Digital Manufacturing Accelerator (DMA)
The UK's leading hub for the commercial acceleration of digital manufacturing technologies.
The Digital Manufacturing Accelerator (DMA) is an £18m advanced testbed, designed to elevate UK manufacturing competitiveness. Enabling businesses to adopt cutting-edge digital and automation technologies, DMA boosts productivity and accelerates digital adoption within virtual and physical real-world environments.
Manufacturers across the UK explore and validate new technologies with reduced risk, while solution providers gain an open-access platform to test and showcase their innovations on adaptable manufacturing systems.
Through innovation, industrialisation, and workforce training, DMA is empowering manufacturers to become more agile, efficient, and sustainable, advancing progress across the UK manufacturing sector.
The DMA unlocks UK manufacturers potential to explore innovative production methods, boosting productivity and unlocking new market opportunities. It also strengthens the UK supply chain by supporting technology providers to deliver cutting-edge solutions.
Charlie Whitford, Director of North West and Regions - MTC
The Environment
Digital Manufacturing Accelerator is made up of two environments: DFE – Digital Factory Environment and RRFE – Rapidly-Reconfigurable Factory Environment
DFE
RRFE
The DMA team have brought high quality and innovative thinking to our advanced manufacturing programme. I’m excited about the facility and capabilities being developed.
Steve Wire, R&D Director, Global Hair - Unilever
Applications
Logistics & Packaging
FMCG
Electrification
Programme partners
FAQs
How closely can this replicate a company's factory environment?
We can replicate it extensively. Here’s how:
Enterprise Systems: We can create instances of enterprise systems from our catalogue or emulate their interfaces. If a system isn’t listed, adding it is simpler than starting from scratch, and it allows for future duplication or reuse.
Data Infrastructure: We offer quick setups for databases, analytics, and dashboards, either from our catalogue or as fresh installations.
Machine Emulation: We can emulate PLCs from a range of vendors, and we are continually developing and improving machine emulation capability by building new templates, which are being integrated back into the DMA catalogue.
Networks and Security: We can create representative, isolated environments that mirror corporate IT setups, ensuring secure operations.
