NEWS
NI advanced manufacturing specialist to invest over £5 million in digital transformation
Factory Automation & Systems Technologies, a Northern Ireland-based advanced manufacturing specialist, is expanding its digital transformation capabilities in response to growing demand for its smart manufacturing solutions. This includes plans to invest in excess of £5million
in the business over the next five years. Headquartered in Londonderry, the initial
focus for FAST is the opening of an Automation Accelerator Hub, based in the city’s Catalyst ‘Innovation’ Centre. The investment also supports the creation of 20 new jobs at FAST. FAST designs and develops advanced technical solutions – automation, software and robotics – which are integrated into a business’s manufacturing processes to increase productivity, reduce risk and drive cost efficiencies. The Automation Accelerator Hub – known as A2 – enables FAST to showcase its range of
automation solutions to its growing client base, 40% of which are outside the UK and Ireland. It provides a space to engage with manufacturing businesses, assess their digital readiness, map out potential solutions and de-risk any investment. The A2 Hub will create a collaborative zone for companies, educators and specialists to test drive the latest innovations and ‘factory of the future’ technologies. Mark Higgins who has almost 30 years’ high-
volume manufacturing experience, including eight at FAST Technologies, has been appointed director of the A2 Hub.
Mr Higgins said: “The opening of our A2 Hub is an important milestone for FAST, and our vision of accelerating companies on their automation journey. It presents unrivalled opportunities to showcase our capabilities in an environment which is renowned for fostering and supporting innovation.
Novo Nordisk set to build large
manufacturing facility in Dublin Novo Nordisk, the Danish manufacturer of obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, is planning to build a giant factory in Co. Dublin in a bid to keep up with soaring demand. The pharmaceutical giant has applied to build a campus covering 147,192sq m in Clondalkin, which would create up to 1,100 jobs. The runaway success of Ozempic and Wegovy has turned 100-year
old Novo Nordisk into Europe’s most valuable listed company, with a market capitalization bigger than Denmark’s domestic economy. The demand has also tested the company’s manufacturing capacity, and it has struggled to keep up. It was announced in December that Novo Nordisk had bought a drug manufacturing plant in Athlone, as it looks to expand production to meet worldwide demand, The Danish group paid €85 million to acquire the former Elan Drug
Technologies plant from Irish-headquartered pharma group Alkermes in a deal that is expected to close in the middle of this year. The Clondalkin investment is likely to exceed €2 billion, based on
similar-sized developments by the company. It will take between 18 and 24 months to complete and should be fully operational by 2026.
Manufacturing slide continues in December
Falling orders hit Irish factories in December 2023, continuing a long-term slide in manufacturing, according to a report published earlier this month. However, export orders rose,
and businesses said they were more optimistic about the year ahead. Fears for the short-term economic outlook prompted customers to cut stock purchases, hitting new orders for goods from manufacturers, the AIB Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) shows.
The index slipped to 48.9 last
month; the PMI takes 50 as its benchmark. Any reading below this figure signals a contraction while any number above that level indicates growth.
4 January 2024 Irish Manufacturing
Last month’s reading lagged the 50 recorded in November and was close to the 49.1 average for last year, which indicated a decline through 2023. The December figure marked the third month in the past four in which manufacturing activity has slowed, though AIB acknowledged that the slide was only slight. “Survey respondents noted that hesitancy among customers and caution about the broader economic outlook had contributed to lower output requirements,” the index said. The lack of demand and difficulties
hiring skilled workers acted as a break on recruitment during December, when total employment figures remained largely unchanged, the report said.
www.irish-manufacturing.com “We are excited to launch our A2 Hub and
further utilise our extensive portfolio of solutions. Marrying this with our collective knowledge and experience, we look forward to supporting customers – both local and global – on their sustainable growth journey.”
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