October 2020

n NEWS October 2020 www.drivesncontrols.com 10 THE GOVERNMENT is investing £147m in the Manufacturing Made Smarter programme over the coming five years with the aim of boosting productivity by 30%, accelerating the move to net-zero emissions, creating thousands of skilled jobs, and reshaping the future of manufacturing. It is hoping that a similar investment by industry will bring the total expenditure to around £300m. The first £50m of joint funding (£20m from government and £30m from industry) is being allocated to 14 manufacturing projects involving around 30 small or medium businesses, 29 larger enterprises and nine universities. In one of these projects, called Smart Connected Shop Floor , GKN Aerospace is leading a team including organisations from the aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceutical industries, to trial a combination of digital technologies in live manufacturing environments. These technologies include AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning, intelligent robots, AR (augmented reality) and “smart” devices that can exchange information between old and new computer systems to achieve a better understanding the data. The project will create a more seamless flow of real-time information, enabling cost-effective manufacturing decisions across the supply chain. A second successful project, the Digital Designer Robot , aims to offer machine-to- person “digital assistance”. When a business needs a bespoke product, it will be able to use a digital robot to help design it and upload the design to Web site of a supplier which can then sample, prototype and manufacture the product Rich Ingram, director of the funding recipient Account Management Online, says the technology will provide “the opportunity to define made-to-order products and get a price in real time including bought in tooling, sub-assemblies and parts”. He predicts that it will deliver benefits “in many industries where design requirements are unique”. Other successful projects include: n WeldZero , led by ATS Applied Tech Systems of Nuneaton, which will explore the use of robots, sensors and automation to improve the accuracy of welding metal parts on production lines. The machines will also collect data to help improve the manufacturing process, leading to higher- quality parts and faster production in industries including automotive and construction. n Dialog , led by Atlas Copco IAS UK, which will integrate automation with logistics to produce affordable, human-interacting robots that will help machines to make quicker and better decisions, thus improving production efficiency. n The Digitisation of Aluminium Welding project, led by Frog Bikes, which will use digital technologies and manufacturing techniques including virtual design and testing, and robots, to join bicycle components to create a lighter, better-performing bikes. The system will streamline production, cut costs, and, by allowing suppliers to use recycled materials, cut waste. Announcing the funding, business Secretary Alok Sharma said that “by helping manufacturers to reduce costs, cut waste, and slash the time it takes to develop their products, this multi-million pound uplift will help fire up the cylinders of productivity as we build back better from the pandemic.” The Manufacturing Made Smarter programme is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. It aims to create a connected ecosystem harnessing the power of UK companies, technology developers, start-ups and spinouts, and research institutions. It is also supporting SMEs through growth accelerators – partnerships between the government and the private sector where experts help businesses to identify barriers to growth. Applications for a second round of funding, focusing on digital supply chains, closed earlier this month. £20m of funding will be available to support feasibility studies and research projects. The government has committed to raising productivity and earning power in the UK by spending 2.4% of GDP on r&d across the UK economy by 2027. £300m programme aims to transform UK manufacturing Alok Sharma: helping to fire up the cylinders of productivity EMERSON HAS BOUGHT the Italian industrial software developer, the Progea Group, for an undisclosed sum. Progea supplies IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), plant analytics, HMI and Scada (supervisory control and data acquisition) software. Founded in 1991, the Progea Group is headquartered in Modena and has around 55 employees. It claims to be the only Italian company to be offering automation software to the global market. Its portfolio includes the Movicon.Next Scada/HMI/MES platform, the Pro.Lean MES software and the Connect OPC UA offering. Emerson plans to add Progea’s capabilities to its own embedded software and control portfolio for manufacturing, infrastructure and building automation applications, allowing users to obtain machine and plant control systems from one supplier. The acquisition will help to bridge a “critical” technology gap by lowering total costs of ownership and reducing the barriers that came from working with multiple suppliers. www.progea.com Emerson buys Italy’s Progea to bolster its automation software portfolio