News » UK News £28.5m initiative aims to keep UK ahead in drive tech
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is investing £28.5m in nine facilities across the UK aimed at building a competitive drive and motor supply chain across sectors including industrial, transport and energy. The programme, part of the Driving the Electric Revolution initiative, will build on existing capabilities and fill gaps in the UK’s current capabilities in PEMD (power electronics, machines and drives) technologies. The facilities are due to start operating later this year.
HVM Catapult leads project to tackle the UK’s skills gap
The UK Department for Education has appointed the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVM Catapult) to lead a project to develop high-quality modular courses aimed at upskilling employees to help address skills gaps in sectors such as manufacturing and engineering.
Make UK raises growth forecast from 2.7% to 3.9%
Make UK, the organisation that represents UK manufacturers, has upgraded its 2021 growth forecast for the sector from 2.7% to 3.9%, following a survey that shows output increased in the past quarter following three quarters of shrinkage.
Brexit has raised costs for more than half of UK manufacturers
Brexit has increased costs for 51% of UK manufacturers, with 35% saying they have lost revenue and one in five that they have lost potential business due to Brexit, according to a new survey by the manufacturers’ organisation, Make UK. The study reveals that 74% of the companies quizzed have experienced delays since the UK ended its transition period for leaving the European Union on 1 January, with 28% experiencing hold-ups of 1–2 weeks because of goods stuck in transit and other delays.
Williams upgrades wind tunnel controls in new partnership
B&R Industrial Automation is supplying the Formula 1 competitor Williams Racing with improved controls for its wind tunnel facility under a new technology and innovation partnership signed by the two companies.
Government’s £8m will help up to 1,000 SMEs to go digital
The UK Government has earmarked £8m in funding to expand the Made Smarter manufacturing technology support programme, rolling it out from the pilot project in North West England, to help up to 1,000 SME manufacturers in the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside, and the West Midlands to adopt digital technologies such as robotics and automation.
Robots slash magnet placing times from one hour to 55s
UK engineers have used robots to cut the time it takes to place powerful magnets in electrical generators from one hour to just 55 seconds. The development work was done by automation experts at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) as part of a project called Robomag.
MTC trial will allow manufacturers to explore benefits of 5G
The Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre is to trial a private 5G network aimed at helping manufacturers to boost their productivity. The network will be installed at the MTC's Ansty Park site and will allow manufacturers of all sizes to explore the potential benefits of multi-edge computing and wireless connections for digital manufacturing and robotics. A live 5G-connected robotics demonstrator is planned for later this year.
Sales fall for a third of UK manufacturers in the latest lockdown
More than a third of UK manufacturers have seen sales and orders drop since the start of the latest lockdown, according to a new survey by the manufacturers’ association, Make UK. A similar proportion (36.7%) think it will take between 6–12 months for normal trading to return, while 28.9% believe it will take a year or longer. A quarter of the 186 companies surveyed (25.4%) report that they are currently operating at full capacity, while half expect to have recovered to that position by the start of 2022.
Cheshire plant builds conveyor drives for the global market
Siemens’ UK drives factory in Congleton, Cheshire, has started to produce a new distributed drive system targeting the global conveyor market. The G115D inverter, announced late last year, is being produced in wall- and motor-mounting versions which users can specify via an online configurator, along with matching motors and gearboxes, to tailor the drives for their applications.
Southern Manufacturing show shifts to the autumn
The organisers of the Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show have announced that the 2021 event, previously postponed from February to April, will now take place as a two-day event on 6 and 7 October at its usual venue, the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre. The 2022 show will return to its usual dates in early February, five months later. It will be a three-day event, running from 8–10 February.
EU border red tape is disrupting UK manufacturers
The manufacturers’ group Make UK is calling for the Government to tackle the border delays being caused by complex paperwork since the UK left the European single market at the start of the year. A Make UK survey of 186 manufacturers has shown that 60% of them have experienced significant disruption at the UK’s borders with the EU since 1 January, with 61% suffering from supply chain disruptions either importing or exporting to or from the EU, and 32% having their supply chains impacted in both directions.
Rubix adds repairer Knowlton & Newman to its portfolio
The industrial distributor Rubix UK has acquired Knowlton & Newman which provides electromechanical repair services to customers in the South of England. The acquisition is part of the Rubix’s network development strategy, and follows its recent acquisition of the industrial automation specialist, Matara.
Half of UK industry feels opportunities outweigh risks
Fears over the impact of the UK’s new trading relationship with the EU and the attractiveness of the UK for investment and talent are clouding the outlook for manufacturers as they enter 2021, according to a survey conducted by Make UK and PwC.
Motor firm expands as part of $50m fuel-cell plane project
The British specialist electric motor manufacturer Aeristech is expanding and creating up to 60 jobs after being awarded £2.75m of Government funding as part of the $49.7m UK-based HyFlyer II project which aims to deliver the world’s first 19-seat hydrogen-electric powered aircraft by 2023. Aeristech is planning to expand its aerospace activities, including developing technologies such as power-dense electric motors and controls for hydrogen fuel-cell compressors. The company is investing in an advanced facility in the West Midlands and, over the next four years, expects create up to 60 skilled roles in areas such as power electronics and drive engineering.
