Manchester Metropolitan University has detailed plans for FUSE-M, a £16 million manufacturing and digital innovation facility intended to help Greater Manchester businesses design, test and commercialise industrial products and processes. The planned 1,600 square metre centre in Hulme will combine research capabilities with equipment and expertise for simulation, prototyping and manufacturing development.
The funding comes from the Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund and was allocated as part of a wider Greater Manchester Combined Authority investment decision announced in September 2026. The university's 21 October statement provided more detail about the facility and the organisations expected to contribute. The allocation should not be reported as funding newly approved on 21 October.
FUSE-M stands for Future User-centred Simulation, Enterprise and Manufacturing. Its proposed services include digital modelling, immersive technologies, digital twins, artificial intelligence and physical prototyping. The programme is aimed at companies seeking to develop a product or assess a new process before committing to a full production installation.
The initial programme spans five years, beginning with design and construction. Demonstrations, collaborative projects and business support are planned for years three to five. The university has not specified a firm construction completion date or announced that production equipment is already operating at the proposed centre.
The project combines existing university strengths rather than starting every capability from scratch. PrintCity contributes expertise in additive manufacturing and prototype production; the Centre for Digital Modelling and Analysis for Cultural Heritage brings digital modelling capabilities; and the School of Digital Arts contributes immersive and creative technology expertise. The Centre for Enterprise will support the links with participating businesses.
This combination is intended to let a company examine an idea using digital tools, manufacture a representative part and assess its physical behaviour within one programme of work. The exact sequence will depend on the product, its materials and the testing required. The university has not published a standard service package or specified the number of prototype builds included for each company.
Digital twins can help engineers explore how an asset or production system behaves under defined conditions. Depending on the model and its connection to equipment data, they may represent machine movement, the arrangement of components or changes in process behaviour. A simulation can expose physical conflicts or unsuitable operating sequences before hardware is purchased or altered.
Those benefits depend on model fidelity. An inaccurate representation of a machine's envelope, tool movements, component properties or loading conditions can produce a reassuring result that will not be repeated on the factory floor. Verification against physical measurements and appropriately chosen test conditions remains necessary before simulated performance can support a manufacturing decision.
Additive manufacturing provides a complementary route to producing prototypes with geometries that may be difficult to obtain quickly by conventional methods. However, prototype suitability depends on materials, surface condition, dimensional accuracy and the intended test. A printed model used to check assembly space cannot necessarily demonstrate the mechanical properties required in a final production part.
Immersive environments may also help engineers and employees assess accessibility, assembly sequences and maintenance arrangements. The usefulness of such work is greatest where the virtual representation reflects actual equipment dimensions and foreseeable operating conditions. The project intends to connect these exploratory tools with later manufacturing and validation, rather than treating demonstrations as evidence of proven deployment.
The university has identified Siemens, HP, Matsuura, TEKEVER and The Vita Group as industry supporters. That backing indicates interest from established technology and engineering organisations, but the statement does not disclose equipment orders, financial commitments or contractual responsibilities for the individual partners. These relationships should not be counted as purchases secured by FUSE-M.
Regional connections will include Atom Valley, Manchester Science Park and the Henry Royce Institute. These organisations operate within different parts of the research, manufacturing and innovation landscape, providing potential routes to technical collaboration and company engagement. The university has not confirmed the operational arrangements of each collaboration.
Carlo Harvey, professor of digital arts at Manchester Metropolitan, linked the project to the region's strengths in advanced materials, manufacturing, digital technologies and creative industries. Carl Diver, professor of innovative manufacturing, emphasised the connection between immersive exploration, simulation and physical validation in projects undertaken with companies.
The university expects FUSE-M to support hundreds of businesses through demonstrations, programmes and collaborative projects. That is a programme ambition, not a verified count of beneficiaries. The relevant outcomes will be whether participating businesses use the available facilities to complete validation, adopt manufacturing technologies and develop products or processes that can operate outside a research setting.
Further UK Research and Innovation awards for AI and health innovation were also cited by the university, but those funding streams are distinct from the £16 million Good Growth allocation. FUSE-M's next defined stage is facility design and construction, followed by the planned business engagement work in the latter part of the five-year programme.
