In Brief

• Mitsubishi Electric has joined forces with Dowding & Mills to create an automation service centre for Scotland, near Glasgow. The centre will provide scheduled maintenance servicing (including routine jobs such as tuning, cleaning and program back-ups), as well as rapid repair and emergency call-out services. Once the concept has been proven, similar centres could be established in other parts of the UK.

• Canadian linear actuator manufacturer Firgelli Automations has set up an operation in Manchester to serve European customers directly. It will sell its high-force, low-cost actuators from its Web site and plans to ship all orders within 24 hours.

• Schneider Electric has become one of the first companies to adopt Gambica`s recently relaunched Service Classes Scheme, which allows automation companies to define their service levels in accordance with a set of guidelines. The scheme is designed to ensure that suppliers deliver service to a specified standard, and allows users to make informed decisions about the standard of service to ask for.

• C3, based in Weston super Mare, has been appointed the UK distributor for the Italian cable-maker Intercond, whose electrical and special cable ranges include products for servomotors, Interbus, Profibus and DeviceNet. C3 has an online cable part number cross-reference service at www.c3-ltd.com.

• Following the retirement of ZF`s managing director John Poore, a new management team has been appointed for the Nottingham-based gear and driveline supplier. John Lawrence is the new director of finance, Graham Truckel is director of sales and service, and Chris Adcock is director of operations. ZF Great Britain`s 2005 sales of €765m make it ZF`s largest business outside Germany and North America.