Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships at a glance
The Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) scheme is a UK-wide programme helping businesses to improve competitiveness and productivity. You bring the ambition and strategic vision to transform your business, and UWE Bristol will provide the practical graduate support, applied knowledge and technical expertise to help you achieve your goals.
What is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership?
April from our team explains more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships in this short video.
What you can expect
- Collaboration on a project between one and three years.
- A talented graduate, based full-time in your business, to drive and deliver the project.
- Weekly access to an academic or researcher with knowledge, skills and experience that are relevant to your business.
- Innovate UK will contribute up to 67% of projects costs depending on the size of your business.
Take a look at some of our current partnerships
"The Knowledge Transfer Partnership has allowed the company to secure its future, and the knowledge and capabilities acquitted through the project have allowed new processes to be created"
Key facts
- Embedded digital technology in creating printing rollers and plates
- Yield increased and losses reduced through introduction of new formulas and colour recipes
- Improvements to process flows drive up business standards
- Market opportunities increased
- Employment opportunity created for KTP Associate
The company
Based near Stoke-on-Trent, Burleigh Pottery employs a team of skilled craftspeople to produce intricately patterned tableware, using traditional skills and techniques dating back to 1889. Burleigh Pottery collaborated with UWE Bristol to embed new technologies within the printing processes to continue producing their distinctive designs.
The challenge
Burleigh Pottery wanted to explore new technologies to preserve their unique designs, which were produced using an eighteenth-century underglaze tissue printing technique. Designs were etched into a copper plate, which was used to print the pattern onto tissue paper with cobalt blue oxides and then transferred onto the pottery. These copper plates degrade over time and without new technology the iconic Burleigh patterns could have been lost forever.
The project
The KTP embedded innovate new processes, previously developed by a proof of concept project (jointly funded by the AHRC and UWE Centre for Fine Art), that combined digital technology and traditional craft skills, retaining existing patterns and developing exciting new designs. The associate working on the project had a background in ceramic design and production and quickly understood the production challenges. Through developing standard controlled colour recipes, she re-established in-house knowledge and led trials using unleaded colours. The associate was supported by a senior academic at UWE Bristol and a mentor at Burleigh Pottery and was appointed Design Development Manager on project completion.
"The KTP process has been transformative for our company, creating products and services that support delivery of our core mission"
Key facts
- Shortlisted for Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership Award at the KTP Best of the Best Awards 2019
- Delivery of the first ever GI Benchmark, ‘Building with Nature’ (BwN), which was used in 3 new developments
- Publication of technical guidance documents and articles in trade publications
- New subsidiary company created to monetise Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust's expertise
The company
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) is the leading organisation working to protect wildlife, providing expertise in everything from wildlife advice to ecological consultancy. GWT manages 60 nature reserves in the South West, covering 1011 hectares of land. GWT believe in the importance of nature and the protection of wildlife under threat and are committed to improving housing and commercial developments for wildlife using their Green Infrastructure Benchmark, Building with Nature.
The challenge
GWT wanted to develop a commercially viable green infrastructure policy to support the delivery of new homes (approx. 300,000) without compromising the quality of the natural environment. Whilst GWT had a wealth of expertise in the green infrastructure agenda, they wanted to enhance their influence on the quality of the built and natural environment.
The project
The KTP formalised GWT's role in advising local authorities and companies on the impact of development on nature conservation. The KTP established a new benchmark for green infrastructure (GI) offering consistent technical information and a quality rating to incentivise and reward developers for high quality GI. The KTP associate collated evidence and expertise to create standards, technical guidance, implementation framework and award criteria. The “Building with Nature” (BwN) benchmark was launched in November 2017 and triggered a turnaround in GWT's approach to the built environment and the quality of its proactive engagement with planners and developers. Additionally, BwN has been used in developments far beyond GWT’s own geographical area and the new BwN subsidiary company is currently working with six local authorities to develop GI planning policies.
"Our KTP started by delivering improvements that were beyond our capability and finished by enhancing our capability to deliver improvements. We want to use automation to assist people, not replace them"
Key facts
- Designed, developed and produced a semi-automated assembly line, with novel safety measures for manual workers
- Hourly unit production increased from 40 to 60 per hour
- Successfully demonstrated the industrial application of co-operative robots (CoBots)
- Numatic gained ability to write their own software instructions, gaining control over the improvement of existing automation systems and the implementation new ones
The company
Famous for their ‘Henry’ and ‘Hetty’ vacuum cleaners, Numatic International are the UK’s largest commercial cleaning equipment manufacturer based in Chard, Somerset. Established in 1969, the company has grown into a £127m turnover business but maintains its ethos of working with a local supply base, sourcing many of their critical parts from within 50 miles. Their commitment to wealth generation and employment in the South West made UWE Bristol the perfect academic partner for the KTP.
The challenge
The company set out to increase production and reduce assembly time to meet the demand of growing export trade (which accounted for 30-40% turnover) by using robots alongside the workforce. The collaborative robots (‘CoBots’) would spare workers tedious, repetitive tasks but would not replace them.
The project
The two-year KTP established a partnership between Numatic and experts from Bristol Robotics Laboratory (UWE Bristol), who provided Numatic with new robotics and systems knowledge. A UWE Bristol graduate was employed to undertake a full review of the existing production system and CoBot testing. The graduate mentored and supervised Numatic’s production engineering team during the transition to a semi-automated assembly line. The resulting development and use of collaborative robot automation enabled Numatic to reduce the labour content of products, reduce product costs and allowed for more flexibility for staff within the organisation.
"We would like to thank our Academic Partners at UWE Bristol for their invaluable contribution and dedication to this project. The KTP has proven to be an excellent vehicle for transferring and embedding a level of knowledge and understanding to the business"
Key facts
- Provided Viper’s employees with knowledge to commercialise technology in different markets
- Led to collaborative testing with Network Rail
- Established global visibility and brought an invitation to the Trade Mission to Malaysia, Singapore and Australia as well as leads from key organisations within the rail sector (AMEY, East West Rail, Alliance, Siemens, Alstom)
The company
Since their foundation in 2007, Viper Innovations Ltd have provided innovative technology solutions within the oil and gas sector. Their technology-leading product, CableGuardian, can monitor and identify the location of faults along cables and has helped Viper win several awards (2018 PwC SW Business of the Year, Queens Award for Enterprise, IET 2018 Intelligent Systems Innovation Award).
The challenge
Viper recognised its technology had potential for sectors outside of subsea oil and gas, and a new opportunity in rail highlighted the need for a new market engagement model for the company and for gaining visibility and credibility within the rail sector.
The project
Fundamentally, the expertise and knowledge transfer from UWE Bristol (Professor Tim Hughes and Tracy Hunt-Fraisse) clarified the companies’ diversification strategy and its future growth opportunity. Methods to optimise the CableGuardian routes to market were identified through research of 29 market sectors across 18 countries. Furthermore, through workshops and training sessions, staff at Viper Innovations were taught innovative methods, to secure future growth in various sectors both within the UK and globally. The KTP Associate brought outstanding marketing skills and experience, and her proactive approach fuelled the success of the project. The KTP Associate conducted global research and produced journal articles which aided in her recruitment to an associate lecturer role at UWE Bristol.
Make an enquiry
If your business has a strategy for growth, we can help make your ambitions a reality. Contact our Business Team about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
