NEWS
Warwickshire's National Battery Manufacturing Development Facility will link R&D and industrialisation of cuttingedge tech
Cressall, a leading UK- based resistors manufac- turer, has appointed Malcolm Garbett as its new head of business systems. The move is part of the company’s continued drive to strengthen the use of centralised, real-time sys- tems and processes. The appointment builds on a year of continued growth for Cressall, which opened a second site in Leicester in the spirng, allowing the company
New head of business systems for Cressall
to work on significantly larger projects. Garbett, who first joined Cressall in 2014 as ERP and business systems manager, has already delivered a series of high-impact improvement projects, including a full upgrade of the company’s ERP system and a widespread decommission- ing of outdated legacy systems. He will lead a cross- functional team in his new role, covering ERP, business systems and IT.
in our systems modernisation programme,” explained Garbett. “But this next stage promises even more as we seek to better utilise business systems to maintain our competitive edge in what is an increasingly challenging market.” “Malcolm has delivered some impressive improvements to the business in a relatively short amount of time,” added Simone Bruckner, managing director of Cressall. “Traditional manufacturing businesses are not the easiest of change environ- ments, however we are making good progress and are looking forward to seeing what the future holds and how Malcolm will help shape the business for the better.” Garbett, a member of BCS,
the Charted Institute for IT, has earned Microsoft certifications and is a registered IT technician with business analysis as his specialist area. Malcolm Garbett also holds Prince2 practitioner status.
A new UK battery facility will be built thanks to £80 million worth of funding, helping to spearhead the UK’s role as a world leader in battery technology. The National Battery Manufacturing Development
Facility, as it will be named, comes thanks to a partnership between the Warwick Manufacturing Group, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Coventry City Council. The site will be built in Warwickshire to enable “effective
partnerships between manufacturers, researchers, and economic development leaders”, benefitting from its close location to several of the UK’s biggest car makers. The site is tasked with producing technology and enabling progress in electric powertrains that surpass international benchmarks. The research will focus on cutting-edge battery technology, including chemistry, electrodes, cell design, module and pack levels. As such, the partnership expects the site to draw in international investment and become a talent hub for employees skilled in this industry. Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, the chairman of the
WMG, said: "Having a 37-year track record of working jointly with industry to innovate, and as leaders for over 10 years in battery development, WMG is poised to continue to drive forward battery innovation and help create growth and employment in the UK. “Coventry and the sub region has a significant contribution to make in the delivery of the UK’s national industrial strategy, being in a strong position to lead the advancement of battery development, and vehicle electrification and autonomous vehicles. It will be at the heart of the drive to make the city a smart motor city.” Business and Energy Secretary, Greg Clark added: “Battery technology is one of the most game-changing forms of energy innovation and it is one of the cornerstones of our ambition, through the Industrial Strategy and the Faraday Challenge, to ensure that the UK leads the world and reaps the economic benefits in the global transition to a low carbon economy. “The new facility, based in Coventry and Warwickshire,
will propel the UK forward in this thriving area, bringing experts from academia and industry together to deliver innovation and R&D that will further enhance the West Midlands’ international reputation as a cluster of key technological excellence.”
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orthern Powergrid is to invest £1.9 million into the creation of a smart energy grid across its network, allowing its eight million customers to trade power and services
using their home solar, battery systems and electric vehicles. The distribution network operator (DNO) has unveiledits three year project in London which will result in a Customer-Led Distribution System. The new energy market will seek to link together 3.9 million homes in the North East,
Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire and help them benefit from the low-carbon technologies transforming the energy network. The DNO will seek to identify the best use of these technologies in a future smart energy system and the business models and policies necessary to support them. Patrick Erwin, policy and markets director at Northern Powergrid, said: “The transition to a reliable, cost-effective, low-carbon network offers huge opportunities for the economic prosperity of our region. We want to build this smart grid around the needs of our customers, delivering them the best service at the lowest possible cost. “We want to support emerging energy markets where our customers can buy the services
they need as cheaply as possible, and where they can sell services from solar panels, electric vehicles and home batteries that will help balance demand on the network and make it more efficient. Importantly, we also need to ensure the future system does not unfairly impact vulnerable customers.” Northern Powergrid says its Customer-Led Distribution System project is the first to take a
holistic view of how to maximise the benefits of a future smart energy system, identifying how to accommodate large volumes of new technologies, such as local generation, at least cost while at the same time enabling customers to earn income by selling energy or services to balance the network.
NOVEMBER‐DECEMBER 2017 UK POWER NEWS
Northern Powergrid launches smart energy project for its eight million customers
“We have come a long way
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