Industry & Business

Irish Manufacturing Research, Ireland’s first Independent, industry driven, research and technology organisation has opened with the creation of 40 jobs. The Centre specialises in advanced manufacturing technologies and the positions will be high tech research roles in the areas of Industry 4.0, Collaborative Robotics, Industrial IoT, Data Analytics, Energy Efficiency, Additive Manufacturing/3D printing, Design Thinking and Knowledge Management. All positions will be based in Dublin West.

The Centre’s mission is to carry out cutting edge research, development and innovation in close collaboration with manufacturing companies to ensure industry in Ireland can become, and remain, world-class leaders in their field. The Centre brings together over 100 indigenous and multinational manufacturers to share the challenges and opportunities in next generation manufacturing.

An initial investment of €15 million under the Enterprise-Ireland and IDA Technology Centre programme is being scaled up through significant additional private and public research funding to create an International Centre of Scale for Ireland in Industry driven Applied Manufacturing Research.

Manufacturing in Ireland accounts for 24% of GDP, far in excess of EU averages, and the industry assisted in sustaining Irish jobs, and the economy, through the downturn. The Irish Manufacturing Research Centre is ensuring that Irish based manufacturers are ready to deal with future technological and business challenges through a comprehensive portfolio of research, funding opportunities, advanced skills development and networking. This comes at a significant industrial inflection point with the emergence of the 4th industrial revolution, and with competitive global threats that Ireland is facing, such as Brexit.

The Centre has over 400 years of industrial experience already embedded in the organisation as it announces a further 40 jobs in 2017, with ambitious plans to grow to over 200.  The Centre already boasts skills in key strategic areas for industry.

It is actively tackling the challenges facing companies for emerging skills through advanced training programs and collaborative cross-sector research.  It is an environment for industry to tackle high risk technologies through a shared risk model of research and development and pilot line test beds.

Speaking at the event Tánaiste France Fitzgerald TD said: “Today marks the formal opening of Ireland’s first Independent industry driven Research and Technology Organisation, Irish Manufacturing Research. I congratulate the centre on the high standard of building offices and interior design – giving a sense of openness, creativity, in a collaborative, business like work-place. I am delighted to announce the 40 hi-tech jobs in the centre, with plans to scale to 200 jobs as investment from industry grows within the centre. This new Centre is in a strategic location here in Aerodrome Business Park, with easy access for manufacturers from across the country. It is investments like this from IMR that help make the Irish economy strong so that we can support new measures to make Ireland even more attractive to new investment and jobs. I want to wish Barry and all your team every success with the opening of your new Centre, and I look forward to seeing IMR grow even further.”