Thursday 31 May 2018

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced £4.9 million in funding as part of a £31 million investment being made by Baker Hughes, a GE company, in its manufacturing footprint in the North East of Scotland. The funding package – provided to BHGE following an application to Scottish Enterprise - will support the transformation of an existing facility, creating an ambitious new Centre of Excellence (CoE) that will support the global oil and gas industry.

The First Minister made the announcement on 30th May, 2018, during her keynote speech at the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) conference and said that the government funding would directly support people training and Research & Development (R&D) activity at the new CoE. BHGE’s investment will fund infrastructure improvements, enabling the company to upgrade and expand its Montrose operations, creating a state-of-the art manufacturing ‘campus’.

This is an important boost for the region, which supports oil and gas activity globally. Subsea equipment designed and manufactured at this facility will support activity worldwide, from 10,000-ft water depths offshore West Africa and Australia, to the Gulf of Mexico and some of the world’s most remote oilfields, such as the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway.

The new campus will benefit from advanced manufacturing tools and processes, designed to improve efficiency and productivity, including:

- Virtual reality tools to help technicians assemble equipment digitally and troubleshoot issues before construction begins;

- Automation to boost efficiency on activities like welding, testing and material-handling;

- Sensor-equipped machines that allow customers to view updates of manufacturing activities and equipment test results via an iPad in real-time. The sensors will also provide BHGE with critical data to improve operations and increase productivity;

- 3D printers to help quickly develop fully-functional prototypes of components and highly complex structures, as well as actual production parts;

- Laser measuring devices, including trackers and scanners, allowing engineers and designers to make better, faster measurements of components and improve equipment build accuracy.

R&D activities will focus on bringing new technologies to market that reduce costs, enhance productivity and lower the carbon footprint of oil and gas operations in some of the world’s most demanding offshore and onshore environments, including ultra-deep water, and high pressure-high temperature subsea wells.