Much play is made of the need for ‘game-changing’ technologies that will help us to reduce and control our emissions. This November a food manufacturer-led UK consortium launches a genuinely new solution, with proven energy and emissions savings, that can be applied in a wide range of manufacturing environments.

 

What is the S3 Project?

S3 (Smart People • Smart Process • Smart Factory) is a world-first technological tool, able to significantly reduce carbon emissions and cost in manufacturing. Designed and developed by a combined academic and industrial consortium, it will help meet the pressing sustainability and cost challenges faced by UK manufacturing industries.

With increasing regulation on the reporting of emissions in the UK, such as Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting policy (SECR), coupled with consumers urgent demands for sustainable products, S3’s interventional technology has a pivotal role to play in making emission-producing processes transparent and savings tangible.

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The S3 project is a unique combination of cutting-edge micro-monitoring, AI-enhanced data analysis and workforce involvement aimed at reducing energy and water use, cutting waste and optimizing production methods to deliver permanent and substantial carbon emission and cost savings.

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The S3 Smart Factory delivers those savings, and much more besides. The testbed has recorded savings of 10.9% energy usage and 15% reduction in CO2e emissions within in its first seven months of testing and operation, and we are well on our way to achieving our target of a 30% reduction in energy and CO2e emissions ahead of the project's conclusion at the end of this year.

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The technology deployed includes intensive sub-metering, AI-enhanced analysis of the gathered data, a millimetre-grained ultra-wide band mesh to provide precise real-time location tracking, and, most innovatively of all, gamification of the factory’s operation to reward the workforce individually and as teams for efficiency, reducing emissions and compliance.

 

About the project consortium

The project consortium comprises teams from The University of Lincoln, The University of Cambridge, Software Imaging and Raynor Foods. The £2.5m two-year project has received £1.25m in UKRI funding as part of InnovateUK’s effort to prepare the industry for the challenges that face us as we combat global heating.

 

Attending the press and manufacturer presentations

We are inviting manufacturers and journalists from across the UK to an interactive demonstration of these technologies and extending this invitation for you to attend (max 2 persons per UK manufacturer). Spaces are limited and early booking of your place is recommended.

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Presentations will be held on;

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• Tuesday 26 November 2024

• Wednesday 27 November 2024

• Thursday 28 November 2024

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There are four session slots available per day, with each session lasting approximately 2.5 hours.

The available time slots are:

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• 9:00 am

• 10:30 am

• 12:00 pm

• 13:45 pm

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The press day will include an interactive presentation of the technology at the Raynor Foods test site in Chelmsford and an opportunity to meet and interview project principals and see S3 in action.

Presentations lasting around 2.5 hours will be conducted in small groups of no more than 10, which will allow for in-depth interaction and enquiry and opportunities for discussion of both the project and the possibilities it holds for UK manufacturing as a whole.

 

Spaces are limited and early booking of your place is recommended.