News Industry Comment Raising the bar for 2014
Yours truly hopped over the pond last month as I was very kindly invited to attend the Rockwell Automation Fair, an annual, US-based event (this year held in Houston, Texas), that features industry forums, hands-on labs, tech sessions and demonstrations to expand knowledge and showcase the latest control, power and information technologies. Bearing in mind the venue, it was no surprise that oil and gas was a key topic at the exhibition with dedicated forums and an oil and gas solutions stand on the show floor. However, that wasn’t the only focus area at the event. The concept of the internet of things took centre stage during CEO Keith Nosbusch’s opening address, and how the adoption of standard IP-based Ethernet in both discrete and process automation is revolutionising industry and enabling truly ‘connected’ enterprises. This connectivity and the use of big
data in industry has also brought the issue of security to the fore and this also featured heavily at the event with talks and discussions on how organisations can evolve their systems to create more secure environments. As well as a vibrant exhibition that showcased the latest products and solutions from Rockwell and its partners, there were several busy forum sessions that focussed on specific industries. As discussed, these included oil and gas, but also energy, machine building, marine and automotive. You can read a blog from the Automation Fair on the Connecting Industry website and there will be a full round-up of the event in our January issue.
As for this month, it’s another packed issue which features another addition to our range of supplements - this time looking at PLCs & industrial PCs. Our industry focus this month has a renewable energy theme, while we also take a look at test systems, automated warehousing, communications & networking and sensors & sensing systems as part of our regular features. Joe Bush - Editor
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FOR 2014 THE biennial Drives & Controls exhibition will once again be co-located with complementary shows Plant & Asset Management and Air-Tech, together with the Fluid Power & Systems Exhibition, and the newly launched European Offshore & Energy Exhibition, as well as MACH. Exhibition organiser, DFA Media, is optimistic that next year’s Drives & Controls (NEC Hall 3/3A, Birmingham, 8th-10th April 2014) will exceed both the exhibitor and visitor numbers of the 2012 show. The free to attend exhibition will cover the latest in mechanical power transmission, motion control and automation from over 300 leading companies from around the globe, covering equip- ment, systems and services.
Complementing the exhibitions will be a full pro- gramme of free technical seminars, with speakers offering insight and practical advice on important and topical issues. New to Drives & Controls 2014 will be the Motor Driven Systems (MDS) programme, which brings together the varied strands of legislation, stan- dardisation, system strategies and technological devel- opments that affect motor driven systems. Electric motor driven systems comprise a massive 40% of the world’s total electricity consumption.
Despite this, many businesses are unaware of the tech- nologies available that have the potential to signifi- cantly reduce their energy costs, and in turn the global demand for electricity by 20-30%. MDS presents a series of live events that focus on ways to make these huge savings a reality by applying a systems engineer- ing approach to reduce energy, improve performance and ultimately save money.
Ian Atkinson, managing director of event organiser,
DFA Media, commented, “For 2014 we will build on the success of our 2012 shows by further improving the look and layout of each exhibition within our co- location of events, as well as making it as easy as pos- sible for visitors to navigate their way around each separate event.”
www.drives-expo.com
Growth in manufacturing output strongest since 1995
GROWTH IN THE UK’s manufac- turing sector was the strongest for 18 years according to the latest CBI Industrial Trends Survey. Both the size of total order books and the pace of output growth over the past three months were the highest recorded since 1995, showing the recovery in UK man- ufacturing is accelerating. The survey of nearly 350 manu- facturers found that total order books relative to normal levels were their strongest since March 1995. Export order books were
also very firmly above average. Output volumes over the three months to November rose at their fastest rate since January 1995, with all but one sector (electrical engineering) reporting growth. Manufacturers expect output growth to continue at a robust pace over the coming three months. Stephen Gifford, CBI director of economics, said, “This new evidence shows encouraging signs of a broadening and deepen- ing recovery in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturers finally
seem to be feeling the benefit of growing confidence and spending within the UK and globally. “Both order books and the pace of output growth are the strongest they’ve been since 1995, and firms are expecting similar paced growth over the coming three months. “However, challenges remain. UK exporters need government support to break into high growth export markets to reduce their vulnerability to any further Eurozone flare-ups.”
www.cbi.org.uk
Automated fuel cell manufacturing for AFC Energy
GB INNOMECH (INNOMECH) has been appointed by AFC Energy, the fuel cell energy developer for industry, to develop automated manufacturing equip- ment to assemble fuel cell stacks for the company’s EU backed Power Up programme.
The work includes the development of automated equipment to dismantle stacks at the end of their working life, allowing key components and materials to be recycled and reused.
The appointment is being made with the support of a four year €6.1m (£4.9m) EU development grant that will enable AFC Energy and the Power Up con- sortium to develop and install commercial scale energy generation plants using hydrogen as a fuel source. One of the first clean energy plants will be located at Air Products’ industrial gas processing facility at Stade, northern Germany. The first of two KORE systems is due to be installed in 2014 and the plant will generate a total of 500kW of electrical output when fully operational.
The first phase of Innomech’s work is to help scale up the fuel cell manufacturing process and to supply a suite of assembly equipment, including a robotic workcell for automated stack assembly, utilising the flexible automation provided by an ABB IRB 2600 industrial robot. To view the full version of this release, visit
www.connectingindustry.com/gbafc.
www.innomech.co.uk
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 Automation
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