PROGRAMME HELPS MANUFACTURERS ADOPT DIGITAL TECHNIQUES
An innovative leadership programme equipping business leaders with the vision and the skills to pursue smarter manufacturing is being rolled out to leading universities. The Made Smarter Leadership Programme,
developed in partnership with Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), is a blend of workshops, site visits to SME manufacturers who are already on the journey of adopting digital technology, facilitated-learning sessions, and special project sprints to test new ideas. With 22 leaders already empowered to transform
their individual businesses, Lancaster University took its third intake on October 22, while the University of Liverpool and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) will begin delivering the programme on November 4 and 12 respectively. The roll-out gives more SME leaders, based in
Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and the Liverpool City Region, the opportunity to learn the strategies to support the adoption of hi-tech and digitally-
based manufacturing techniques into their own production processes. It also explores organisational culture and how to engage and enthuse employees and other stakeholders about their digital transformation journey. Sarah Poynter, operations manager at Arden
Dies, the Stockport-based die and tooling manufacturer, has signed up for the programme. She said: “As a company we are at the start of a transformational journey...I was drawn to the Made
Smarter Leadership Programme because it combines leading academic expertise with practical activities to apply that knowledge into our business. I am looking forward to connecting and collaborating with other leaders from different types of business and learning how they do things. “Digitalisation should be the focus for all
manufacturers and this programme is the perfect place to start.” With social distancing measures likely to stay in
place for the foreseeable future, the programme will initially be delivered predominantly online with a view to move to face-to-face workshops when this is safe to implement. These include seven workshops led by both academics delivering leading-edge thinking and business practitioners demonstrating adoption in real business settings. Through the programme delegates will also
embark on 'sprints' where they would test their ideas with employees from the business to build engagement and learning from each other.
www.madesmarter.uk
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RESTORING POWER QUICKLY UNDER RESTRICTIVE PANDEMIC CONDITIONS
With the ever- tightening restrictions in more and more areas of the country, the impact on the economy and jobs will be devastating. A recent YouGov poll has revealed that over a third of UK employers plan to make staff redundant in the next three months. To help support businesses at this
juncture, Make UK has launched a new suite of downloadable toolkits giving access to redundancy support. Lucy Twomey, HR and Legal Adviser at Make UK, gives her top tips on navigating difficult conversations: DO: Plan ahead and practise DO: Get a grip on the logistics DO: Know the rules DO: Keep a record DON’T: Use ‘coded’ or complicated language DON’T: Be cruel by trying to be kind DON’T: Neglect ‘survivors’ who are struggling... or yourself
www.makeuk.org/services/hr- and-legal/redundancies-in-the- context-of-covid-19/redundancy -toolkits
Michelle Lea
When vandals damaged the CHP control panels at EDL’s Wellingborough landfill site, rendering the engines unusable, the timing could not have been worse. One week before Easter 2020, the coronavirus pandemic was sweeping the UK and the country had just been placed into a nationwide lockdown. Site managers anticipated a significant period of downtime but thanks to a swift response from gas engine support specialist Gen-C, the upgraded engines were back up and running within just two weeks and are now performing better than ever. Based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, the EDL
landfill gas site generates 1.5 MW of power per hour, enough for 1,500 homes, and is a crucial power distribution site for the local area. Even in normal times, getting the two Jenbacher 320 1
MW engines back up and running would have been a challenge as the damaged control systems were no longer available on the market, so fixing or replacing them was not possible. However, the added factor of a global pandemic made the situation even trickier. Despite these concerns, Lee Heath, EDL’s Operations
Manager, called Gen-C’s Managing Director James Thompson at 10am on the day the damage was discovered to see whether there was anything he could do. “I had dealt with Gen-C for a number of years and had always been impressed by their level of customer
service,” said Heath. “However, the speed of their response on this occasion was astounding. Sean Kennedy, Gen-C’s Head of Sales, was on site by 1pm to assess the damage and had quoted to replace the panels by the end of the working day.” With the issues related to COVID-19
overcome, and plenty of stock availability for the project, the
installation took place without a hitch – the first engine upgrade was completed within two weeks, while the second took just eight days. Gen-C’s engineers removed the vandalised control panels and replaced them with Motortech’s gas engine technology. Not only does this ensure improved reliability for the engines, it also enables site managers to dial in remotely at any time via phone or tablet to see instantly how the engines are performing, receive an alert whenever there is a fault, diagnose the fault, rectify it and even remotely restart the engines. Gen-C also upgraded the engines’ ignition and knocking control systems with the latest Motortech technology. “The difference in performance is like night and day,”
confirmed Paul Newman, from Newman Electrical Services, main mechanical contractor for EDL Midlands. “The engines run much more smoothly and reliably, and the fact that we can monitor and restart them remotely has proved invaluable; especially as fewer personnel have been able to be on site in recent months.”
www.gen-c.co.uk
4 OCTOBER 2020 | PROCESS & CONTROL
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