ROUND-UP JULY/AUGUST 2019
In Brief
Investment
US firm invests in Scotland
American industrial giant,
Plexus has announced the
£3.2 million renovation of its
factory in Livingston. Plexus’
Engineering Solutions division,
rapid prototyping factory and
electrical and mechanical
laboratories are co-located in
the purpose-built facility. Five
new R&D jobs will be created
following the renovation work.
Plexus
Sweet success for Haribo
Haribo, the UK’s largest sweets
manufacturer, is set to create
50 new roles as it expands
production at its facility in
Castleford, West Yorkshire.
The announcement follows
export success and a new
agreement to fulfil growing
demand in the USA. The familyowned
business, which currently
employs over 720 people across
two UK factories, will increase
production in early 2020.
AMC opens unique factory
AMC Group has officially
unveiled its first purpose-built
factory for freshly squeezed
juice and a variety of plant-based
and free-from products. The
new £11 million, 5,100m2 site in
Skelmersdale has created over
100 jobs. The juice facility, which
has the capability to provide the
entire UK with freshly squeezed
juice, came online in April. In
order to meet this demand, the
bespoke plant can squeeze up
to 960 oranges per minute.
Siemens launches
I4.0 accelerator
Siemens Digital
Industries, together
with Atos and the
Science and
Technology Facilities
Council (STFC), has
launched a groundbreaking
Industrial
Digitalisation
Accelerator (IDA) to
offer businesses a
practical, collaborative
space to explore
Industry 4.0 technology.
The Industry 4.0
collaboration space will
be based at the Hartree
Centre at the STFC’s
Daresbury Laboratory.
It marks the first time
that three distinct but
complementary experts
in the field of analytics
(Atos), computing
(STFC) and IoT solutions
(Siemens) have come
together and combined
their expertise to offer
industry the opportunity
to discover new
pathways to growth.
The accelerator
program is offering
businesses of all sizes
the chance to produce
proofs-of-concept,
mentorship to help
them acquire Industry
4.0 technologies such
as Big Data analytics, IoT,
modelling, simulation
and sensor technology
through the Made
Smarter programme,
and the opportunity to
develop end-to-end
digital solutions.
“We aim to cut
through the noise to
help businesses
overcome their own
digitalisation challenges
and realise the
opportunities presented
within Industry 4.0,” said
Brian Holliday, MD of
Siemens Digital Factory.
People
Sir John Parker has been
named as the new patron of
the Society of Operations
Engineers. One of Britain’s
most senior industrialists, Sir
John, has chaired five FTSE
100 companies, including the
National Grid. He was also
chair of the Court of the Bank
of England from 2004-2009.
147 people were fatally
injured at work in the UK
in 2018/19, according to the
HSE. Although 2018/19 saw
an increase of six workplace
fatalities from the previous
year, the number has remained
broadly level in recent years.
A quarter of those killed at
work were aged 60 or over.
Sustainability
TCE announces CCU plant
Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE)
has unveiled plans to build
the UK’s first industrial-scale
Carbon Capture & Utilisation
(CCU) Demonstration Plant at
its Northwich site, which will
reduce its carbon emissions
whilst ensuring a secure and
sustainable supply of CO2.
The £16.7 million project has
been part-funded by a £4.2
million grant from BEIS.
Carbon tracking platform
Veolia has launched a first-ofits
kind, web-based platform
that can evaluate the complete
carbon and water use of
businesses. Aimed at helping
organisations better calculate
their carbon footprint, the
tool, called GreenPath, gives
a true picture of achievement,
carries out biodiversity
diagnoses and contributes to
strategic future planning.
Hot topic
Exports from the UK to the rest of the
world grew by 4% to a record £647
billion in the 12 months to May 2019,
according to the latest figures from the ONS.
It marks 38 months of consecutive export growth.
Industry
Atlas Copco restructures
Atlas Copco has restructured
its UK Industrial Technique
division, merging its Tools
and Industrial Assembly
Solutions business areas
into a single entity. The new
division, headed by general
manager James McAllister,
will have a particular focus
on efficiency improvements
and cost reduction in
automotive manufacturing.
Productivity falls again
UK labour productivity fell for
the third consecutive quarter,
according to research by the
Office for National Statistics.
Figures for Q1 2019 showed
a 0.2% decrease compared
to the same quarter in 2018.
Katherine Kent, head of
productivity at the ONS said
the results were “at odds with
what we’ve seen after previous
economic downturns.”
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