June 2023 www.drivesncontrols.com 8 BRITAIN’S MANUFACTURERS are calling for a Royal Commission to develop a long-term industrial strategy that would provide companies with a stable environment in which to invest, access talent and expand. This would be backed by an independent council to monitor the strategy, with the Cabinet Office being responsible for coordinating policy across Government. The call has been made off the back of a report and survey from Make UK, which argues that expanding the manufacturing sector to 15% of UK GDP (from the present 9%) would add an extra £142bn in annual output, as well as creating high-skill, high-value jobs. The survey of 312 UK manufacturers finds that most do not believe that there has ever been a long-term Government vision for manufacturing in the UK. The lack of an industrial strategy is hindering their ability to access skills, and 81% say it puts them at a competitive disadvantage to other nations. Make UK points out that the government department responsible for managing industrial strategy has been re-organised five times in the past 15 years with 15 different Business Secretaries. “A lack of a proper, planned, industrial strategy is the UK’s Achilles heel,”says Make UK CEO, Stephen Phipson. “Every other major economy, from Germany to China to the US, has a long-term national manufacturing plan, underlying the importance of an industrial base to the success of its wider economy. The UK is the only country to not have one. If we are to not only tackle our regional inequality, but also compete on a global stage, we need a national industrial strategy as a matter of urgency. “There is now widespread consensus on the need for such a strategy and the specific policy areas it would address. We cannot keep flip-flopping from one initiative to another without setting these in the context of a long-term, wider plan which has consensus and is independently monitored.” According to the Make UK report, called Industrial Strategy – A Manufacturing Ambition (https://drivesncontrols.news/gmibu8), eight in ten UK manufacturers feel that the lack of a national industrial strategy puts them at a competitive disadvantage to other manufacturing nations, while a quarter say it is the main reason that the sector has not grown faster over the past decade. Manufacturers say UK industrial strategy could boost sector to 15% of GDP n NEWS Automation UK / MVC 20-21 June, 2023 CBS Arena, Coventry Automation UK is a new annual exhibition championing the use and development of automation and industrial robots in UK industry. Organised by Bara (the British Automation and Robot Association), it will run alongside the existing Machine Vision Conference (MVC) and exhibition, organised by Ukiva (the UK Industrial Vision Association). Bara and Ukiva are both part of the PPMA (Processing and Packaging Machinery Association). www.automation-uk.co.uk Automatica 2023 27-30 June, 2023 Munich, Germany The automation and robotics show is taking place one year after the previous Automatica, which has traditionally been held every two years. This will get the show back onto a twoyear cycle in odd years. Most of the major robot manufacturers are due to attend, as well as exhibitors from the worlds of machine vision and assembly/handling technology. The event’s three key topics will be: digital integration and AI; sustainable production; and the future of work. https://automatica-munich.com/en EMO 18-23 September, 2023 Hannover, Germany The “world’s leading trade fair for production technology” returns for its first full show since before the Covid pandemic. More than 1,500 exhibitors have already booked stands in the 17 halls (two fewer than at the 2019 event, which attracted more than 2,200 exhibitors and 116,700 visitors – more than half of them from outside Germany). Themes for the 2023 show include the future of business, connectivity and sustainability. www.emo-hannover.de MachineBuilding.Live 4 October, 2023 National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry A new event aimed at machine-builders, systems integrators and OEMs. The organisers are expecting more than 100 suppliers to be showing more than 1,000 new products. Free seminars are planned. www.machinebuilding.live Advanced Engineering UK 1-2 November, 2023 NEC, Birmingham The organisers of “the UK’s largest exhibition for engineering and manufacturing professionals” say that more than 90% of the exhibition space has been sold, and the show has been expanded to create more space . The zones present at previous shows are being removed to emphasise cross-industry working and to avoid segregation. www.advancedengineeringuk.com SPS 2023 14-16 November, 2023 Nuremberg, Germany The Smart Production Solutions show will return to its Nuremberg venue, a year on from the 2022 event which attracted 999 exhibitors and 43,813 visitors. These numbers are expected to be exceeded in 2023, not least because China has lifted its Covid travel restrictions which were still in place during last year’s show. https://sps.mesago.com/nuremberg/en Inverter Drive Systems (IDS) has appointed Matt Handley as its new general manager with responsibility for all aspects of the business,. He will help to shape IDS’strategic direction. Handley has more than 25 years of experience in the VSD sector, including eight years as managing director of KEB (UK), nine years at Mitsubishi Electric, almost four years at Siemens, and a short period as Brook Crompton’s global product manager, before joining IDS. Schneider Electric has appointed Chris Green as senior marketing director for the UK and Ireland. His resonsibilities include overseeing digital communications and PR, as well as segment and channel marketing. He will report to Turhan Turhangil, senior vice-president of global marketing Europe operations, and Kelly Becker, president of the UK&I zone. Before joining Schneider in 2022, Green worked at Honeywell Building Technologies. Mitsubishi Electric has promoted Ciaran Moody to branch president of its Irish operation, which is expected to double in size within five years. He joined Mitsubishi Ireland in 1989 and became general manager of its Factory Automation division in 2014. He has led the branch through an accelerated growth phase, during which time its team has tripled in size, while sales have more than quadrupled. Wayne Rose has been made director and CEO of the British Pump Manufacturers’Association (BPMA), following the retirement of his predecessor, Steve Schofield. Rose brings a wealth of pump industry experience, having spent 24 years at Manchester-based Armstrong Fluid Technology. He joined the BPMA in January, and spent three months shadowing Schofield during a handover period. Rose will assume commercial responsibility for the organisation, and will report to the BPMA board.
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