Rolls-Royce supports Turkey's advancement in manufacturing technology
The development plan for the AMTC was announced by the Government at a signing ceremony witnessed by the Turkish Minister of Science, Industry & Technology Fikri Isik, and UK Minister of Trade and Investment, Lord Maude of Horsham in Istanbul, with the participation of Vice President of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Prof. Mehmet Çelik and Director of Global Manufacturing for Rolls-Royce Dr. Hamid Mughal.
The AMTC will be designed to satisfy Turkey’s ambition to develop advanced core industrial capabilities around its national indigenous programs. Based on a collaborative cross-industry research working culture, this Centre of Excellence will be a public-private partnership focusing on manufacturing capability development and technology application development in aerospace and will include more areas such as civil nuclear, marine and other industrial sectors over time. The AMTC will be seeking both International and Turkish companies to join as members in its new state-of-the-art facility.
Minister Fikri Isik said: “We are well positioned to grow our manufacturing industry in high value sectors, and we find it great to be able to use a proven working model and partner with experienced companies like Rolls-Royce. This Centre will bring great economic value as it will focus on key success factors of supplier capability development across our industry, including training and skills development, as well as technology innovation.”
Dr Mughal said: “We will work closely with our Turkish Government and industrial partners in the establishment of the AMTC. The AMTC will be an integral part of our strategy to establish a global network of Advanced Manufacturing Research Centres. These centres operate a novel model of academic and industrial collaboration that is designed to accelerate the transfer of innovation from early university research to successful exploitation in industry. We have no doubt therefore that this environment of cross-sector knowhow and team spirit will enable Turkey’s AMTC to develop itself into a leading regional centre of excellence in manufacturing technology.”
Patrick Regis, Rolls-Royce, Regional Executive – Turkey and Central Asia, remarked: “We are proud to be a founder member of the AMTC in Turkey. We have a well-established and mature advanced manufacturing model in the UK, Singapore and US, and have selected Turkey because of its high skill levels and manufacturing capabilities. Turkey is aiming to be within the top Aerospace and Defence nations by 2023, embarking on the development of a world-class manufacturing industry. We believe Rolls-Royce can be a partner to Turkey in this venture. This initiative will help shape the regional supply chain to meet the future needs of the aerospace industry in the region and we encourage other companies interested in being founder members to come forward.”
