Bloc-led EMPOWER Energy Consortium Wins Innovate UK Funding
Bloc has secured Innovate UK funding with the launch of EMPOWER; a collaborative research project focused on helping manufacturers gain a stronger understanding of the factors driving energy and resource consumption across their operations. The project will demonstrate how a connected digital foundation can be utilised across a diverse range of industrial challenges: from operational optimisation and sustainability to advanced analytics and digital transformation.
Delivered by a consortium of Bloc Digital, Pressac Communications, Coventry University, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, AluCast, Wallwork Heat Treatment and the Digital Manufacturing Centre, EMPOWER will explore how manufacturers can move beyond simply measuring energy and resource usage to better understand and optimise operational behaviours.
While organisations can typically see how much energy and resources a facility consumes, identifying which machines, processes or production activities are responsible for that demand is far more difficult. Without this context, opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce waste and make better-informed operational decisions can remain hidden.
EMPOWER aims to bridge this gap between measurement and understanding.
Using software from Bloc, hardware and sensors from Pressac, manufacturing process expertise and applied research capability from Coventry University and requirements from the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, the innovative solution will be developed and trialled in an operational environment with Alucast, DMC and Wallwork. The consortium will investigate how energy and resource monitoring, production data and operational information can be brought together to create a clearer picture of behaviour across the manufacturing process. By linking consumption directly to operational activity, the project seeks to help manufacturers understand why energy and resources are being used, how demand changes over time and where opportunities for improvement exist.
Purpose-built to support a wide variety of industrial applications, blocHub enables organisations to connect, contextualise and act on data from across their operations. Whether supporting energy intelligence, process improvement, operational visibility, AI initiatives or broader digital transformation programmes, blocHub provides the connected digital backbone needed to turn fragmented information into meaningful insight.
EMPOWER demonstrates this versatility in practice. Rather than focusing on productivity or asset performance, the project applies the same connected-data principles to energy and resource management, enabling manufacturers to relate consumption directly to manufacturing activity. This has the potential to reveal unusual behaviour, pinpoint inefficiencies and identify opportunities for improvement that traditional monitoring approaches may overlook.
More broadly, the project highlights a growing shift in how manufacturers approach data. Competitive advantage increasingly comes not from collecting more information, but from understanding the relationships between different operational activities and using those insights to drive better outcomes. By creating a trusted environment where data can be connected and understood in context, blocHub enables organisations to unlock new value from information they already possess.
As EMPOWER progresses, the project will explore new ways to transform energy and resource data into practical operational intelligence, providing manufacturers with greater visibility into the drivers of energy and resource consumption, while further demonstrating how blocHub can be applied to solve a broad range of industrial and operational challenges.
Delivered by a consortium of Bloc Digital, Pressac Communications, Coventry University, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, AluCast, Wallwork Heat Treatment and the Digital Manufacturing Centre, EMPOWER will explore how manufacturers can move beyond simply measuring energy and resource usage to better understand and optimise operational behaviours.
While organisations can typically see how much energy and resources a facility consumes, identifying which machines, processes or production activities are responsible for that demand is far more difficult. Without this context, opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce waste and make better-informed operational decisions can remain hidden.
EMPOWER aims to bridge this gap between measurement and understanding.
Using software from Bloc, hardware and sensors from Pressac, manufacturing process expertise and applied research capability from Coventry University and requirements from the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, the innovative solution will be developed and trialled in an operational environment with Alucast, DMC and Wallwork. The consortium will investigate how energy and resource monitoring, production data and operational information can be brought together to create a clearer picture of behaviour across the manufacturing process. By linking consumption directly to operational activity, the project seeks to help manufacturers understand why energy and resources are being used, how demand changes over time and where opportunities for improvement exist.
Purpose-built to support a wide variety of industrial applications, blocHub enables organisations to connect, contextualise and act on data from across their operations. Whether supporting energy intelligence, process improvement, operational visibility, AI initiatives or broader digital transformation programmes, blocHub provides the connected digital backbone needed to turn fragmented information into meaningful insight.
EMPOWER demonstrates this versatility in practice. Rather than focusing on productivity or asset performance, the project applies the same connected-data principles to energy and resource management, enabling manufacturers to relate consumption directly to manufacturing activity. This has the potential to reveal unusual behaviour, pinpoint inefficiencies and identify opportunities for improvement that traditional monitoring approaches may overlook.
More broadly, the project highlights a growing shift in how manufacturers approach data. Competitive advantage increasingly comes not from collecting more information, but from understanding the relationships between different operational activities and using those insights to drive better outcomes. By creating a trusted environment where data can be connected and understood in context, blocHub enables organisations to unlock new value from information they already possess.
As EMPOWER progresses, the project will explore new ways to transform energy and resource data into practical operational intelligence, providing manufacturers with greater visibility into the drivers of energy and resource consumption, while further demonstrating how blocHub can be applied to solve a broad range of industrial and operational challenges.
-bloc-digital.png)
The Consortium
Bloc Digital are an award-winning digital solution provider, with experience of developing cutting-edge data integration, processing and engaging visualisation solutions for the aerospace defence and industrial sectors. Established in 2000, it has the right mix of skills and experience to deliver the EMPOWER project. Employing 54 staff, we bring to the project a strong complementary industrial skillset including industrial software engineering, data analytics, digital twin development and Industry 4.0, IOT and data-processing capabilities.
Coventry University’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) is an industry-focused research and innovation environment that brings together academic expertise, advanced manufacturing capabilities and industrial collaboration. AME works with manufacturers on applied research and technology development across areas including digital manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing, metrology and advanced manufacturing processes, helping translate research into practical solutions that improve industrial capability, productivity and competitiveness.
Bloc Digital are an award-winning digital solution provider, with experience of developing cutting-edge data integration, processing and engaging visualisation solutions for the aerospace defence and industrial sectors. Established in 2000, it has the right mix of skills and experience to deliver the EMPOWER project. Employing 54 staff, we bring to the project a strong complementary industrial skillset including industrial software engineering, data analytics, digital twin development and Industry 4.0, IOT and data-processing capabilities.
Coventry University’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) is an industry-focused research and innovation environment that brings together academic expertise, advanced manufacturing capabilities and industrial collaboration. AME works with manufacturers on applied research and technology development across areas including digital manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing, metrology and advanced manufacturing processes, helping translate research into practical solutions that improve industrial capability, productivity and competitiveness.
Pressac is a leading provider of smart building technology, designing and manufacturing intelligent sensors and communication devices that provide valuable real-time data insights. For over 60 years, Pressac has helped businesses around the world improve building performance, lower energy consumption, and enhance workplace experiences.
Alucast is a leading UK aluminium foundry specialising in gravity, sand and high-pressure die casting for automotive and aerospace supply chains. Their operations include melting, holding and casting processes that exhibit high energy demand, thermal variability and strict quality requirements. Alucast provides real production insight into furnace cycles, batch behaviour and casting workflows. Their engineering teams offer practical understanding of process constraints, tooling considerations and the operational realities of foundry environments. With a combination of advanced casting capability and hands-on production expertise, Alucast contributes a valuable industrial setting for evaluating sensing technologies, operational insights and energy-related improvements in demanding manufacturing contexts.
Wallwork Cambridge Ltd, one of four sites in the Wallwork Group, is a specialist provider of thermal-processing services, including vacuum heat treatment, vacuum brazing, plasma nitriding, PVD and CVD coatings and PALMS electropolishing. Their facilities house energy-intensive processes where precise control of thermal cycles under high vacuum is critical to product performance. Wallwork brings detailed knowledge of furnace operation, metallurgical requirements and batch-processing variability. Their engineering and technical teams offer practical insight into energy demand, operational efficiency, maintenance behaviour and process optimisation across a range of high-integrity applications. By providing access to complex thermal workflows and real operational data, Wallwork contributes an essential environment for assessing improvements to energy understanding and process stability.
The Digital Manufacturing Centre is an advanced engineering and additive-manufacturing facility serving aerospace, motorsport, space and high-performance sectors. Equipped with polymer and metal AM systems, precision machining centres, automated inspection equipment and digital production workflows, the DMC represents a highly instrumented, digitally mature manufacturing environment. Their engineers bring expertise in process validation, scheduling, machine utilisation and quality assurance across complex production chains. The DMC provides valuable operational data and technical feedback that supports development focused on resource planning, process repeatability and efficient use of advanced manufacturing assets. Their involvement offers insight into the needs of precision, high-integrity manufacturing operations.
Alucast is a leading UK aluminium foundry specialising in gravity, sand and high-pressure die casting for automotive and aerospace supply chains. Their operations include melting, holding and casting processes that exhibit high energy demand, thermal variability and strict quality requirements. Alucast provides real production insight into furnace cycles, batch behaviour and casting workflows. Their engineering teams offer practical understanding of process constraints, tooling considerations and the operational realities of foundry environments. With a combination of advanced casting capability and hands-on production expertise, Alucast contributes a valuable industrial setting for evaluating sensing technologies, operational insights and energy-related improvements in demanding manufacturing contexts.
Wallwork Cambridge Ltd, one of four sites in the Wallwork Group, is a specialist provider of thermal-processing services, including vacuum heat treatment, vacuum brazing, plasma nitriding, PVD and CVD coatings and PALMS electropolishing. Their facilities house energy-intensive processes where precise control of thermal cycles under high vacuum is critical to product performance. Wallwork brings detailed knowledge of furnace operation, metallurgical requirements and batch-processing variability. Their engineering and technical teams offer practical insight into energy demand, operational efficiency, maintenance behaviour and process optimisation across a range of high-integrity applications. By providing access to complex thermal workflows and real operational data, Wallwork contributes an essential environment for assessing improvements to energy understanding and process stability.
The Digital Manufacturing Centre is an advanced engineering and additive-manufacturing facility serving aerospace, motorsport, space and high-performance sectors. Equipped with polymer and metal AM systems, precision machining centres, automated inspection equipment and digital production workflows, the DMC represents a highly instrumented, digitally mature manufacturing environment. Their engineers bring expertise in process validation, scheduling, machine utilisation and quality assurance across complex production chains. The DMC provides valuable operational data and technical feedback that supports development focused on resource planning, process repeatability and efficient use of advanced manufacturing assets. Their involvement offers insight into the needs of precision, high-integrity manufacturing operations.
