The future of

manufacturing in Scotland

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland is accelerating productivity to grow our economy, develop a vibrant workforce, and create happier, healthier, greener communities.

Learn more

Manufacturing in Scotland

Where innovation meets manufacturing excellence

People and skills development

Developing a modern and diverse workforce

A digital future

Helping manufacturers embrace the future, today

Innovative sustainability

Reaching your net-zero ambitions and saving the planet

A magnet for advanced manufacturing in Scotland

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS)

Driving the future of manufacturing through innovation. We’re accelerating productivity to grow our economy, develop a vibrant workforce, and create happier, healthier, greener communities.

From our growing network of world-class manufacturing R&D facilities, we work with businesses of all sizes and sectors across Scotland, the UK, and beyond to find technology solutions to help them succeed.

We turn brilliant ideas into reality, and we do it at industry speed. Coming from diverse backgrounds, our passionate team works alongside industry, academia, and the public sector to solve problems, train the next generation of makers, engineers, and inventors, and generate creative ideas that will change how we make things and protect our planet.

What we do

Working together, we can send more Scottish made satellites into space, launch a generation of green-powered ships on the Clyde, make fleets of electric vehicles that will travel the globe, and grow a circular wind industry that will create homegrown jobs and manufacturing supply chains.

But we need the right technology and people with the right skills to help get us there. Below is a snapshot of some of the R&D projects we’re currently working on:

Developing UK wind turbine blade recycling

Creating a net-zero shipbuilding industry

Making more energy-efficient parts in the aerospace industry

Helping manufacturers embrace the circular economy

Building a pipeline of highly skilled green jobs

Developing a space and photonics manufacturing facility

Our centres

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Manufacturing Skills Academy

Transforming the manufacturing workforce and supporting Scotland’s emerging markets with a skilled talent pipeline, the MSA offers advanced training and development opportunities for people at all levels of their careers.

Upskill your workforce today ➞

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Digital Factory

Offering solutions to help overcome roadblocks and inefficiencies, increase productivity, improve sustainability and push forward innovation within the manufacturing, technology and engineering community.

Embrace industry 4.0 technologies ➞

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Digital Process Manufacturing Centre

Opening at i3 in North Ayrshire, we're transforming the region’s industrial landscape and the future of the UK’s process industries.

Streamline your production with digital solutions ➞

Worker in heat resistant suit and another in a polo shirt and goggles working on machinery

University of Strathclyde's Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC)

The founding NMIS centre and a global centre of excellence in forming and forging research for over a decade with an outreach office in Sheffield.

Explore advanced forging and forming solutions ➞

Man in polo shirt and safety goggles looking into a circular machine opening

Lightweight Manufacturing Centre

Our team of world-class engineers and researchers is exploring the next generation of sustainable materials, products, and processes for a net-zero world.

Discover sustainable manufacturing solutions ➞

We have made significant project gains with the embedded support of the Advanced Forming Research Centre working at our industrial pace. The Sheffield Modelling Team has delivered a set of accurate DES models along our commercial timeline that allows us to be very agile on some of the ‘what-if’ questions from key customers and stakeholders. Not only does this assist the recapitalisation project, but it is also beneficial for the wider future of the business.

Gareth Barker, Chief Operating Officer, Sheffield Forgemasters

Sustainability and the circular economy are central to ACS’s core identity. Through help from the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) we have implemented real solutions that will have a tangible impact on how we operate. This approach has already driven results by helping us secure investment to keep us growing. Our relationship with NMIS also given us a larger voice within the industry – helping us to influence policy and others in the textiles industry to become more sustainable.

Michael Cusack, Head of Sustainability, ACS

Both NMIS and Scottish Enterprise’s contributions to help us meet these needs, join the dots and create links into resources and advice, has been nothing short of exemplary. If we are successful in bringing a “world first product” of CE certified stature to a market very much in need, during unprecedented times over an incredibly short period of time, it will be with great pride and in the knowledge, gratitude and recognition of a truly first-class collaboration.

Gavin McAdam, founder of Breathe Easy

We have made significant project gains with the embedded support of the Advanced Forming Research Centre working at our industrial pace. The Sheffield Modelling Team has delivered a set of accurate DES models along our commercial timeline that allows us to be very agile on some of the ‘what-if’ questions from key customers and stakeholders. Not only does this assist the recapitalisation project, but it is also beneficial for the wider future of the business.

Gareth Barker, Chief Operating Officer, Sheffield Forgemasters

Sustainability and the circular economy are central to ACS’s core identity. Through help from the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) we have implemented real solutions that will have a tangible impact on how we operate. This approach has already driven results by helping us secure investment to keep us growing. Our relationship with NMIS also given us a larger voice within the industry – helping us to influence policy and others in the textiles industry to become more sustainable.

Michael Cusack, Head of Sustainability, ACS

Both NMIS and Scottish Enterprise’s contributions to help us meet these needs, join the dots and create links into resources and advice, has been nothing short of exemplary. If we are successful in bringing a “world first product” of CE certified stature to a market very much in need, during unprecedented times over an incredibly short period of time, it will be with great pride and in the knowledge, gratitude and recognition of a truly first-class collaboration.

Gavin McAdam, founder of Breathe Easy

We have made significant project gains with the embedded support of the Advanced Forming Research Centre working at our industrial pace. The Sheffield Modelling Team has delivered a set of accurate DES models along our commercial timeline that allows us to be very agile on some of the ‘what-if’ questions from key customers and stakeholders. Not only does this assist the recapitalisation project, but it is also beneficial for the wider future of the business.

Gareth Barker, Chief Operating Officer, Sheffield Forgemasters

Latest news from across the NMIS Group

Plugging AI skills gaps critical for future of shipbuilding industry

MSA | Thursday, February 20, 2025

Construction begins on NMIS supported £9 million ETZ EnergyWorks in Aberdeen

NMIS | Friday, November 22, 2024

New £5.5M manufacturing centre set to boost UK’s net-zero goals and drive economic growth

NMIS | Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Startup aims to peel back plastic use with onion skin packaging

NMIS | Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Featured case studies

NMIS

TGM

Collaborative lightweight car battery concept drives down weight, emissions and production costs.

NMIS

Carruthers case study

Reinventing the wheel to provide hydropower solution for the developing world

Digital Factory, NMIS

Kigtek, Siemens and Diageo

Digital twin combined with innovative whisky cask filling solution set to save millions

Ready to become more productive and sustainable? Contact our friendly team today.

Get in touch

manufacturing in Scotland