Introduction
Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing District

Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing District represents Europe’s largest research-led Advanced Manufacturing cluster, centred around the Sheffield-Rotherham corridor; it hosts the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), the wider Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and the AMRC’s Factory 2050 project currently under construction at Sheffield Business Park.

The industrial park can be considered an innovation district which combines research institutions, innovative firms and business; unlike traditional science parks, these districts cluster cutting-edge research in peri-urban geographic areas; 66% of jobs in the park are linked to advanced manufacturing industries.

Description
Strategic SectorAdvanced Manufacturing
LocationUK
Responsible PartnersUSFD
External supporting partnersSheffield Advanced Manufacturing Park
The case
from theory to implementation on the ground

The project will characterise the industrial district by mapping its flows of resources, interactions, production relationships and related supply chains; the adoption of circular economy practices across the different entities of the industrial park will be surveyed.

This will allow the research team evaluating:

(i) the current progress towards circular production patterns;

(ii) the circular potential (in terms of reduced usage of critical materials) of innovative manufacturing and suggesting potential interventions;

(iii) the possibility of introducing non-hierarchical labour organisation practices. In order to achieve these objectives, personnel from the AMRC will be seconded to the project for assisting with data collection and analysis.

Represents Europe’s largest research led Advanced Manufacturing cluster, centred around the Sheffield-Rotherham corridor.
Small, medium and large firms operating in similar sectors combined with research institutions.
66% of jobs in the park are linked to advanced manufacturing industries (e.g. computer technologies, automation, etc.).
Distinctive aspects of the case study

A former steelmaking and coal mining hub, in the aftermath of the 1980s de-industrialisation, the South Yorkshire county has recently experienced a manufacturing renaissance with the flourishing of a cluster of firms and organisations based on the Industry 4.0 paradigm. The District is significantly located on the site of the Battle of Orgreave.

The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation that took place on the 18th of June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant at Orgreave. It was a pivotal event in the 1984–1985 UK miners’ strike, and one of the most violent clashes in British industrial history. A tryly defining moment, it has been described as something that “changed, forever, the conduct of industrial relations and how this country functions as an economy and as a democracy“.

Main contact
Prof. Andrea Genovese (M), Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Head of the Operations Management and Decision Sciences Subject Group, will coordinate the network and lead the node. He has leading expertise in sustainable supply chain management, with particular emphasis on the development of Decision Support Systems for dealing with complex problems arising in the coordination of production and distribution units.A pivotal role will be played by Dr. Victor Shi Guang (M). Victor works at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre of the University of Sheffield, which is part of the district. Victor’s background is in industrial ecology and supply chain management, and he would be the ideal person to assist the development of the case study, being both a researcher and somebody involved in the daily dynamics of the district.
Researchers
Dr. Emanuela Girei (F) is a Lecturer in Organisation Studies whose research focuses on the use of management theory and practice for promoting more just, equitable and sustainable organisations, institutions and societies; she has conducted extensive work on the non-profit sector in the Global South.Dr. Andrea Jimenez (F) has been conducting in-depth qualitative research on technology and innovation hubs, focusing on innovation processes occurring within hubs in both the Global North and Global South. She complements her academic career with substantial industry experience, having worked for the United Nations in both the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).Ben Purvis (M) and Jose Bruno Fevereiro (M) are post-doctoral researchers, mainly working on WP4 and WP5 of the JUST2CE project, who will also be contributing to specific aspects of the case study.Meletios Bimpizas-Pinis (M), Azar Mahmoum Gonbadi (F) and Tommaso Calzolari (M) are Doctoral Researchers focusing on the diffusion of the circular economy paradigm across supply chains. Their research investigates the adoption of circular economy practices in supply chain contexts.