ROUND-UP NOVEMBER /DECEMBER 2020
In Brief
Investment
Feritech expands base
Subsea engineering specialist,
Feritech, has received planning
permission for a new, 3.5-
acre factory near Falmouth in
Cornwall. The company is at the
forefront of offshore renewable
energy, and is part of a South
West consortium exploring the
capabilities of offshore wind
power for the region.
Restrap
Restrap enjoys biking boom
Restrap, a Leeds company that
has manufactured cycle luggage
in the city for over a decade, has
experienced such a steep rise
in demand for its products in
the last six months that it has
doubled both staff numbers
and the size of its production
capacity to keep pace with a
270% increase in orders from
across the world. Over the last
six months Restrap’s output has
surged from 20,000 units a year
to 10,000 a month.
Brandauer wins APC grant
Brandauer has been selected to
be part of a new consortium led
by tech company Saietta, which
has won an Advanced Propulsion
Centre (APC) grant to fast-track
production on new electric
propulsion motors for use in all
vehicles from scooters through
to buses. The Birmingham-based
precision stamping specialist
will receive £500,000 of R&D
funding. Read more about the
West Midlands’ role in the future
of transportation on p24.
Group to research
autonomous trust
A consortium of
leading universities
has launched a
research project to
explore trust in
autonomous systems.
Led by Heriot-Watt
University, home to the
National Robotarium,
the £3 million project
brings together expertise
in robotics, cognitive
science and psychology
with colleagues from
the University of
Manchester and Imperial
College London.
The use of autonomy
is currently largely
limited to controlled
settings, such as on
automated production
lines. It struggles when
tasks become more
complex or in
uncontrolled
environments, for
example, when drones
are used for offshore
windfarm inspection.
The project, led by
Professor Helen Hastie
from Heriot-Watt
University, will explore
solutions to manage
trust in autonomous
systems, covering
scenarios that require
interaction with humans,
such as self-driving cars
or cobots in a factory.
The group’s work will
steer the autonomous
systems of the future,
ensuring they are widely
used and accepted in a
variety of applications.
“Trust will be managed
through transparent
interaction, increasing
the confidence of those
using autonomous
systems, allowing them
to be adopted in
scenarios never before
thought possible,” said
Professor Hastie.
Brexit
Just 3% of small to mediumsized
manufacturers in
England believe Brexit will
have a positive impact on their
recovery, according to the
latest SWMAS Manufacturing
Barometer. The survey of
over 400 SME companies
across the country found that
uncertainty is still holding
many management teams
back, with 47% admitting
they have no idea how the
transition out of the EU will
affect their business. SWMAS
MD Nick Golding called the
situation a “a perfect storm
for management teams trying
to plan, but they have no idea
what they are planning for.”
Sustainability
AESSEAL achieves net zero
Rotherham-based mechanical
seal manufacturer, AESSEAL,
has achieved net zero CO2
emissions at all its UK
locations, using a continuous
improvement-based approach
to sustainability. AESSEAL is
now on target to achieve net
zero greenhouse gas emissions
across all its locations globally
by 2029 – in time for the
company’s 50th anniversary.
Public likes sustainability
Consumers are rewarding
environmentally-friendly
businesses in the wake of the
coronavirus pandemic, E.ON
research has found. More
than a third (36%) of Brits say
that they are buying products
from companies with strong
environmental credentials as
the pandemic shifts customer
behaviour, with manufacturers
looking to adapt to the change.
Hot topic
The UK is lagging even further behing
its rivals when it comes to adoption of
robotics, according to the IFR. The number
of newly installed units in the UK in 2019
was just a tenth that of Germany.
Smart Manufacturing
SMEs’ digital appetite
The vast majority of SMEs
believe technology will be at
the forefront of the post-
COVID recovery, according
to research published by Sage
and Capital Economics. As
much as £145 billion could
be added to the economy
if technology is properly
embraced; however, 75% of
those surveyed say that their
digital investment is limited.
Robot dogs join MTC
MTC Liverpool’s Digital
Manufacturing Accelerator
programme has taken delivery
of two robotic ‘dogs’. The
all-terrain bots, called Spot,
were developed by Boston
Dynamics, and will be used to
explore how automation could
be used in an open-access
collaboration with local firms
to boost safety in hazardous
working environments.
Nataliya Hora / stock.adobe.com
6 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
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