ROUND-UP NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
In Brief
Industry
Juke production underway
Nissan’s Sunderland plant
has commenced production
of the latest version of the
Juke, following a £100 million
investment at the factory. Twothirds
of the vehicle’s suppliers
are based in the EU, with 70%
of models destined for export
to European markets. Over
35,000 UK jobs are supported
by the factory, which has been
producing vehicles for 35 years.
Liberty eyes £8bn market
Industrial giant, Liberty, has
started construction of a powder
metals development facility
in Teesside that will expand
the group’s reach in specialist
metals and, ultimately, into the
emerging market for materials
for 3D printing, estimated to
be worth as much as £8 billion
a year. An initial £10 million
is being invested to set up the
Liberty Powder Metals business,
including a state-of-the-art
vacuum induction inert gas
atomiser at its core.
£5m Protolabs expansion
Protolabs, the world’s fastest
digital manufacturer of custom
prototypes, has released details
of a £5 million expansion plan
at its European headquarters
in Telford, including a 4,600m2
extension to its factory. The
company is also looking to
expand its workforce by 60
people – equivalent to 10% –
in the next two years.
Energy cost beats
sustainability
Fewer than one-quarter
(22%) of energy
managers in the UK
manufacturing sector
say hitting sustainability
targets is their number
one business priority,
according to a survey
commissioned by
npower Business
Solutions, Energy HQ.
By contrast, 47% say
that saving money on
their energy remains
the primary concern.
The findings are
likely a result of
increasing political and
economic uncertainty
facing the UK: 77%
are concerned about
potential business
energy price hikes, with
Brexit viewed as the
greatest factor affecting
business energy prices
in the future (36%).
However, UK
manufacturers are
already implementing
a number of strategies
to help manage energy
efficiency and better
prepare their business
for any continued
uncertainty. More than
half (58%) either have
implemented or are
planning to implement
demand side response
technology, while 38%
say employee behaviour
change programmes
have led to the greatest
reduction of energy
use for their businesses.
“It’s great to see
energy managers in
UK manufacturing
businesses already
taking positive steps to
plan for the sector’s
uncertain future,” said
Ben Spry, head of
flexibility services at
npower Business
Solutions, Energy HQ.
People
Helen Lightbody has
been named as the new
chief operating officer at the
University of Strathclyde’s
Advanced Forming Research
Centre. She joins after a career
of leading operations teams at
some of Scotland’s foremost
companies, including Babcock
International and Glenfield.
Nearly 50 schoolgirls have
been given a taste of life on the
shopfloor at one of the UK’s
busiest factories as Vauxhall’s
Luton plant hosted its annual
Women in Engineering event.
The five-day event gave the
48 girls from local schools the
chance to see up-close how the
site operates.
Advanced Manufacturing
Harnessing 5G’s potential
Digital Catapult and Ericsson
have teamed up to launch an
Industrial 5G Accelerator to
showcase the potential for the
new communications network
technology in an industrial
setting. It has been predicted
that 5G has the potential to
unlock as much as £15.7 billion
per year for the UK economy
via more efficient processes
and increased productivity.
Ford invests in EV tech
Ford has announced a
£23 million investment in
an Advanced Propulsion
Laboratory at its newly
renamed UK headquarters,
Dunton Campus. When
operational in late 2020,
the laboratory will allow
Ford to develop and test the
latest electric powertrain
technology for its range of
commercial vehicles.
Hot topic
The value of exported goods from
the UK fell in Q3, despite 81% of
manufacturers sending goods abroad
between July and September, according
to Lloyds Bank’s International Trade Index.
Sustainability
Government carbon fund
The government is exploring
the most effective ways to
cut industrial greenhouse
gas emissions as part of
a £315 million drive to
decarbonise industry by
2050. The Industrial Energy
Transformation Fund will help
businesses with high power
use cut their bills and carbon
emissions through investing
in efficiency measures.
Zero waste for Kellogg
Kellogg UK has revealed
plans to reduce its organic
waste, including food waste,
by 50% on all its product
lines, including its cereals and
Pringles. The company said it
will continue to donate to food
redistribution charities such
as FareShare and the Trussell
Trust, which both received
around 10 million servings of
food from Kellogg in 2018.
Kalyakan /stock.adobe.com
Nissan UK
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