ROUND-UP FEBRUARY 2020
In Brief
Industry
Korea boost for EV firm
Electric vehicle start-up, Arrival,
has received a €100 million
investment from Korean
automotive giants, Hyundai and
Kia. Arrival’s UK headqaurters
are in London, with a facility
in Banbury. The firm uses a
novel ‘microfactory’ approach
to manufacturing, with the
aim of same-day delivery via a
network of regional factories.
The company has also recently
received backing – and an order
for 10,000 vehicles – from UPS.
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Arrival
Diodes plant receives funds
Having been threatened with
closure as recently as last
year, an electronics factory
in Greenock, Scotland, is to
receive £14 million in funding
from Scottish Enterprise. The
funds are part of a £47 million
investment deal to allow the
site’s owners, Diodes, to upgrade
the site and train the workforce.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
said that the deal “reinforces
Inverclyde’s prominence
as an important area for
manufacturing and business.”
New £12m animal feed mill
Animal feed manufacturer,
l’Anson Brothers, is to build a
new £12 million, 2,000m2 factory
in Dalton, North Yorkshire. The
facility has been designed to be
as energy efficient as possible
and will be one of the most
advanced feed mills in Europe
when it opens in 2022.
Digital tool cuts
FLT training time
Forklift truck operators
will be able to save up
to two days of training
time per employee
thanks to the launch of
a new digital training
tool, called eTruck UK.
The unique digital
storytelling system,
exclusively available in
the UK from RTITB,
enables FLT theory
training to be delivered
online. Candidates learn
by following a story that
encourages them to
think about the effects
that their actions and
decisions have on
others, and how easily
things can go wrong. In
addition, eTruck tackles
decision-making under
pressure and provides
an insight as to how
FLT operations fit into
the wider workplace.
Because the course
is delivered entirely
online, candidates can
study at their own pace
and consume relevant
content before arriving
for practical operator
training. This can
reduce the time taken
to train a novice FLT
operator from the
industry standard of five
days to just three days.
Story-based learning
has been shown to
boost information
retention – facts learnt
in this way are up to 20
times more likely to be
remembered than those
taught in a classroom.
“Since previewing
eTruck last autumn at
IMHX, we’ve had lots of
interest from employers
who want to save time
but are also committed
to improving safety,”
said RTITB managing
director, Laura Nelson.
People
Dick Elsey, CEO of the High
Value Manufacturing Catapult,
is to retire in August after eight
years in the role. Under his
tenure, the HVM Catapult has
become the largest advanced
manufacturing research group
in Europe, delivering over
£2 billion in research and
development for UK industry.
The first cohort of 10
industry bosses in the North
West has graduated from
an eight-month leadership
training course organised by
Lancaster University and Made
Smarter. The course involved
a mixture of workshops, site
visits to and special ‘project
sprints’ to test new ideas.
Sustainability
New plastic recycling tech
igus has invested £4 million in
Mura Technology Limited to
help put the first commercial
Catalytic Hydrothermal
Reactor (Cat-HTR) plant into
operation in Wiltshire later
this year. Cat-HTR technology
can recycle plastic waste into
crude oil within 20 minutes.
The Wiltshire plant will be
able to process over 70,000
tonnes of plastic per year.
WM firm wins EV contract
Coventry manufacturer,
Sarginsons Industries, has
been awarded a contract
to develop revolutionary,
lamppost-mounted charging
points for electric vehicles
by Char.gy. Sarginsons will
supply the full charging unit
to Char.gy, comprising the
aluminium castings as well as
internal assembly, including
the electronics.
Hot topic
The number of UK-built cars fell to
its lowest figure in a decade in 2019,
according to the SMMT. Production was
down by 14.2% to 1.3 million vehicles, of
which 80% were exported to overseas markets.
Health & Safety
The cost of mental health
A study by Deloitte and
mental health charity
Mind has found that poor
mental health is costing UK
businesses up to £45 billion
per year. The report’s author,
Deloitte director Elizabeth
Hampson, said changes to
working practices, especially
around out-of-hours working,
had created challenges for
maintaining mental health.
Fine after fatal explosion
A Sheffield manufacturing
firm has been fined £700,000
after an employee was killed
by an exploding cylinder. John
Townsend, 64, died while
testing tanks at Chesterfield
Special Cylinders in June
2015. The Health & Safety
Executive criticised the
company’s failure to “identify
any additional risks that arise”
during the testing process.
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