Sector Focus


Manufacturing Appointment at BMW Group


Car giant BMW Group has appointed Dr Dirk Dreher as the new plant director at the company's UK engine production plant at Hams Hall, Coleshill. Dr Dreher has spent much of his career at BMW, and during the past two decades has taken on a


variety of management roles and key positions at the German manufacturer. Most recently, these have included the post of


vice-president of logistic planning and vice- president of overseas supply at BMW Group headquarters in Munich.


‘I am incredibly excited about joining the team at Hams


Hall’ He has also worked in senior posts at the


company’s motorcycle plant in Berlin and at the Munich production plant. He succeeds Bernd Gress, who after more


Behind the wheel: Dr Dirk Dreher


than three years leading the plant, moves to a new role within BMW, based in Germany.


BMW said Dr Dreher’s wealth of knowledge and


experience would be invaluable in taking the Hams Hall business forward, as the plant approaches its 20th anniversary. He said: “I am incredibly excited about joining


the team at Hams Hall. We are of course all working in challenging times, however, I join a highly committed and passionate team, who have a fantastic track record of producing high quality and efficient engines for both BMW and Mini. “As we look forward to our 20th anniversary, I


can’t wait to play my part in driving the plant forward and celebrating this milestone with my new team.” The plant, which employs more than 1,000


people, produces three and four cylinder petrol engines for a range of BMW and Mini models. More than five million engines have been


produced at Hams Hall since the plant opened in 2001. Almost 20 per cent of engines produced this year


will be for some of the latest plug-in hybrid vehicles.


New product from Evac+Chair


Solihull manufacturer Evac+Chair is launching a new range of evacuation chairs this month, the Mk5 range. The new chair has been designed and manufactured at the firm’s new headquarters at Blythe Valley Park. Evac + Chair has been


established for 35 years, and its main focus is equipment used to evacuate disabled people from burning buildings via the stairwells, particularly tower blocks. Its products are used in more


than 50 countries around the world. Ges Wallace, managing


director, Evac+Chair International, said: “Safe evacuation for everyone is our key priority, and, over the last 35 years, we have developed our chair and created the optimum design. “However, we are committed


to evolving our products and ensuring we are providing the mobility impaired with the best possible means to evacuate a building safely, in the event of an emergency. “The Mk5 range ensures a


smooth and safe stairway descent for passengers and operators in any building, whatever its design. “Insight from our customers


and distributors is incredibly valuable for our research and development team and our ongoing innovation at Evac+Chair.”


64 CHAMBERLINK November 2020


Digital firm launches innovative freight management system


Lichfield-based digital agency Cocoonfxmedia Ltd has released a new product that it says will level the playing field for those involved in freight management. The new product has been


launched under its CocoonFMS banner, and is a fully automated freight management system that it says provides the features modern logistics businesses need to ‘improve accuracy, increase transparency, and boost productivity’. James Blackman, managing


partner at Cocoonfxmedia, said the new product would provide ‘small and mid-size companies with the advanced technology


needed to level the playing field with larger forwarders’. Among the features of the new


system is its ability to scan and secure Bill of Lading documents. A bill of lading (BL or BoL) is a


legal document issued by a carrier to a shipper that details the type, quantity and destination of the goods being carried and must accompany these goods, however they are being transported. The Cocoon system means that


users never need to worry about the document being lost, stolen, or forged. CocoonFMS is an online


platform which can be accessed


through any internet browser and allows clients to find important information about their shipments. CocoonFMS allows users to


download reports i nstantly, view shipments, book deliveries, see how much CO2 each shipment has emitted and upload or download key documentation. James Blackman said: “The


system stands out because it’s been truly designed for the user. Using my experience from working within logistics we were able to bridge the gap between business processes and the design/development team.”


Sorion reaches major milestone


Birmingham-based electrical engineering firm Sorion is celebrating 30 years in business. During the past three decades, the company has


grown to become a global provider of end of line test and guided assembly systems for the automotive, aerospace and manufacturing industries. Today, hundreds of Sorion systems are installed


and supported by its engineers around the world. The firm is based at Magreal Industrial Estate in Sparkhill, and has more than 12,000 ft of workspace and 50 employees. Among the sectors it specialises in are automotive,


aerospace and heavy equipment. Customers include Jaguar, Dyson, Aston Martin, Bentley, Denso, ZF and Lear Corporation. For Dyson, Sorion provided the equipment to


calibrate and test the company’s robot ic vacuum cleaner.


Sorion has developed and released products


including a weld-robot control system, a tooling data analysis software and equipment monitoring, and performance management software. This year, the firm launched Fleetware, a management and analytics software for autonomous mobile robots. Commercial director Steve Hayes said: “In normal


circumstances we would be holding a celebration as we did for the 25th Anniversary, and this was our plan until Covid-19 hit and the resulting restrictions making such an event impossible to do properly. “Hopefully by next year things will be back to a


more normal situation and we will endeavour to organise a belated summer celebration of the event for the team.”


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