September 2020

n NEWS September 2020 www.drivesncontrols.com 6 PLANS TO CREATE an Advanced Machinery and Productivity Institute (AMPI) in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, have moved a step closer after the project secured £50,000 of early-stage funding from the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Strength in Places Fund (SIPF). The aim of the institute is to drive innovation among advanced machinery manufacturers, and it is predicted to generate around 660 direct and 530 indirect jobs. AMPI is one of 17 projects that have been awarded seedcorn funding of up to £50,000 to develop bids for full-stage awards. Some of them will go on to receive further funding of up to £50m. AMPI will be a partnership between the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), which is leading the initiative, Milnrow-based PTG Holroyd Precision, the Universities of Huddersfield and Salford, and the Rochdale Development Agency. If it goes ahead, AMPI will involve more than 40 companies in the region, with more being added nationally. The aim is to promote innovation among advanced machinery manufacturers, building economic growth in the design, development and manufacture of the advanced intelligent machinery, robotic and cooperative systems. “The AMPI initiative is a direct response to the need for the UK to improve its productivity,”explains the NPL’s head of engineering, Paul Shore.“AMPI will support UK companies in developingmachinery and automation products. It is these intelligent production systems that will facilitate UK productivity improvement through greater digitisation and automation within our future manufacturing landscape.” Tony Bannan, CEO of Holroyd and the Precision Technologies Group, has long campaigned for the creation of an institute to tackle the skills shortage facing manufacturers.“Our ambition is for AMPI to become a practical, accessible and potentially transformative resource for regional and national manufacturing companies – of all sizes,”he says.“If your company needs machines, new technologies, advanced processes or integrated systems to make your products, or if you need targeted innovation and skills to improve productivity and competitiveness, then AMPI will help you.” UKRI’s Strength in Places Fund is a pathfinder programme that invests in projects aimed at boosting research and innovation capacity in specific regions of the UK, thus driving economic growth in the area. Other projects that it has funded include: n the Centre for Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing (CESAM) , led by the University of Sunderland, aimed at creating more and better jobs in North East England by expanding smart and sustainable advanced manufacturing. Located at the International Advanced Manufacturing Park in Washington, it will tackle the difficulties associated with introducing digital and manufacturing innovations across supply chains and into fast- moving production environments. The Centre will focus initially on four areas: sustainability; additive manufacturing; robotics and artificial intelligence; and digital manufacturing. Its supporters include Nissan, Komatsu and Cummins. n the Supply Chain 4.0 Southeast Midlands Hub of Excellence , led by Cranfield University, which plans to offer logistics and supply chain expertise to companies in the region and to provide a testbed for new ideas to improve their supply chain processes and operations by adding automation to logistics and supply chain processes. It will also use predictive analytics to match supply with demand, align operations to cope with batch- size one, and apply technologies such as: drones and autonomous robots for last-mile delivery; augmented reality for warehouse operations such as order-picking; and algorithms for designing distribution centre layouts. £50,000 funding brings Rochdale advanced machinery institute closer p There has been controversy in Austria over plans by the Chinese motor manufacturer Wolong to close a motor factory in Spielberg, Austria, which it acquired it bought ATB for €100m in 2011, with the potential loss of around 400 jobs. Wolong wants to transfer production to plants in Poland and Serbia, but its plans have been met with protests, appeals to the Austrian chancellor and challenges in court. Wolong’s other brands include Brook Crompton , Schorch , Laurence Scott and Morley . In 2018, it bought GE Small Industrial Motors for $160m p Schneider Electric has acquired the German company ProLeit which specialises in process control systems with built-in MES (manufacturing execution system) functions for the consumer packaged goods market. ProLeit has more than 500 employees and operates from ten sites worldwide. Its portfolio include the brewmaxx PLC-based control system for breweries, and Plant iT, a modular process control system for controlling and monitoring process plants continuously. p The EtherCat real-time Ethernet system now has 3,000 officially registered device manufacturers – about twice as many as the next most popular form of industrial Ethernet, according to the EtherCat Technology Group (ETG). One reason given for the popularity of system, launched is 2003, is that all complex and time-critical functions are integrated into device controller chips which are available from a choice of 12 different semiconductor manufacturers. p A group of automation specialists has set up a new company, 4Automation , based in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, which will offer turnkey conveyor and automated handling systems for warehouse automation, e-commerce, manufacturing and logistics. The team includes Bryn Roberts as managing director and Shaun Graham as marketing director. Both worked for Advanced Automation Systems for many years. Jamie McGinn, previously sales manager at Interroll , is sales director. p The Single Pair Ethernet System Alliance is holding a global online forum on the SPE technology for the first time on 22 and 23 September. Called Technology Days, the forum will be held in English and will include presentations, discussions and an exhibition. www.singlepairethernet.com/ technologydays An artist's impression of the proposed Advanced Machinery and Productivity Institute in Rochdale NEWS BRIEFS