Swansea electronic business Scale-d up thanks to new UWTSD project
A Swansea digital musical instrument business has been successfully supported through a research and development (R&D) collaboration with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Scale Project.
Scale, which is designed to support Swansea-based enterprises’ business development and growth, is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, administered by Swansea Council, and delivered by UWTSD. The Project is supported by UWTSD colleagues, including the Assistive Technologies Innovation Centre (ATiC) and its Innovation Fellows.
Dingley Innovations Ltd, based in Llangyfelach, produces an affordable electronic instrument called the Digi-Gurdy. The Digi-Gurdy is the modern digital equivalent of a 10th Century musical instrument known as a hurdy-gurdy, which comprises drones and melody strings bowed by a rotating wheel, played by pressing keys which contact them at different points.
The Digi-Gurdy is an all-electronic device, with correctly placed keys that output MIDI via a USB cable to an attached or wirelessly paired, PC, phone or iPad running suitable MIDI player software, for practice anywhere. The Digi-Gurdy’s body is laser cut for accuracy with internal electronics and crank mechanism, with access panels on the underside.
Since 2023, the fitting of an internal audio board and a headphone socket/line-out has allowed players to just turn the instrument on and use it without connecting to a phone or iPad. This allows the player to practice without annoying family, neighbours, or flatmates, especially if they are a beginner.
Dr John Dingley, Managing Director of Dingley Innovations, said: “High cost and long wait times for a product can be a major barrier for beginner players. I was interested in this collaboration through the Scale project to examine the potential of optimising the manufacturing process of the Digi-Gurdy.
“Specifically, I wanted to explore how we might be able to reduce the number of work hours required in the product’s fabrication and to assist the business’s ability to scale production to meet an increased number of orders.”
Prior to working with the Scale project, each Digi-Gurdy was assembled in a time-consuming process, involving the manual positioning and gluing of multiple wooden components, which were held in place by many carefully applied clamps. The time and effort required to manually align and glue each Digi-Gurdy created a bottleneck in the production process, limiting the total number of orders which could be fulfilled each month.
Nick Thatcher, Project Lead on this Scale collaboration and ATiC Innovation Fellow at UWTSD, said: “Dingley Innovations partnered with the Scale project on a four-week collaborative R&D project to explore how jigs (custom-made tools used to control the location and/or motion of parts or other tools), fixtures, and fast drying adhesives could be used to optimise the assembly process.
“The project, which was an unusual challenge, is the first Scale project to be successfully delivered. The final jig we collaboratively developed and produced was uniquely suited to ATiC’s state-of-the-art 3D printing capabilities, allowing for a fast turnaround of the bespoke production tooling.”
“I was delighted with the outcome of Dingley Innovations’ collaboration with the Scale project,” added Dr Dingley.
“In just four weeks, the project enabled my company to develop a new, greatly improved process to manufacture the Digi-Gurdy more effectively and efficiently. It is an excellent example of how Scale is helping small, local businesses to scale up and increase revenue.”
The Scale project, which runs throughout 2024, helps Swansea-based enterprises wishing to develop new products and services as well as to incorporate new technologies and processes. It is delivered through a series of business focused workshops, one-to-one surgery sessions, and collaborative research and development (R&D) projects.
In addition, Scale works with aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups through a launch pad and accelerator programme, designed to create new sustainable Swansea-based businesses.
Further Information
Rebecca Davies
Executive Press and Media Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: rebecca.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07384 467071