Stirling Management Centre
16 th October 2000

ii MATERIALS FUTURES

Executive Summary
1 Introduction – What is Foresight ?
2 The Foresight Materials Panel
3 Workshop Proceedings
3.1
Programme
3.2
3.3
3.4
Foresight and Materials Futures
Dr Alan Smith, AZ-Tech Consultancy and Member of the
Foresight Materials Panel
The application of materials for future competitive advantage
Andy Clayson, Managing Director, Berg Product Design
Materials development in a global environment
Rowan Norrie, Product Development Manager,
Ethicon Ltd
3.5
Sectoral workshops :
3.5.1
3.5.2
3.5.3
3.5.4
3.5.5
Packaging
Technical textiles
Medical and biomaterials
Light metals and composites
Energy storage materials
3.6
Thematic workshops :
3.6.1
3.6.2
3.6.3
3.6.4
3.6.5
Value chains and Manufacturing 2020
Materials processing
Materials modelling
Education, training and skills
The innovation process and SMEs
4 Appendix : List of participants
10
13
14
15
15
16
17
18
19
22
22
23
24
26
27
30
1
5
7
9
9
MATERIALS FUTURES iii

iv MATERIALS FUTURES

The Materials Futures seminar was intended to provide a starting point for a longerterm process in Scotland of exploring future opportunities and challenges for developing and applying materials. Specifically, it aimed :
" to provide additional Scottish input to the Foresight Materials Panel’s consultation process; and
" to catalyse discussion among Scotland’s business and academic communities around future challenges and opportunities.
Around 40 representatives of business, professional institutes and research from across Scotland came together to consider a range of both sectoral and thematic issues. These were chosen to reflect the particular interests and capabilities of
Scotland’s materials community.
Sectoral Thematic
Packaging
Technical textiles
Medical and biomaterials
Light metals and composites
Energy storage materials
Value chains and Manufacturing 2020
Materials processing
Materials modelling
Education, training and skills
The innovation process and SMEs
Each workshop was tasked with not only discussing possible future developments but also to suggest what needs to happen for us to address these new opportunities and challenges. The key actions, which will now be taken forward in future discussions and events include :
Packaging
" finding ways of improving the strength of glass packaging - and developing innovative performance packaging generally - and combating counterfeiting;
" exploiting opportunities afforded by the convergence of digital printing and packaging technologies.
Technical textiles
" improving cohesion and consensus across the ‘technical textiles’ industry, perhaps by a stronger alliance with ‘materials’ rather than ‘textiles’;
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

2 MATERIALS FUTURES
" supporting a UK-wide research network and a business club led by the
Technitex Faraday Partnership;
" supporting new ways of encouraging collaboration within and outwith the technical textiles sector, involving the whole supply chain.
Medical and biomaterials
" developing effective ways of brokering collaboration between companies and recognised academic centres of expertise in Scotland;
" increasing awareness of funding support for collaborative projects.
Light metals and composites
" raising the profile of the light metals and composites sector within the UK by improving information and awareness and creating a strong industry facilitator to lead this.
Energy storage materials
" undertaking further work to identify key Scottish competencies in this field;
" outlining a series of development actions needed to exploit future opportunities
(eg electro-chemical materials for energy storage/transfer).
Value chains and Manufacturing 2020
" collating the vast number of “unresolved technical challenges” faced by industry, and connecting business to researchers to help solve them;
" creating an effective “knowledge broker” to stimulate better collaboration between business and researchers in Scottish FE/HE institutions.
Materials processing
" undertaking further work to identify materials processing opportunities that are technologically-advanced and high value-adding (e.g. micro- or nano-processing).
Materials modelling
" improving current models and focusing future research upon key areas (eg statistical modelling, new combinations of materials, predictive modelling);

" improving mechanisms for sharing information (eg developing a centre of excellence in modelling with a brokerage role).
Education, skills and training
" asking Government to help change the perception of the materials sector among schoolchildren and parents; increase the provision of postgraduate materials courses; address the lack of postgraduate student funding; and encourage employers to invest more in education, skills and training.
The innovation process and SMEs
" finding better ways to help connect SMEs directly with academic expertise and improving the transparency around the locations of relevant research;
" creating an internet-based “Help Network” for innovation in SMEs;
" improving the design of research dissemination events to focus also on supporting informal networking and developing new collaborations
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

4 MATERIALS FUTURES

1.1
The UK Foresight programme was launched in 1994 following a major review of
Government science, engineering and technology policy. The Office of Science and
Technology in the Department of Trade and Industry manages it. The second phase of Foresight, which began in April 1999, encompasses a broader focus on social, economic, environmental and political as well as technological drivers for future UK competitiveness.
1.2
The purpose of Foresight is to:-
" develop visions of the future – looking at possible future needs, opportunities and threats and deciding what should be done now to make sure that we can meet these challenges
" build bridges between business, science and government bringing together the knowledge and expertise of many people across all areas and activities : in order to
" increase national wealth and well-being.
1.3
The Foresight programme is structured around a system of panels that bring together representatives from business, the science base, the voluntary sector and government. Panels are of two kinds – thematic or sectoral – and both address two underpinning themes as summarised below:-
THEMATIC PANELS
Ageing Population
Crime Prevention
Manufacturing 2020
UNDERPINNING THEMES
Education, Skills and Training
Sustainable Development
SECTORAL PANELS
Built Environment and Transport
Chemicals
Defence, Aerospace and Systems
Energy and Natural Environment
Financial Services
Food Chain and Crops for Industry
Healthcare
Information Communication and Media
Materials
Retail and Consumer Services
1. INTRODUCTION - WHAT IS FORESIGHT 5

1.4
The results of Foresight and the Foresight process are:-
" being used by companies, large and small, to re-shape their business strategies and build sustained competitive advantage
" breaking down barriers to collaboration across business sectors and academic disciplines and between business and the science base
" focusing business and the science base on key issues for quality of life in the
21st century
" informing policy and spending decisions across Government.
1.5
Foresight priorities underpin a wide range of activities including:-
" a portfolio of collaborative research worth almost £200million (under the
Government’s LINK scheme)
" the £90 million Foresight Challenge initiative which provided support for partnerships between business and the science base to address Foresight priorities
" the £30 million of government funding for a second round of Foresight LINK
Awards which was announced in December 1998
" a proposed new £10 million Foresight Challenge fund announced in the recent
Science and Innovation White Paper.
1.6
In Scotland Foresight is co-ordinated by the Scottish Foresight Forum combining representatives from the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and
Islands Enterprise, CBI Scotland, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Committee of
Scottish Higher Education Principals and the Scottish Higher Education Funding
Council. On a day to day level, Ewan Mearns is the Scottish Foresight Co-ordinator, based at Scottish Enterprise, helping to facilitate the implementation of Foresight by:-
" integrating Foresight into existing mechanisms and structures;
" working through intermediaries to engage the business community;
" supporting longer-term Foresight processes;
" building on Panel outputs; and
" turning Foresight findings into action.
6 MATERIALS FUTURES

2.1
The Materials Panel consultation document was published in August 2000 and provides an overview of key questions emerging from the Panel’s own review and discussion of future materials issues. The questions fall into two categories :-
(i) Emerging issues which impinge on the materials sector
" Is there a distinct materials sector ?
" The virtual material and process
" Exploitation
" Manufacturing
" Crime prevention
" Ageing population
" Sustainability
" Education, skills and training
(ii) Sector specific issues, particularly :
" Biomaterials
" Packaging materials
" Nanotechnology
" Materials metrology and modelling
" Materials processing
" Technical textiles.
2.2
Following the consultation period during August to October 2000 the Panel produced its final report in early December containing focused recommendations for future action across the UK.
2.3
The consultation seminar on 16 October 2000 at Stirling Management Centre was organised by the following bodies :-
" Institute of Materials
" Scottish Polymer Technology Network
" Scottish Enterprise.
2. THE FORESIGHT MATERIALS PANEL 7

2.4
The seminar was designed with two purposes in mind :-
" to provide additional Scottish input to the consultation process; and
" to catalyse discussion among Scotland’s business and academic communities around the challenges and opportunities presented by potential future developments and applications in the materials field.
2.5
Around 40 senior representatives of business, academia and public bodies participated in the consultation seminar, with much of the discussion taking place in workshops. The event was designed to reflect the particular interests of Scotland’s materials community and for this reason, two topics not yet addressed in great detail by the Materials Panel were discussed, energy storage materials and light metals/composites. Given the close linkage between innovation and futures thinking, one the thematic workshops explored mechanisms for in-company innovation.
2.6
The morning workshops focused on sectoral issues and the afternoon on thematic issues shared by all sectors:-
Morning
Packaging
Technical textiles
Medical and biomaterials
Light metals and composites
Energy storage materials
Afternoon
Value chains and Manufacturing 2020
Materials processing
Materials modelling
Education, training and skills
The innovation process and SMEs
2.7
The seminar is intended to act as the beginning of a longer-term process to understand, explore and address the implications of Materials Futures. Key to sustaining the momentum of this process is the effective involvement of a range of intermediary organisations – particularly professional institutes (the Institutes of
Materials, Packaging and Nanotechnology), business associations (such as the
Industrial and Power Association) as well as leading materials-related academic departments. Following this initial event, it is hoped that the actions identified can be taken forward by intermediary organisations and others, in turn, influencing the future behaviour of a much wider range of individual companies and researchers.
8 MATERIALS FUTURES

3.1
Programme
10:00 Perspectives on Materials Futures – Chair : Dr Alan Smith
Foresight and Materials Futures
Dr Alan Smith, AZ-Tech Consultancy, Member of the Foresight
Materials Panel
The application of materials for future competitive advantage
Andy Clayson, Managing Director, Berg Product Design
Materials development in a global environment
Rowan Norrie, Product Development Manager, Ethicon Ltd
Question and answer session
10:45 Tea/coffee
11:00 Workshop : Exploring sectoral development opportunities
" Packaging Dr Alan Smith, AZ-Tech Consultancy
" Technical textiles Dr Giancarlo Capaccio, Institute of Materials
" Medical/biomaterials Dr Helen Grant, Strathclyde University
" Light metals and composites Dr Norrie McPherson, BAE Systems
" Energy storage materials Gordon Proven, Proven Engineering Ltd
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Workshop : Generic issues in materials development
" Value chains and Manufacturing 2020 Ewan Mearns, Scottish Enterprise
" Materials processing Dr Mike Barker, Napier University
" Materials modelling Dr Patricia Erskine, Scottish Polymer Technology
Network
" Education, training and skills Gill Doyle, British Polymer Training Assoc.
" The innovation process and SMEs Charles Broadfoot, Lanarkshire
Technology & Innovation Centre
15:30 Tea/coffee
15:45 Plenary session – Chair : Dr Alan Smith
" Summary of workshop discussions
" Acting on Foresight – Next Steps
16.30
Close
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 9

3.2
Foresight and Materials Futures
Dr Alan Smith, AZ-Tech Consultancy and Member of the Foresight Materials Panel
Dr Smith provided an insightful and comprehensive overview of Foresight and the work of the Materials Panel to date, together with a review of emerging materialsrelated issues.
It was Charles Darwin who observed that “It is neither the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change” . Many businesses appear to be plagued by a range of symptoms – cost-cutting amnesia, new product amnesia and myopic short-termism. These businesses cannot afford to stick their heads in the sand; it is too easy to find convenient excuses for not taking bold decisions about the future. Those businesses that are successful are those who are responsive to change – who sense and adapt to change – and who are not afraid of making positive and challenging investments in their future.
And to those who think that change happens only gradually, we only need to look back into the recent past to find examples of events which could not even be contemplated by many just 15 years ago :
" Berlin Wall falls
" Chernobyl nuclear accident
" Nelson Mandela becomes President of South Africa
" Civil war in Europe claims 100,000 lives
" Over 55 million computers are linked to the internet.
Foresight offers both ideas and a process for helping organisations think about and implement change. What we are talking about here is not attempting to predict change - there are too many examples of stupid and incorrect predictions, as illustrated below:
“Heavier than air flying machines are not possible”
Lord Kelvin, 1895
“There is a world market for 15 computers”
IBM Chairman, 1945
Rather, the Foresight approach involves taking a very broad and longer-term perspective of all potential drivers influencing future change and considering how these may potentially support, hinder or merely shape future action. An organisation that has taken this long view :
10 MATERIALS FUTURES

" is better able to anticipate change;
" will be less surprised by quicker or more radical changes; and
" will generally be able to make better decisions about their future.
The analysis of key drivers tends to include five categories : social, technological, economic, environmental and political factors. Examples of social drivers might include demographics, growth of crime, increased consumerism and changing employment patterns.
Johnson Matthey is an example of a company who has adopted such an approach.
Following the recommendations of the first round of Foresight (1993-99), in which the
Foresight Materials Panel noted the future market potential of fuel cells and sensors, they decided to continue to invest in developing electrodes for fuel cells. They are now one of the market leaders in this technology.
Taking a broad and long-term view of the potential materials-related developments in computing yields the following opportunities :
The future for computing ?
Short-term (evolutionary)
Faster processors
High data storage capacity
New materials for longer battery life
Flexible polymers for roll-up large flatpanel displays
Novel electro-optic materials for 3D displays
Improved materials for printing
Speech recognition input and output
Long-term (revolutionary)
Materials for optical computing
Nanotechnology materials
Materials for superconducting computers
Natural speech recognition
The Foresight Materials Panel has set itself a number of objectives :
" remain competitive by ensuring the UK has a healthy materials industrial base
" create a demonstrable and effective culture of Foresight and innovation in the materials supply chain
" promote ownership of Foresight activities in trade associations, professional institutions and other groups
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 11

" encourage the establishment of new companies or products in the materials sector
" establish Task Forces to report on emerging technologies and sustainability issues – especially those involving other Panels
" engage the general public, education and training establishments to consider the implications of materials in the context of the world community and environment.
The themes currently being considered by the Materials panel include :
" Packaging materials
" Nanotechnology
" Technical textiles
" Light metals
" Information storage materials
" Surface engineering
" Materials chemistry
" Biomaterials, biomemetics and tissue engineering
Finally, the Action Plan for the Panel includes a number of on-going activities :
" engage CEOs of leading supply chain companies, professional institutes, trade associations, research and technology organisations
" use electronic access to the Materials community to test the outcomes of
Foresight and provide valuable feedback for future recommendations
" convene annual meetings for active leaders in materials to share Foresight best practice
" contact at least 1% of all secondary schools to monitor ongoing effectiveness of “Tomorrow’s Materials”
" interface with Research Councils, Government Departments etc
" monitor global Foresight developments in materials
" produce a booklet of case studies highlighting lessons of good practice that have enabled new spin-out and start-up companies.
12 MATERIALS FUTURES

3.3
The application of materials for future competitive advantage
Andy Clayson, Managing Director, Berg Product Design
Andy Clayson provided the first of two case studies illustrating, through examples, companies who are taking a foresighted approach to new markets, products and technologies.
Berg Product Design have successfully developed new materials to help them create a product which is more efficient and cheaper than the current market leading product.
In the air-operated aircraft pumps market one product, designed in 1950, has held
70% of business across the world. The pump is used to produce high pressure air to jack up aircraft and weigh them. This is a simple product (but an innovation in 1950) which is now a $100 million business and forms the generic brand name. However, it is very inefficient (less than 5% energy efficiency), difficult to service (there are 170 components), the materials are inappropriate (to the current largest market – oil and gas) and it looks ugly ! Moreover, every competitor since 1950 has copied this product; no one has innovated.
Berg’s approach has been to :
" reduce the cost of manufacture (by 55%) by significantly reducing the part count (by 65%)
" reduce assembly time accordingly, and improve responsiveness
" develop new materials to provide major technical and commercial advantages over the existing and well-established competition
" innovate and differentiate their product.
In doing this, Berg undertook a large amount of current and potential future market analysis to ensure that their new product would be successful. The design involved selecting the right material through research trials and testing and improving on the existing design to increase strength and reliability, efficiency, cost, component functionality and environmental performance.
Rather than use aluminium the product is being manufactured in plastic. Napier
University were used to test different plastics and to provide modelling data for the selected material (which did not previously exist – this was the greatest challenge).
Finally, the design of the manufacturing process and tooling has involved a range of challenges that have been overcome.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 13

3.4
Materials development in a global environment
Rowan Norrie, Product Development Manager, Ethicon Ltd
Ethicon Ltd provided a contrasting example, being part of a large multinational organisation (Johnson and Johnson) with resources across the world. Rowan Norrie focused on the product development process involved when businesses operate within a truly global environment. For all companies, however, she described a methodology that businesses can use to position themselves for future competitive advantage.
Ethicon Ltd adopt a three-stage process for developing new biomedical products :
(a) Initial investigation
" reviewing medical conditions (ie markets) in which Ethicon products could participate
" carrying out thought leader interviews internally
" undertaking preliminary market screening of current products for each of these medical conditions to evaluate their effectiveness
" reviewing the opinions of others : suppliers, clinicians, trade associations, publications/journals etc.
This results in a strategic assessment of the potential for developing new products.
(b) Idea generation
" cross-functional teams are convened from plants across the world and involving individuals with different backgrounds/skills
" they organise workshops to generate and test new product ideas (screening, ranking, evaluating)
" only around 5% of initial ideas are taken forward into the feasibility stage, and only 2% actually implemented. The project cost increases from 5% at feasibility stage to 20-30% at development stage and 90-100% at implementation
" a business model is established for every new product, presented to Ethicon’s global Board. This takes a broad view of potential benefits, threats and risks : marketing, legal, technical, medical and financial.
14 MATERIALS FUTURES

(c) Product development
" the business model is refined significantly at this stage, products designed and tested and production systems established. Every aspect of the product’s development is explored including marketing, sales, specification, supply chain issues, training and product launch.
3.5
Sectoral workshops :
Packaging
Facilitated by Dr Alan Smith, AZ-Tech Consultancy
Glass
The group started by discussing glass as a packaging material. The problems of counterfeiting, especially with whisky, were highlighted by two of the participants.
Manufacturers need to find ways of preventing counterfeiters re-filling empty branded bottles with inferior whisky. Some discussion followed on the potential ways of doing this, but so far none has been successful. Theft of spirits from supermarkets was also discussed.
The conversation remained with drink! The problem with thin, lightweight beer bottles is appreciated when one at the top of a stack breaks and spoils those below it.
Although strengthening glass bottles with sleeves (the label is attached to the sleeve) has been tried, the problem is that the ruptured glass can cut the sleeves. Other ways of overcoming the problem might be to work on composites/glass combinations or to research innovative performance packaging generally.
The 100,000 tonnes of unwanted green glass sent to South America each year was considered. There would be a good market for anyone who could remove the colour cheaply so that the glass could be re-used in the UK.
Lightweighting is not always the answer. For coffee granules the retailer wants heavy glass so that the consumer thinks the granules are heavy!
Plastic
Digital printing directly onto bottles and containers on-line is a major issue for glass and particularly plastics. Once photographic high-speed printing can be achieved, then the packaging machines will be combined with the printing machines.
There was consideration of the new multilayer PET beer bottles that can have up to 5 layers. Currently, these are expensive to develop but costs would fall rapidly should they be adopted by large manufacturers.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 15

The issue of printing was also raised for printing on foil, paper and polymers for pharmaceuticals packaging. There would be advantages in being able to have a combined packaging/printing machine there also.
Machinery
Tooling costs were also raised, not just in connection with packaging. The workshop was told that the EPSRC’s Innovative Manufacturing Initiative is funding work in this area. For most packaging, market perception is very important.
Technical textiles
Facilitated by Dr Giancarlo Capaccio, Institute of Materials
The group considered two key issues:
" developing consensus among the technical textiles community about future opportunities for bridging cross-sector boundaries (e.g. between bulk materials and technical textiles)
" developing effective knowledge transfer mechanisms
Developing consensus around future opportunities
There still appears to be a lack of clarity about what exactly constitutes the technical textiles community and where its boundaries lie. In academia, for example, technical textiles research is often split across university applied maths, physics and chemistry departments, not just within textiles departments. In industry, no representative body currently exists for the sector (the BATC covers the whole of the textiles industry).
A further barrier to developing greater cohesion and consensus is the often negative perceptions attached to “the textiles industry”. It was noted that more innovative companies in the technical textiles sector almost immediately drop the “textiles” description, and would much prefer to describe themselves as belonging to the
“industrial materials” or “advanced materials” sectors.
Increased DTI support for technical textiles over the last two years represents a very positive step. This includes the creation of a Technical Textiles Innovation Fund
(~£2m) and the new Technitex Faraday Partnership involving Heriot Watt, Leeds and
UMIST universities.
Heriot Watt University has suggested the creation of a new UK-wide research network for technical textiles. They also propose, using the British Textiles
Technology Group, to set up a technical textiles company club.
16 MATERIALS FUTURES

Bridging cross-sectoral boundaries
It seems that boundaries exist both within the technical textiles sector and between it and other sectors, and there is a need to address both.
The research base (eg Heriot Watt University) regularly holds seminars to disseminate knowledge, which are fairly well attended by industry. But there is a feeling that better business engagement is still required.
Business, on the other hand, tends to speak directly to customers to gauge future market demands and then involves suppliers to help meet these needs.
Developing effective knowledge transfer mechanisms
There appear to be two key barriers to the sharing of knowledge : within industry secrecy about future business strategy is widespread, and companies are unable to readily identify and access university expertise.
While companies will discuss future developments in markets, products and technologies within their supply chains (eg suppliers suggest new/emerging products; customers voice demands), new ways of encouraging collaboration are required. More effective ‘vertical’ collaboration across the value chain – manufacturers, suppliers, customers, researchers – would help. Larger companies could potentially act as ‘mentors’ to kick-start this process. But ‘horizontal’ collaboration – i.e. across the technical textiles community at large – is also necessary to exploit knowledge and develop fruitful alliances. It was noted that processes in which discussion takes place in a ‘neutral’ future scenario would help avoid the cloak of secrecy by identifying medium- to long-term solutions. Working ‘backwards’ to today would then help suggest more productive approaches and strategies just now.
Foresight offers just this type of process.
With regard to identifying sources of research expertise it was noted that the
Technitex Faraday Partnership has established an office in Galashiels to do exactly this across the UK. This brokerage role deserves to be widely publicised and used.
Medical and biomaterials
Facilitated by Dr Helen Grant, Strathclyde University
The group discussed several interesting issues and found a lot of common ground.
However, the key issues that emerged are around the needs to forge better communication links between sectors, to increase awareness of how we can collaborate and help each other, and to ease access to support funding to aid these processes.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 17

Industrialists have difficulty finding out where expertise lies in the academic community. ‘Local’ expertise is often available but they are often unaware of it. It was suggested that Foresight should help improve access to expertise within
Scotland in the field of biomaterials/compatibility testing. Potentially this could be addressed via the Biotechnology Cluster or via the new Scottish Research website
(www.scottishresearch.com).
Business delegates were largely unaware of funding sources that they could use to collaborate with academia (such as LINK, CASE studentships etc.) It was suggested that a database of funding sources could be established if it does not already exist.
This would include such details as dates for application and qualifying conditions. It was suggested that this might be an action for Scottish Enterprise.
Light metals and composites
Facilitated by Dr Norrie McPherson, BAE Systems
At a strategic level, there is a need to increase the perception of light metals and composites within the UK. There is a greater awareness elsewhere in Europe of these materials. Who is responsible for that and how can it be achieved?
A number of barriers to the development and application of light metals and composites were identified including the high perceived cost and lengthy process of bringing products to market:
Sources of information about and awareness of light metals and composites are poor.
The Institute of Materials and the Scottish Polymer Technology Network are both seen as being useful points of contact, but there is a lack of awareness of the specific roles of each organisation.
In the light metal and composites sector the group felt strongly that development support should be targeted at ‘winners’, in preference to companies that were not financially stable and potentially unsustainable.
There was a need to have an integrated approach to the advancement of light metals and composites in the UK. The identity of the industry sector ‘facilitator’ was seen as potentially being from a trade association.
18 MATERIALS FUTURES

INDUSTRY
SECTOR
‘FACILITATOR’
MANUFACTURER END USER
PARTNERING/
SHARING
Energy storage materials
Facilitated by Gordon Proven, Proven Engineering Ltd
The group began by acknowledging the breadth of applications and diversity of technologies related to energy storage materials. Relevant markets included energy storage for grid surge demand relief, through transport energy systems, to communications and defence requirements.
Energy storage systems were said to segregate into static or mobile systems. Whilst both presented price/performance issues to get to market, greater technical challenges are envisaged with mobile systems, owing to the need to reduce physical size and even miniaturise for portable energy storage solutions.
The team then discussed some of the known energy storage technologies, their merits and challenges.
Flywheel :
This technology concept has been around for several years, but the current solutions do not meet the market requirements. Proven Engineering is knowledgeable in this technology and anticipates the technology could be viable if flywheel material strength-to-weight issues are overcome.
Buckminster fibres have the potential to solve this issue. If developed this would then enable a 1Kg unit delivering energy at the 10Kwatt/hour level. However the material is thought to be 10 to 15 years away from availability. Other issues associated with flywheels rotating in the 1,000,000 rpm range include significant energy losses.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 19

Lead / Acid battery :
This technology has environmental concerns, being a “dirty technology“. Issues around the charge / discharge cycles adversely affect typical lifetime, performance and therefore cost of ownership. The energy capacity and delivery from an individual battery is fixed and its performance degrades with use to the point where the whole unit is replaced.
Pumped Electrolyte battery :
This technology has the advantage of being able to scale the discharge capacity without needing to increase the overall cell size. Electrolyte exchange (for rapid recharge) or electrical recharge cycles are possible. The unit has a small fluid transfer power overhead, but is close to the energy efficiency of lead-acid batteries (70%).
Bromine electrolyte is used by the ‘Regen’ pilot system used by National Power. It was said that the vanadium technology being researched at the University of South
Wales could be a better candidate. Its patent expires in the next 2 years. There was a good deal of interest shown in this technology, although a better understanding of the electro-chemical issues, along with environmental, disposal and safety issues were thought necessary.
This technology was seen to have similarities to fuel cell technology and could be described as an Inorganic Fuel Cell technology.
Fuel Cell :
This technology was not discussed, although it was recognised that St Andrews
University (through Prof. John Irvine) were expert in the field and that Scotland is well-positioned to develop its technological leadership in this field within world markets.
Lithium Ion Cell :
This technology has become widespread but the cell size is limited. This is directly related to issues of safety for cobalt based cells. Explosions are possible in larger cells, whereas smaller cell in use would vent rather than explode in similar circumstances.
Magnesium based technology will overcome these safety and catastrophic discharge issues. New electrolyte chemistry will become available over the next 12 months to enable safe and large capacity Lithium cells. Scotland, through St Andrews University, is well placed in this technology and could play a leading role in its local exploitation.
Super Capacitors :
The group felt their knowledge of this technology was perhaps a little dated.
However, super capacitors were previously thought to be about five times the cost of lead acid energy storage and also had scale-up issues to overcome.
20 MATERIALS FUTURES

Hybrid Technologies :
On balance it was felt by the workshop that a hybrid solution might well be the viable way forward. For instance, in the transport market the use of fuel cells or batteries for primary storage, supplemented by flywheels to absorb and re-use braking energy, may be effective.
What future actions are required ?
A number of material areas and competencies were thought to be relevant to pursue, these included:
" electro-chemical materials for energy storage and transfer within a cell
" plastic materials for membranes
" flywheel materials for high spin forces and safety aspects
" magnesium materials for the new direction in lithium batteries.
The debate brought out issues relating to how Scotland could take forward an effective energy initiative. In general it was thought that we would need to import technology. The exception to this is lithium, magnesium and also fuel cell technologies, which exist at St Andrews University. The group discussed the current existence of relevant competencies in Scotland. Although much relevant knowledge resides in universities it was said much more than fundamental research was needed to bring about effective exploitation in this field.
The workshop members expressed a desire to come together again in order to identify specific ways forward. It was proposed that Scottish Enterprise, through its
Energy Team, the Industrial & Power Association, and Foresight Scotland might facilitate a focused follow-up meeting.
There is a desire to focus this interest towards a Scottish initiative within the overall
UK context, using Foresight to help leverage the effort.
In the first instance it was thought the follow-up meeting would define the investigative work needed to identify the main Scottish competencies, scope the underlying opportunities, then outline a way forward that could create significant economic impact. Local energy, power and grid companies should be involved.
It was thought this could be the start to an industry / academic / government initiative that brings together competencies to have real effect at the local level, leveraged by and in the context of an UK effort through the Foresight Programme.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 21

3.6
Thematic workshops :
Value chains and Manufacturing 2020
Facilitated by Ewan Mearns, Scottish Enterprise
This group considered the consultation document issued by the Foresight
Manufacturing 2020 Panel, which focused particularly on issues surrounding the reshaping of value chains, e-business and globalisation.
Bottlenecks in the manufacturing value chain
The key barriers to the creation of more efficient and effective value chains include :
" threats to the continued supply of raw materials in future
" lead times for re-tooling and developing new product lines (typically 4 to 6 months)
" the short-term perspectives that most companies tend to have and their initial reluctance to think beyond the near-future
" manufacturing companies’ tendency to ‘force’ their suppliers to provide innovative solutions, rather than invite them to participate in finding solutions across the entire value chain
" high turnover of sales and marketing staff in particular, that leads to inconsistencies in companies’ approaches in managing relationships with customers and thinking about future innovations in the supply chain
" lack of support from top management that (sometimes) inhibits the success of company ‘suggestion schemes’.
Mass customisation
The group was invited to consider what barriers to the concept of mass customisation
- the idea that new technologies can enable products to be customised to individual, sophisticated requirements – could be solved through materials developments.
We seem to be around 2 to 3 years away from the ability to provide just-in-time production across global supply chains (at least within the drinks industry). This holds the possibility of supermarkets printing their own labels at point of sale, enabled by digital printing technology developments at low print-runs.
Products, too, are being re-packaged and tailored to smaller market segments.
Whisky, for example, is now produced in small sachets as well as bottles of all shapes and sizes. Group marketing departments are generally responsible for developing ideas for new products and markets.
22 MATERIALS FUTURES

Global manufacturing
Linked to the idea of mass customisation is the concept of glocalisation – ie the effective inter-linking of global supply chains with local distribution services. For example, Courage Brewers currently produce Fosters beer in the UK, and quality control ensures that the brand name is maintained. Already, some companies are focusing on the high value or ‘smart’ components of their business – branding, product development, knowledge, IPR – and effectively contracting out the less valueadding elements such as manufacture.
It was noted that potentially, there are strong opportunities for the UK, which possesses strong brands. However, this may lead to a shake-out within jobintensive manufacturing processes. From a packaging perspective, might this become relatively less important as consumers move towards virtual shopping ?
Education, training and skills
There is a perception among business that further and higher education lags behind industry in providing the skills that are needed.
Industry placements were perceived as being extremely valuable to both students and academics. However, participants were less aware of the specific mechanisms and were unaware of the Teaching Company Scheme for example.
What future actions are required ?
Following discussion around commercialisation mechanisms it was suggested that there would be value in collating the vast number of “unresolved technical challenges” faced by industry, and connecting business to researchers to help solve them. For example : what is the best, commercially-viable plastic to contain beer ? how can a glue-less label be created ? It was suggested that the Institute of Packaging could potentially collate these challenges, but there is currently no obvious ‘knowledge broker’ for academia.
A ‘knowledge brokering’ facility cutting across all of Scotland (and the UK’s ?) further and higher education institutions would be extremely valuable. Most companies do not know where to start to find out who is researching topics of interest to them.
Materials processing
Facilitated by Dr Mike Barker, Napier University
The group started by referring to the questions posed by the Materials Panel’s consultation document, but soon found that they were far too heavily biased towards the metals processing industry with no mention of the other materials processing sectors. The questions also presumed that there were generic problems for materials processing and there was no agreement that this was the case. The questions were therefore rejected as a way of structuring the discussion.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 23

Business investment in materials processing
It was agreed that specialised materials processing (and new developments) would probably occur in smaller companies. Therefore, almost by definition, there would be little or no common ground, as the materials processing industry would be far too fragmented.
SMEs generally do not have the cash or are prevented from investing in long term technical developments as they are far too busy coping with day-to-day production and other problems.
There was general agreement that SMEs need to obtain a greater share of the available funding to finance their longer term technical developments, but there was no consensus as to which mechanisms might be most appropriate. It was felt that the
Innovation Relay Centres were excellent at promoting research but are currently insufficiently focused on industry and particularly not on SMEs.
The discussion did cover the benefits of the Teaching Company Scheme, which was felt to satisfy the specific needs of individual SMEs.
Skills and knowledge for materials processing
Mention was made of the lack of suitable recruits, training and trainers available within the materials processing industry. There was concern over the significant reduction materials-related courses and departments within higher educational institutions.
What future actions are required ?
It was emphasised that the UK must concentrate on materials processing that is technologically advanced and high value-adding (e.g. microprocessing, nanoprocessing, laser processing). The heavy processing industries in the UK (e.g. steel making etc) are finding it increasingly difficult to compete in labour and cost terms with the Eastern
European and Far East economies
Materials modelling
Facilitated by Dr Patricia Erskine, Scottish Polymer Technology Network
The group discussed four issues :
" how important are standards for material properties to competitiveness ?
" how can current models be improved ?
" to what extent is materials data exchanged with suppliers and customers electronically?
" what future actions are required ?
24 MATERIALS FUTURES

Standards for materials properties
It was agreed that standards for basic materials properties are either essential or merely useful, depending on the sector. The value to competitiveness comes from company-specific information. The key point is that basic standards do not really help advance materials modelling.
Improving current models
The group agreed that running models is a skilled task; and increased awareness of the pit-falls is required.
User interfaces for current models could be significantly improved, especially for complex models developed by universities. It was suggested that web-based help and support would be extremely valuable to users.
Models being developed within further education institutions to enable prediction of micro-structures are beneficial.
But a key message that needs to be communicated to industry is that, owing to increased computing power, modelling capability and research knowledge has improved greatly.
Exchanging materials data
In developing new materials there is an inadequate supply of relevant data. Perhaps an answer lies in predicting rather than measuring ? This may be especially helpful when dealing with complex mixtures and naturally variable materials such as geological materials.
There is a need to package information (on constants, for example) to a standard format to encourage greater similarity of approach and sharing of data.
What future action is required ?
(i) In terms of research :
" more statistical modelling is necessary
" greater research into new combinations of materials
" modelling to predict properties
" research into ways to incorporate molecular materials information.
(ii) Improved depth of further education modelling packages is necessary.
(iii) Work is needed to improve the characterisation of furnaces (eg thermal characteristics).
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 25

(iv) Improved mechanisms for sharing information are required :
" a Centre of Excellence, with a signposting/brokerage role ?
" contractual issues need to be addressed.
Education, training and skills
Facilitated by Gill Doyle, British Polymer Training Association
The group considered four key questions :
" how can we make materials-related teaching in schools more visible and effective ?
" is there a shortfall of trained materials technicians/engineers in the UK at present ? What is the evidence ? How might the situation change in the next
5 – 15 years ?
" what are the challenges facing the provision of materials-related postgraduate training in the UK ?
" what future actions are required to address these challenges and opportunities, and who should lead ?
Increasing the visibility and effectiveness of materials-related school education
Currently, there exists a lack of awareness of materials issues within school level education. A key message to young people is that the industry today is “more high tech and less boiler-suited” ! The curriculum could be strengthened to help raise awareness.
Secondly, promotion of materials-related industries should take place during school education – aimed at schools themselves, young people and parents.
A shortfall of trained materials technicians/engineers ?
The answer to this question is most definitely “yes”. There is a lack of relevant courses in Scotland at present. Consequently, materials companies are finding they cannot source the appropriate skills (one company, for example, has a Zoology graduate as a Technical Manager).
Challenges to increased postgraduate education
Funding appears to be the greatest barrier – the availability of student funding is very patchy across the board; most students find themselves in debt; sometimes they find they cannot continue with their studies.
26 MATERIALS FUTURES

What future actions are required ?
The actions as described above appear reasonably straightforward. What is required, however, is commitment from the Scottish Executive, LearnDirect Scotland and further/higher education to “cut through the red tape” and support positive action in terms of :
" more effective promotion of the materials sector in schools and to parents to help change perceptions
" supporting an increase in materials-related postgraduate courses
" addressing the lack of postgraduate funding
" continuing to encourage employers to invest in education, skills and training.
The innovation process and SMEs
Facilitated by Charles Broadfoot, Lanarkshire Technology and Innovation Centre
An initial presentation provided an overview of the innovation process, together with the broad spectrum of expertise and developments available from Scotland’s academic institutions. The discussion focused on three issues. How can we :
" Foster innovation mechanisms ?
" Develop relevant linkages ?
" Share knowledge ?
Financial support
One participant opened with the story that after several years of financial support for
R & D his Bank Manager commented that now he could get on with the “real” work of making profits. There was general agreement that the missing element in banks and other forms of innovation support is the technical knowledge essential in making the assessment of client’s requirements for new product development. Appreciation of the critical importance of new product development for long term market share and penetration of new markets is also critical.
Consideration of alternative funding (to banks) was a priority for most organisations
(mention was made of the new 5-year LINK Materials Programme starting in April 2001).
There was the suggestion that for smaller firms, venture capital funding was inappropriate (too large a scale) and that individual Business Angels were more relevant. The attempt should be to identify an investor(s) with an interest in specific technologies.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 27

Coping with foreign markets
The problems evident in trading overseas (eg establishing foreign agents, trading partnerships) include language barriers (albeit that English is commonly spoken throughout Europe) and establishing collaborative links. It was noted that the Innovation
Relay Centres (IRC) provide support for technology partnerships and the EuroInfoCentre for other European contacts (eg marketing, agents, trade associations etc).
Working with universities
There was a mixed response to the value of higher education institutions (HEIs) in supporting SMEs. The Teaching Company scheme (TCS) was thought to be inappropriate to smaller SMEs.
There still appear to be significant difficulties in identifying the most relevant HEI partner.
One participant found that luck played a large part in making the right connections.
The problem is compounded by the requirement to identify the right HEI, the right department, the right individual (with time available) and at the right time (ie during term-time).
Attention was drawn to such initiatives as the Scottish Polymer Technology Network
(SPTN), who can source the most appropriate contact for polymer materials, processes and applications and sign-post SMEs to the most appropriate HEI within or outwith
Scotland.
The value of identifying an individual contact (for initial discussion) as opposed to “coldcalling” a contact at random was stressed. There was a strong preference for dealing with Departmental staff as opposed to Industrial Liaison Officers in universities. The suggestion was made that universities sometimes concentrate their commercialisation efforts on the most lucrative high-tech or spin-out developments to the exclusion of more basic technology and innovation more relevant to SMEs. Arguably, this approach also potentially represents a serious technology loss to Scotland.
Network solutions
Information (knowledge) dissemination was seen as a major issue, as was the design of “networking” and dissemination events. In the case of the latter (seminars, workshops etc), it was suggested that the possibility of gaining new technical knowledge was not enough and, where possible, there should be the potential for other gains such as sales prospects and collaborative partnerships.
A ‘Help Network’ (internet based) was seen as an urgent requirement, one that is fun to use and could cope with the potential scale of activity. The Lanarkshire Technology and Innovation Centre model (newsletter and website) could perhaps provide the basis of such a facility.
28 MATERIALS FUTURES

Other comments
Alasdair McNicoll, responsible for Glasgow Science Centre’s Business Motivation
Programme, made the offer to companies of having an extended display of their technology and/or products at the Science Centre.
John Wilcox is currently acting as consultant to the DTI to develop a new LINK-
Foresight scheme to support business/academic collaborative links). He welcomed suggestions as to the design of this new scheme.
3. WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS 29

Sectoral workshops
Workshop 1
Dr Alan Smith
Gordon Johnston
Dr Patricia Erskine
Lesley MacDonald
Gill Doyle
Mike Firkin
Craig Wilson
Packaging
AZ-Tech Consultancy (facilitator)
Ethicon Ltd
Scottish Polymer Technology Network
United Distillers and Vintners
British Polymer Training
Glass Training Ltd
Institute of Packaging
Workshop 2 Technical textiles
Dr Giancarlo Capaccio Institute of Materials (facilitator)
Dr R Mather Heriot-Watt University
Professor Don Bryden Heriot-Watt University
Gregor Thomas
Ewan Mearns
J T Inglis & Son Ltd
Scottish Enterprise
Workshop 3
Dr Helen Grant
Jack Gillespie
Deborah Creamer
Alan MacDonald
Graham Reid
Dr Andrew Mount
Cheryl Lockett
Workshop 4
Dr Norrie McPherson
Hugh Smith
Julian Thompson
Dr Anne Neville
Charles Broadfoot
Alan Davidson
Charles Smyth
Bill Lang
Dr Andrew Reeves
Dr Mike Barker
Alasdair Ross
Tom Higgison
Medical and biomaterials
Bioengineering. Dept, Univ of Strathclyde (facilitator)
Intercobra Extrusions Ltd
Optimat Ltd
Science, Technology & Mathematics Council
Scotia Glass Technology
Chemistry Dept, University of Edinburgh
Vitrolife UK Ltd
Light metals and composites
BAE Systems (facilitator)
Albyn of Stonehaven Ltd
DTI Chemicals Directorate
Heriot-Watt University
Lanarkshire Technology & Innovation Centre
Napier University
Smyth Plastics Ltd
Mechanical Engineering Dept, Univ of Strathclyde
Wyman-Gordon Ltd
Napier University
Pilkington Optronics Ltd
Edinburgh Research and Innovation
30 MATERIALS FUTURES

Workshop 5
Gordon Proven
Dr Andrew Cruden
Alastair McNicoll
Arthur Francis
Professor Alan Hendry
Professor John Irvine
Dr David Thompson
John Beales
Professor Gair
Energy storage materials
Proven Engineering Ltd (facilitator)
Centre for Economic Renewable Power Delivery,
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow Science Centre
Industrial & Power Association
University of Strathclyde
St Andrews Centre for Advanced Materials
University of Aberdeen
Scottish Enterprise
Napier University
Thematic workshops
Workshop 1
Ewan Mearns
Tom Higgison
Craig Wilson
Lesley MacDonald
Value chains and Manufacturing 2020
Scottish Enterprise (facilitator)
Edinburgh Research and Innovation
Institute of Packaging
United Distillers and Vintners
Workshop 2
Dr Mike Barker
Dr R Mather
Professor Don Bryden
Jack Gillespie
Dr Norrie McPherson
Dr Anne Neville
Professor John Irvine
Professor Alan Hendry
Dr Andrew Mount
Bill Lang
Gregor Thomas
Workshop 3
Dr Patricia Erskine
Alan Davidson
Dr Andrew Reeves
Dr David Thompson
Professor Chris Hall
Graham Reed
Alasdair Ross
John Beales
Materials processing
Napier University (facilitator)
Heriot Watt University
Heriot Watt University
Intercobra Extrusions Ltd
BAE Systems
Heriot Watt University
University of St Andrews
University of Strathclyde
University of Edinburgh
University of Strathclyde
J T Inglis & Son
Materials modelling
Scottish Polymer Technology Network (facilitator)
Napier University
Wyman-Gordon Ltd
University of Aberdeen
University of Edinburgh
Scotia Glass Technology
Pilkington Optronics Ltd
Scottish Enterprise
4. APPENDIX : LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 31

Workshop 4
Gill Doyle
Alan McDonald
Dr Helen Grant
Bill Lang
Dr Andrew Cruden
Mike Firkin
Workshop 5
Charles Broadfoot
Gordon Proven
Arthur Francis
Ian Marr
Charles Smyth
Deborah Cleaner
Giancarlo Capaccio
Alasdair McNicoll
Mrs L Sillar
Gordon Johnston
Hugh Smith
Dr Clive Randall
Professor Gair
Education, training and skills
British Polymer Training (facilitator)
Science, Technology and Mathematics Council
University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
Centre for Economic Renewable Power Delivery,
University of Strathclyde
Glass Training Ltd
The innovation process and SMEs
Lanarks. Tech. & Innovation Centre (facilitator)
Proven Engineering Ltd
Industrial & Power Association
Lanarkshire Technology & Innovation Centre
Smyth Plastics Ltd
Optimat Ltd
Institute of Materials
Glasgow Science Centre
University of St Andrews
Ethicon Ltd
Albyn of Stonehaven Ltd
University of Abertay
Napier University
32 MATERIALS FUTURES Astron B18068 3-01