NEWS Altus Group opens new facility in Cork


Altus Group has recently opened a new facility in Cork, to accommodate rapid growth in the country and support its customers within the region.


The new premises supports the company’s


growth strategy and strengthens their presence in the region. The facility is equipped with spare parts, consumables, and equipment to ensure customers in Ireland receive faster deliveries and enhanced support. It will also house an area where off site training and demonstrations of the most innovative hardware and software will take place to enhance pre-sales opportunities. Joe Booth, Altus chief executive, said: “After a great 2022 for our business in Ireland with several significant orders and a continuation of that performance in 2023, we have committed to our long-term plans for the region by moving our operations to a dedicated facility. “With the portfolio we have, and the


infrastructure we are building, our aim is to be the number one partner for electronics manufacturing not just in the UK, but in Ireland too. This latest step is helping to achieve those goals.”


Sales manager Gareth Fenton is heading up the facility, along with Michal Ostrykiewicz (senior applications engineer) and new joiner Andras Fekete (applications engineer). Mr Booth said: “It has been a joy to watch the journey of our new entity firstly in being


established, and now striving as we show commitment to the region, our existing partners and new customers who trust us to fulfil their projects.


“With the team and infrastructure in place in Ireland, the sky is the limit for our future.”


UK and Irish food manufacturing struggles to retain staff


Data centres use almost a fifth of Irish electricity


Data centres accounted for almost a fifth of all electricity used in the Republic of Ireland in 2022. That was as much as was used by all households in the country’s urban areas.


Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the data centres accounted for more than 5,200 gigawatt hours (GWh) of usage in 2022, out of total metered consumption of 29,500 GWh. Niamh Shanahan, statistician in the environment and climate division of the CSO, said consumption by data centres increased by 31% between 2021 and 2022, which was a combination of existing data centres using more electricity and new centres being added to the grid. The amount of electricity being used by data centres in Ireland has


risen by 400% since 2015. In 2021, Ireland’s energy regulator, The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, published new rules for connecting data centres to the electricity grid.


Future connections will depend on location, the ability to use back-up generators and the ability to reduce power consumption when requested.


8 September 2023 Irish Manufacturing


New research has identified a worrying turnover trend in manufacturing in the UK and Ireland, with a third of employees saying they’re unmotivated by their current job.


Research from Zellis found


that pay, benefits and training are the key factors for manufacturing employers to focus on – 44% of UK and Ireland employees plan to leave their role in the next two years. Among those who responded to


the survey, 146 worked within the food sector – with 55% stating they plan to depart their business in the same timeframe. This has most likely been driven


by a combination of Brexit, Covid, labour shortages and skills gaps, meaning focus for organisations must not only centre on acquiring new talent, but retaining staff. Rebecca Mullins, director of HCM solutions at Zellis, said: “Finding and keeping the right people with the right skills is an ever-present problem in any industry, but particularly within


a manufacturing sector which is working hard to compete globally. “With this backdrop, our research


underlines a potential wave of resignations which might be faced by manufacturing organisations over the next couple of years if key changes are not made quickly.” In food and drink specifically, 29%


of workers raised a concern that AI might replace their role. The food and drink sector has been slowly becoming more and more automated as technology advances and issues such as labour gaps and productivity, along with cost become ever-more prominent.


www.irish-manufacturing.com


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