Industry 4.0 is often promoted by the same established, large manufacturing companies. Their examples
do not strike a chord with the vast majority of smaller operations. But Andrew Allcock has news of an
industry-fi rst high precision shopfl oor asset/workpiece location tracking project that does have broader
relevance. And it is a key part of a data-driven business improvement effort at Dyer Engineering
‘challenging’ fabricated and welded components that
then require machining and, overall, it’s a high-mix, lowvolume
activity.
The rm operates from two sites that comprise 10
separate buildings, six at its Ann eld Plain, Stanley site,
where medium volume batch production and job shop
work is undertaken, the remainder at its Harelaw, Stanley
operation two to three miles away, where larger OEM
batch production and large low-volume fabrications are
tackled. Total oorspace is around 100,000 ft2.
Tasked in 2017 to investigate Industry 4.0 by
managing director Graeme Parkins was operations
manager Richard Larder, who today goes by the title of
head of digital innovation. “Following the coverage
Industry 4.0 was receiving in the trade press and
coupled with a desire to be back out in front as a leader
in digital adoption, I was asked to investigate the
Industry 4.0 landscape.”
Dyer Engineering had been one of the early adopters
of shop oor data collection (SFDC) and MRP in the 90s,
with Epicor ERP installed in 2013, but these tools are
Dyer Engineering has worked with the Digital
Catapult to install high precision indoor asset
location tracking. The company is one of two that
have taken part in the so-called ‘Connected Factory’
project, backed by some £250,000 of Innovate UK
money. The technology went live at Dyer Engineering in
August last year and an associated ef ciency boost
valued at some £10,000 month is being realised.
Employing around 195 people and having a forecast
turnover of £12 million, Dyer Engineering, located on two
sites near Durham, is an innovative group of fabrication
and machining businesses having wide-ranging
capabilities to manufacture metal components and
structures. It also provides maintenance, repair and
overhaul support services to keep equipment, facilities
and processes running.
Working across a diverse range of markets and
materials, it processes small parts that can be picked
up by the handful through to large-scale structures in
small volumes, even one-offs, weighing up to 15 tonnes.
Dyer Engineering’s niche is the manufacture of
Dyer Engineering’s Annfi eld Plain, Stanley site. Inset far left:
Richard Larder, Dyer’s head of digital innovation with Digital
Catapult’s Sophie Craggs, who heads up the Digital
Manufacturing programme. Inset left: Job paperwork
incorporates trackers for much of the company’s work
Not lost
in space
Receivers are
placed in the roof
space (see also
cover photo). One
transmitter can
cover an area 100
by 100 m, there
are 60 at Dyer
Engineering
10 April 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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