Servitization is the process of transforming manufacturers to compete through Product-Service Systems (PSS) rather than products alone. The commercial and environmental benefits of PSSs are compelling and well documented (Rolls-Royce earning over 50% of their revenue from services is cited to exhaustion). The opportunities are immense (three quarters of wealth world-wide is now created through performing services) and so politically PSSs are seen as key to industrial success in the 21st Century. Adoption of PSS is frustratingly slow in mainstream manufacturing. Superficially the concepts find appeal but fail to gain traction as the potential implications to a business are complex. In the meantime, China is catching up (Chinese manufacturing companies offering services have grown from 2 - 20% since 2006). In the UK, we need to get better at informing, educating and training, our senior manufacturing managers about PSS and servitization, giving them the means to visualize the potential impact upon their business. Gamification offers a radical solution. Gamification bridges video-gaming technologies and computer simulations to offer three-dimensional virtual worlds, dynamic and content-rich, which can be used to entertain, educate and inform. This is especially innovative for user engagement, supporting behavior and attitudinal change, and the design of advanced human and computer interfaces for representing and handling complex data systems. This programme will therefore develop applied game technologies, design principles and protocols, to transform the adoption of PSSs within mainstream manufacturing companies and so accelerate the foothold of gamifiaction in strategic business analysis.

The Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre (IMCRC) will undertake a wide variety of work in the Manufacturing, Construction and product design areas. The work will be contained within 5 programmes:1. Transforming Organisations / Providing individuals, organisations, sectors and regions with the dynamic and innovative capability to thrive in a complex and uncertain future2. High Value Assets / Delivering tools, techniques and designs to maximise the through-life value of high capital cost, long life physical assets3. Healthy & Secure Future / Meeting the growing need for products & environments that promote health, safety and security4. Next Generation Technologies / The future materials, processes, production and information systems to deliver products to the customer5. Customised Products / The design and optimisation techniques to deliver customer specific products.Academics within the Loughborough IMCRC have an internationally leading track record in these areas and a history of strong collaborations to gear IMCRC capabilities with the complementary strengths of external groups.Innovative activities are increasingly distributed across the value chain. The impressive scope of the IMCRC helps us mirror this industrial reality, and enhances knowledge transfer. This advantage of the size and diversity of activities within the IMCRC compared with other smaller UK centres gives the Loughborough IMCRC a leading role in this technology and value chain integration area. Loughborough IMCRC as by far the biggest IMRC (in terms of number of academics, researchers and in funding) can take a more holistic approach and has the skills to generate, identify and integrate expertise from elsewhere as required. Therefore, a large proportion of the Centre funding (approximately 50%) will be allocated to Integration projects or Grand Challenges that cover a spectrum of expertise.The Centre covers a wide range of activities from Concept to Creation.The activities of the Centre will take place in collaboration with the world's best researchers in the UK and abroad. The academics within the Centre will be organised into 3 Research Units so that they can be co-ordinated effectively and can cooperate on Programmes.

Manufacturing automation is an expanding field concerned with the delivery of high-value engineering technologies and services globally. The highest value areas of automation relate to the more difficult to automation applications, for example many occurring in aerospace and precision automotive applications. Industry sources estimate that in a typical aerospace manufacturing plant the costs associated with manual operations and the inspect-adjust-rework activity could cost millions of pounds across the UK. Automation in various forms has the potential to reduce this inefficiency but also has the potential to do great damage to quality if applied incorrectly. Whilst automation has been applied across many sectors of industry, the spectrum of applications has rarely pushed the boundaries of research. Safe and limited solutions are often the norm. The high value manufacturing industries have applied limited automation because of the highly skilled nature of the finishing, inspection and assembly work inherent in the manufacturing processes. These processes are difficult to automate because of minor variation in components that influence interaction between processing equipment and component being processed. In addition, parts are often made from expensive materials, with many parts requiring careful handling in a high added value state (e.g. fan blades). Whilst humans can accommodate variation at certain levels they often introduce variation by virtue of being human (e.g. through lack of concentration). These high value industries need an advanced kind of automation that delivers the precision of computer controlled machinery with the adaptability of a human operator, but with 24/7 capability and 100% quality performance and at reasonable cost and operational speed. When the variation in the product caused by variation in human performance has been removed by deployment of intelligent automated systems, it will be possible to gather better data about design for manufacture and feed this back into product development in a systematic manner.Intelligent Automation is a convergence of human-machine modelling, digital manufacturing, knowledge generation and learning with intelligent devices. The aim is to develop a generic process and product modelling and deployment capability that can radically impact on current limitations experienced within industries that rely on substantial input from human skill, expertise and adaptability.This EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation will have a platform activity and two closely related and integrated research themes. The platform activity will emphasise 'Fast Track' projects for Early Win outcomes closely linked to the Tier 1 industrial partner expectations. Adventure projects will also be undertaken, aimed at more speculative high risk research. A small amount of Policy and Standards influencing work will be carried out. The first flagship research theme is: Modelling and Deployment for Right First Time Manufacturing, where extensive computer based modelling of intelligent automation systems will be undertaken to establish greater confidence during the design phase through to digital deployment and on to real deployment and operation. The second flagship theme is: Humans and Intelligent Automation Systems, where human skill is examined and how this influences difficult to automate industrial processes/tasks. The area of humans and robots sharing the same work space will also be investigated.

The CDT in Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems will produce the graduates who will bring together the many technical disciplines and skills needed to allow propulsion systems to transition to a more sustainable future. By creating an environment for our graduates to research new propulsion systems and the wider context within which they sit, we will form the individuals who will lead the scientific, technological, and behavioural changes required to effect the transformation of personal mobility. The CDT will become an internationally leading centre for interdisciplinary doctoral training in this critical field for UK industrial strategy. We will train a cohort of 84 high quality research leaders, adding value to academia and the UK automotive industry. There are three key aspects to the success of the CDT - First, a diverse range of graduates will be recruited from across the range of first degrees. Graduates in engineering (mechanical, electrical, chemical), sciences (physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology), management and social sciences will be recruited and introduced to the automotive propulsion sector. The resulting skills mix will allow transformational research to be conducted. Second, the training given to this cohort, re-enforced by a strong group working ethos, will prepare the graduates to make an effective contribution to the industry. This will require training in the current and future methods (technical and commercial) used by the industry. We also need the graduates to have highly developed interpersonal skills and to be experienced in effective group working. Understanding how people and companies work is just as important as an understanding the technology. On the technology side, a broad system level understanding of the technology landscape and the relationship between the big picture and the graduate's own expertise is essential. We have designed a programme that enriches the student's knowledge and experience in these key areas. Third, underpinning all of these attributes will be the graduate's research skills, acquired through the undertaking of an intensive research project within the new £60 million Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS), designed from the outset to provide a rich collaborative environment and add value to the UK economy. IAAPS will be equipped with world leading experimental facilities designed for future powertrain systems and provides dedicated space for industry and academia to collaborate to deliver research valued at over £100 million during the lifetime of the CDT. The cohort will contribute to and benefit from this knowledge development, providing opportunities to conduct research at a whole system level. This will address one of the most pressing challenges of our age - the struggle to provide truly sustainable, affordable, connected, zero emissions transport needed by both industrialised and emerging economies. To enable these benefits we request funding for 40 studentships and the infrastructure to provide a world class training environment. The university will enhance this through the funding of an additional 20 studentships and access to research facilities, together valued at £5 million. Cash and in-kind contributions from industrial partners valued at a total of £4.5 million will enhance the student experience, providing 9 fully funded PhD places and 30 half funded places. The research undertaken by the students will be co-created and supervised by our industrial partners. The people and research outputs that from the CDT will be adopted directly by these industrial partners to generate lasting real world impact.