Distributed Information & Automation Laboratory

Working with Industry

DIAL works with leading international companies in areas ranging from RFID technology development to through-life product information management. Interaction with industry takes a variety of forms including long-term research collaborations, commissioned research, consultancy and executive education.

Current collaborative research programmes

Airport Operations Programme

An industrially sponsored programme supported by international airport management companies, airlines and technology providers that is finding new insights into the understanding and improvement of this complex operations management challenge in the light of new technologies.

Information Quality for Asset Management (IQAM)

IQAM is an EPSRC funded project that aims to develop a methodology and tool to quantify and optimise information quality in the context of asset management to improve the economic sustainability of asset-intensive organisations.

The Cambridge Auto-ID Lab

One of seven Auto-ID Labs around the world working in the field of automated identification of objects in the supply chain. The Cambridge lab offers state-of-the-art industrial facilities for testing research developments.
In addition to our research activities, we actively help to contribute industry requirements and learnings from our research projects into standardisation activities, particularly at GS1 EPCglobal, through our active participation in work groups, requirements groups and the EPCglobal Architecture Review Committee.

Recently completed collaborative research programmes

PROMISE

An EU-funded project that developed better life-cycle management of products through improved information management. www.promise.no and www.promise-plm.com

Aerospace Identification Techonologies Programme

An industry-led independent research initiative that focused on the challenges and opportunities of Auto-ID in the aerospace sector. www.aero-id.org

BRIDGE

An EU-funded project that consisted of an industry-academic consortium building world-wide RFID solutions to integrate into pre-existing industrial business processes. www.bridge-project.eu

SMART

An EU-funded industry/academic programme that looked at ways RFID could be used to support innovative new services for retailers, suppliers and customers.

Strategies for Asset Information Management (SAIM)

SAIM is a research project funded by the Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (IMRC) which aims to develop, evaluate and test new strategies for managing information associated with complex engineering assets.

Self Serving Assets in the Supply Chain

A collaborative research program between Boeing and DIAL aiming to develop a distributed information infrastructure to support the notion of so called intelligent or self-serving assets and to develop their role within Boeing's extended service supply chain.

Service Support Solutions: Strategy and Transition (S4T)

A collaborative programme with industry investigating the potential for product tracking technologies in the development of improved product support services.