May 2019

ABB has announced Betech has been appointed the first UK ABB authorised value provider for low voltage motors covering the North American NEMA standard. ABB says the Yorkshire based company has over 20 years’ experience in sales, support and application know how for the NEMA product portfolio, having previously worked with Baldor motors before that company was acquired by ABB. Richard Gee, ABB’s UK channel manager for low voltage motors, says: “With its history, expertise and contacts, Betech is ideally placed to become the first UK official NEMA motor partner. As a US standard, NEMA motors are particularly in demand from OEMs exporting machinery to or from the US, or to territories that specify North American standards, such as Saudi Arabia.” As a fully certified ABB authorised value provider, Betech can access ABB’s extensive NEMA stock held in Germany and the USA, as well its own local stocks. It offers a wide range of NEMA motors to suit many applications, including severe duty, explosion proof, washdown, pump, fan, HVAC and cooling tower. Betech has also invested in systems and training in order to provide industry-leading service levels and enquiry response times. “This is the ideal time to become the ABB authorised value provider for NEMA motors as our knowledge and sales of this product range continues to grow,” says Chris Benson, managing director of Betech. “Becoming an ABB authorised value provider confirms that we have the full confidence of ABB and that it recognises us as the UK specialist for its NEMA product range.” w | www.abb.com BRAMMER BUCK & HICKMAN, a leading UK industrial supplies specialist reports its Mecaline range, is an exclusive new range of power transmission products that combines quality and reliability, backed with Brammer Buck & Hickman’s extensive engineering experience and added value services. The company says the Mecaline range has been designed in collaboration with world-leading manufacturers in their respective fields, to very strict specifications whilst at the same time are highly competitively priced. Mecaline features electric motors, gearboxes, chain drives, belts and couplings. Mecaline motors are available as three phase asynchronous motors in both aluminium and cast-iron bodies, up to 30kW. Designed for the most common types of applications, they feature IE3 premium efficiency for significantly lower energy consumption and excellent heat dissipation which reduces the temperature on windings and bearings. w | www.bbh-rubix.com MOTIVAIR, a UK air compressor expert, has announced the appointment of Nigel Paton as chief operating officer. Nigel has an extensive background in large scale service delivery and project execution, gained over the last 4 years as operations director at Synectics and 21 years at G4S. The company says Nigel brings with him a wealth of experience and leadership skills in technology led engineering, complex service delivery, minor works and major system installations across a wide selection of industries. Nigel commented, “I am very much looking forward to working closely with the management and engineering teams to drive and improve efficiencies, enhance customer experience and increase sales revenue. Motivair is well positioned to grow in its respective markets and I aim to support the Motivair team to achieve our joint objectives.” t | 0845 009 6161 w | www.motivair.co.uk New operational leadership With the demand for a reduction in food waste increasing, most major retailers are now taking steps to improve their supply chain and help reduce food wastage with one initiative being the use of data embedded barcodes on some of their shorter shelf life products. So how can a barcode help in the drive to reduce food waste? Currently in the distribution chain before delivery to store, the barcoded information already on the pallets, cases and trays provides visibility and accurate knowledge about where products are, and what shelf life they possess. However, once they are in store the retailer loses that visibility. A new type of barcode (the Data Embedded Barcode or DEB) has been introduced which is printed onto the item of sale. In addition to identifying the product, as the existing barcode does, it also contains the expiry date and possibly batch identification data. By scanning this barcode in store when stocking the shelf as well as at the checkout, the retailer acquires real time information about what stock is on the shelf and how much life it has left. Scanning of the larger codes poses no problem for the AUTOCODING solution. All products can be scanned in the same way using an inline barcode scanner, with all the information held in the DEB checked on a per product basis against the details in the AutoCoding database. If any details are incorrect or missing, the packaging line will be stopped ensuring problems can be rectified prior to product leaving the factory. t | 01928 790444 e | janetharrison@autocodingsystems.com w | www.autocodingsystems.com Data embedded barcodes Power transmission products 34 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk May 2019 Process, Controls & Plant Authorised value provider appointed