April 2020

COMMENT n SCALING UP TO FLATTEN THE CURVE Around Christmas, I was in discussions with DFA Media about joining its experienced editorial team on Drives & Controls and its sister titles. None of us envisaged what lay ahead, and the extent to which it is now influencing everything we all do. Against this backdrop, Tony Sacks has kindly handed me the opportunity to write my first Comment column* in this issue of Drives & Controls . Home working is a simple adjustment for journalists – I am in my 26th year as a home worker! For many, the days of going to the office may well be over. So should our priority be less about trying to move people with fast roads and railways, and, rather, by installing superfast broadband, to move data instead? Factories are shutting down in droves. While closing a factory is hard, re- opening it will be harder. Some critical manufacturing industries such as food, consumer products, and life sciences are already moving to continue operating with social distancing measures implemented. The biggest mistake operational and digital leaders can make now is to assume that in a few weeks everything will go back to the way it was and begin operating again as normal. The worst-case could be multiple waves of the virus over the next 18 months. The coronavirus is speeding up the latest wave of automation. Robots in factories, warehouses, even restaurants, can help keep society running and there is evidence that some manufacturers are turning to robots as a way of reducing risk and cutting costs. For example, Bots .co.uk specialises in cobot arms, a concept which is really taking off when manufacturing needs to stay operational, but the lockdown is causing staffing issues. Once installed the robot can be remotely monitored to check the tasks performed and productivity.“We have totally run out of robots at the moment, but we are due more in the next couple of weeks,”says CEO Tim Warrington.“Demand for robot hire has risen so fast that we just couldn't keep up with it. Food packaging and plastic moulding companies in the medical sector are our main sectors.” In a competitive marketplace, the profit opportunity is defined by how quickly one can get a product from concept to production. As product lifetimes have shortened, so the tools used to shrink development times have become crucial. These include collaborative working, parallel development teams, follow-the-sun design activities, digital twins and advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing. Even as political considerations seem to have hindered the supply of ventilators, it is heartening to see how engineering companies have shared ventilator designs as open source documents, enabling companies who normally manufacture aero engines, racing cars, and even vacuum cleaners to come together to answer the national and global emergency. Every Thursday evening, we rightly stand and applaud the momentous efforts of our NHS workers. Never again will we overlook who it is we need in a crisis. It is the doctors, nurses, cleaners, bus drivers and delivery drivers who are keeping our society going. But perhaps we can also give a quiet nod to the engineers and scientists, those undervalued and unfashionable communities, who have answered the call when it mattered most. Andy Pye, Consulting Editor * A longer version of this Comment can be found on www.drivesncontrols.com Welcome to the new generation of service loops plastics for longer life ® igus ® Tel. 01604 677240 sales@igus.co.uk .co.uk/e-loop igus ® e-loop • Plastic e-chain ® with high strength rope • e-chain ® enforces minimum bend radius • Cable friendly interior • Outer PU body protects cables and hoses against impact • Modular design for access • Easy installation, even for retrofitting UK-1252-e-loop 94x270.indd 1 12.08.19 14:02