Raw Materials Research and Development Council, in partnership with University of Lagos and other stakeholders in the manufacturing sector has expressed determination to boost the manufacturing sector.
It said in a statement that it had concluded plans to organise the first international additive conference scheduled to hold in Lagos.
Speaking in Lagos on Thursday, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer, RMRDC, Prof Hussaini Ibrahim, said the move would showcase the economic potentials of additive manufacturing in the nation’s manufacturing sector and its impact on cost reduction in production activities.
Ibrahim, who was represented at the event by a Director in the Lagos Office, Mr Tokunbo Habeeb, informed the audience that the council showed interest in the collaboration because of the huge saving in foreign exchange that additive manufacturing can save for the country.
He also stated that reports have shown that additive manufacturing could bring down their cost of manufacturing operations by at least 30 per cent.
“Indeed, manufacturers have been bedevilled with myriads of challenges hindering manufacturing activities; hence the conference would have not come at a better time where manufacturers are seeking innovative ways to boost their profit margins while also reducing their cost of operations,” he said.
Also speaking, a Professor at the University of Lagos who also doubles as a member of the Additive Manufacturing Group, Prof. Funso Falade, said additive manufacturing is a newly developed manufacturing technology that is widely accepted worldwide in the advanced world, saying that it is revolutionising the industrial production landscape.
“On the one hand, it makes entirely new products and services possible, and on the other hand, the creation and production of innovative products becomes extremely quick, customer-oriented and flexible. Additive manufacturing therefore has a long-lasting, disruptive effect on the innovative capacity and competitiveness of the economy. If companies can identify and harness the potential of additive manufacturing it can strengthen the innovative capacity and competitiveness of the economy in the long term.”
Earlier, the Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Kadir, represented by the Director of Corporate Services, MAN, Ambrose Oruche, said manufacturing additive would make Nigerian manufacturers more competitive when it competes with other African countries on the continent.
He said, “Some of our members are already using the technology. The sector is struggling to survive because of the numerous challenges hindering the sector.”
