centre as a demand led portal to meet needs through either existing provision or new training, as appropriate. There is work to develop new training units on waste management, to address what the sector and businesses need now & for the future. There is work jointly with Coleg Llandrillo establishing a ‘renewables’ foundation degree. There is also work looking at micro businesses and aiming to develop clusters of activity to assist their viability.

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Patricia Carlin – Flintshire Council

Trish thanked the contributors for the extensive networking information and highlighted that one of the problems is disseminating the information to companies – especially as Flintshire has about 35% of the manufacturing base, and many of the top companies (Airbus, Toyota etc). As an example of a new communication method, Flintshire Council, in conjunction with Wrexham Council, are establishing energy and environment forums on industrial estates. It was noted that they were working in conjunction with for general support in this area (Deeside College were unfortunately not represented at the meeting).

Sasha Davies undertook to contact Trish separately regarding Iwan Trefor Jones’ work for Local Authorities in environmental & energy matters.

Lynne Lewis – Wrexham CBC & Local Supplier Development

Lynne’s main focus is on the support of SMEs to tender to the public sector. Networking events help to enable companies to collaborate on tenders. It was suggested that a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event could be arranged for Sharp.

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Peter Scott – Wrexham CBC

Peter’s department provides comprehensive business support in the County through 14 advisors concentrating on SMEs. There is a lot of joint working & good practice across the region (eg FS4B and Local Supplier Development programme delivery). Wrexham also have a HRD contract. He reiterated the opportunity presented by developing supply chains for Sharp; for instance the wiring looms for the lighting systems are made locally, and the aluminium poles come from south Wales. There is an advantage if local companies are used due to shorter lead times and the opportunity for value engineering.

Mike Gibson – BIC Innovation on Behalf of Business Innovation Design Service (BI-DS)

BIC hold the contract for delivering BI-DS; unfortunately Chris Gardiner, the regional manager, could not attend but he had provided a report for the meeting. BI-DS provides product design advice and assistance to companies. There was joint collaboration with Welsh Automotive Forum (WAF) to promote BI-DS activity and the event at Toyota was well attended. Paul Bullock from WAF is working for a number of days in North Wales with BI-DS to promote the automotive sector design capability. Of particular note is the ‘Low Carbon Vehicle Cluster’ whose members include Toyota & MCL. There is an event opportunities in green design in the Waterton Technology Centre, south Wales on 14 July; one of the speakers is Dr Paul Fowler from Bangor University - details are downloadable from the BIC website.

Mark Williams - Innovation Manager

Mark is the Innovation Manager for North East Wales ‘Wales Innovators Network’. There are 2 ‘WIN’ IMs across North wales (John Parkes is the other) and they will work with companies that have upto 5 employees. The typical client for WIN is a ‘lone inventor’, which makes sourcing a key issue. A key point for Inpart members is that if they are approached by ‘Lord Peter Hulbert’ or regarding a product called ‘F1 Hoverpod’ or similar, then they should inform Wendy Boddington.

Other Innovation Information

MediWales Members' Showcase event on the 14th July (9.30-3pm), at the Novotel in Cardiff, to give our members the opportunity to display, present and promote their current projects, research, products and services, and share their successes and developments from the last year. Presentations are very welcome from academic and clinical departments, as well as companies. This will be the an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your organisations achievements, examples of innovation, clinical research and commercial expertise, and the ways in which they contribute to making the Welsh life-science industry a flourishing and successful sector. We would like to invite you to give a 5 minute presentation, on a maximum of 5 slides and you can also bring a pop up stand to exhibit at the event. Events are free to MediWales members, and only MediWales members will be able to showcase their work.

UK Innovation Forum - matching spin out companies with their perfect business partner

When it comes to successful spin out companies and exploitation of new, cutting edge technologies, finding and being matched with the right business individuals who can exploit these opportunities to their full potential is key. The UK Innovation Forum (UKIF) is new way for research institutions and the business community to join up and maximise the combined potential of their technologies and business acumen.

UK- Network: A bigger voice in Europe for business

Enterprise Europe Network UK and Ireland ( www.enterprise-europe.net ), part of parent organisation Enterprise Europe Network, was set up to strengthen the links between the 12 network regions within the UK and Ireland. The network, comprising 12 regional and 31 business development partners, means the UK and Ireland are working together in what is effectively a ‘super region’ within Europe. “We provide support and advice to help companies grow their business into Europe,” says Lorna Maclean, at Enterprise Europe Network UK and Ireland.

Boatbuilding with Advanced Composites – Manufacturing for the Future 15 July 2010 Hilton Hotel, Chilworth, Southampton

A range of speakers from industry leading organisations will present examples of best practice and case studies in production boatbuilding including new design, process and tooling technologies and materials applications. The emphasis will be on staying competitive in international markets, with examples of what the competition is doing and how to meet the challenges .

Next Meetings

Diary dates:

Date (10) Event Location 13 Oct Energy Island theme North West Wales 8 Dec Creative Industries themed North East Wales

The next development meeting will be scheduled in September & a programme will be issued in the late summer to cover the next period in detail.

Members of the partnership will be able to download the minutes of the INPART meetings from BIC Innovation’s website: www.bic-innovation.com

Post meeting note (5/7/10): The Economic Renewal Programme document is summarisedon the BIC Innovation website (see ‘News’) or to read the document in full, please visit the Downloads area of this website and scroll to 05/07/10 WAG Economic Renewal Programme: a new direction

M GIBSON BIC Innovation Co-ordinator

01248 671101 [email protected]