April 2020

News 0 6 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk April 2020 Plant & Asset Management Exhibition and co-located shows rescheduled to take place on 25th-27th January 2021 The biennial co-located events; Plant & Asset Management, Smart Industry Expo, Drives & Controls, Fluid Power & Systems, and Air-Tech Exhibitions – have been rescheduled to January 25th-27th 2021, due to the COVID- 19 outbreak. These extra months will help give the industry the space to recover and the opportunity to present their technologies, innovations and solutions in an upturning market with no restrictions on travel. The events will continue to be co-located with MACH. DFA Media Ltd, organiser of Plant & Asset Management Exhibition and co-located shows, says it has been actively monitoring and following advice regarding the Coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19) over the past weeks. As a consequence, it has decided that Plant & Asset Management and its co-located events will be postponed and rescheduled for 25th-27th January 2021, which will take place alongside MACH Exhibition. Managing director of DFA Media, Ian Atkinson, organiser of the co-location of events, commented: “As the effects, actual and projected, of Coronavirus have become increasingly evident across all aspects of our lives both here in the UK and across the globe, it was necessary, as a responsible events organiser, to take the necessary steps to ensure the health and wellbeing of all our exhibitors, contractors and visitors (many of whom face travel restrictions), which is our top priority.” He added: “It is therefore with reluctance that we have taken the decision to postpone the event until January.” However by working closely with its venue partners, THE NEC, Atkinson said DFA Media has been able to secure rescheduled dates for these events in January, alongside MACH, explaining: “Current modelling projections suggest that the virus will peak in around June and decline thereafter during the following months allowing our exhibitors the opportunity to present their technologies, innovations and solutions in an upturning market with no restrictions on travel.” He added: “The rescheduled date provides clarity and ensures we have time and space to deliver the same high-quality event we promised, providing a safe and secure environment conducive to business, networking and career development for the manufacturing sector that we serve.” IMechE’s response to Government’s call for increased ventilators Dr Helen Meese, vice chair of the Biomedical Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers commented recently on the Government’s call for more ventilators to be manufactured. She explained that ventilation equipment, like all medical devices, is very strictly regulated to ensure patient safety: “We must be clear, that while many engineering companies and individuals have come forward to support this initiative, it will take several weeks if not months to ensure the right processes are in place to increase production of these precision parts.” She added that quickest way for the UK to do this is for existing specialist manufacturers to share their drawings, specifications and expertise with non-medical manufacturers so they can make the parts to the right quality standards: “While manufacturing can be ramped up, we must also remember that engineering will play an important role once these parts arrive at the NHS. Clinical engineers will be needed to oversee the process of installing these parts on the wards and even building some of the hand- held ventilators for use by clinical staff.” Meese added that the NHS should look at placing senior clinical engineers in charge of coordinating the supply chain between device manufacturers and hospitals to ensure consistency and best practice is maintained: “The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Biomedical Engineering Division represents over 3000 engineers from across the healthcare engineering sector, many of whom have the expertise to assist in this process. It is in times of such crisis that engineers consistently play a leading role in ensuring the health and safety of our society.”