NEWS


The Steel Industry Will Be Investing US$6 Billion Per Annum in Digital Transformation by 2030 T


he steel industry generates contrasting views. For some it is a vital component for the construction and transportation industries, while for others is somewhat of a pariah as steelmaking requires large quantities of coke and coal for the blast furnaces. According to a new analysis by global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, steel manufacturer’s investment into digital transformation will grow at a CAGR of 10.9% between 2022 and 2031, reaching US$5.9 billion. Investment into data analytics to optimize the steel production process will to worth up to US$2.9 billion in 2031. Bolstering the data flows will be investment into industrial device and applications, fortified by security expenditures, both seeing fair growth by CAGR 5.9% and 8.4% respectively.


“For the industry and technology suppliers, safety,


sustainability, and productivity are the three north stars. Technology suppliers should aim to align their solutions to assist steelmakers with at least two of these priorities. For example, providers of manufacturing execution systems helping customers’ productivity as well as improve the sustainability of their operations. Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor quality levels to reduce scrap and optimizing equipment performance. And, digital twins should encompass the three perspectives,” explains Michael Larner, Industrial and Manufacturing Research Director at ABI Research.


Technology suppliers providing software to the industry include those that specialize in helping producers optimize their processes (Falkonry, RealSteel, Smart Steel Technologies, and Samotics), keep track


OMRON’s Flexible Manufacturing Roadshow Comes to UK to Demonstrate the Factory of the Future


I


ndustrial automation experts OMRON have taken their European Flexible Manufacturing Roadshow on the road to Bradford, featuring exclusive demonstrations of cutting-edge, human-machine collaborative solutions not usually seen outside of a factory setting due to their size and scale.


Held on 14th-16th June at Strategic Partner - Reeco Automation’s - new dedicated Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) Centre in Rowan Park, Bradford, over 75 invited guests from manufacturers across the food & beverage, automotive and pharmaceutical sectors received real-life inspiration for reimagining and reconfiguring their manufacturing lines. The demonstration area, comprising over 200m2 showcased a range of practical solutions for the factories of the future, enabling flexible and intelligent production improvements. The roadshow allowed visitors such as Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Carlsberg and Morrisons, to witness first-hand experience of large-scale human-machine industrial automation solutions to address some of the key challenges affecting manufacturers, such as palletising, transportation and traceability.


Facilitating more agile and flexible manufacturing with less reliance on manual labour, reduced energy consumption and increased OEE, OMRON’s solutions are also futureproofed for the digital era. Featured at the roadshow was OMRON’s strongest fully autonomous mobile robot (the HD-1500) for heavy loads of up to 1,500 kg, a variety of flexible palletising and autonomous material transportation solutions and the RB1200 cobot palletiser working in harmony and sustainably with the operators. Other complete solutions to solve the current issues and pains of manufacturers included box to pallet transportation, box to mobile robot top conveyor and conveyor to pallet with OMRON TM cobot. Each system featured a combination of natural navigation and selectable autonomy navigation, IoT dashboard, built-in serialization offering full traceability along the entire manufacturing process, and of course, the company’s intelligent Sysmac Control Platform OMRON’s UK Marketing Manager Stuart Coulton comments “We are delighted to bring some of our most dynamic, collaborative human-machine automation solutions out of the factory and on tour for the first time ever in the UK, so that our key customers can look at and touch the flexible manufacturing systems of the future. We hope that the roadshow will inspire today’s manufacturers to reimagine what is possible on their production lines, enabling their facilities to remain agile for years to come.”


Mike Wilson, Chief Automation Officer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre attended the event and commented “This has been an excellent event. Attendees have learned a lot about automation products and the use of mobile robot technology and how they could benefit UK manufacturing industry. The demonstrations show the art of the possible and that automation will be key to ensuring a competitive manufacturing sector for the future.” The Flexible Manufacturing Roadshow will continue its journey around Europe, with the next stop being Germany, then Poland before finishing in the Benelux region. For more information on any aspects of OMRON’s flexible manufacturing solutions, visit http://industrial.omron.eu.


of information (KnowIT ERP and SteelTrace), and keep workersX safe (Everguard.ai).


“Individual steel plants produce dozens different steel products (e.g., plates, coils bars, etc.) to exacting quality grades. This requires firms to effectively manage product changeovers so that output remains within quality thresholds. Analyzing quality levels in real time will be an investment priority over the rest of the decade,” Larner concludes. These findings are from ABI Research’s Digitalization in the Steel Industry application analysis report. This report is part of the company’s Industrial and Manufacturing research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present in-depth analysis on key market trends and factors for a specific technology.


Wolverhampton transport plant hooked on Hiab


W


olverhampton-based Nedic Transport & Plant Hire, has invested in a brand-new Hiab MULTILIFT Ultima hookloader as part of its ongoing commitment to having a reliable and high-performing fleet of vehicles. The MULTILIFT Ultima 21S, which is part of Hiab’s next generation of hooklifts, has been specially fitted to the company’s Scania R660 truck and will be used to fetch and deliver a variety of materials including; sand, stone, turf and tarmac to park home, lodge and caravan sites up and down the country as well as overseas.


Established in the 1980s, Nedic Transport and Plant Hire is well known in the West Midlands region for its sister-companies, Sovereign Parks and Cotswold Grange Country Park, with the businesses complimenting one another in their operations. Carl Nedic, Director at Nedic Transport and Plant Hire, commented: “Investing in such a significant piece of equipment is always something we take great consideration over and going into the buying process performance, quality and reliability were top of our agenda.


“Given the outstanding reputation Hiab has in the industry for providing expertly engineered equipment and the features available on the MULTILIFT Ultima, such as HiVison™ camera-guided functions, it turned out to be an easy decision for us to make and one we know will only impact our business positively.” Dek Butler, MULTILIFT specialist for Hiab UK added: “We’re delighted to be the supplier of choice for Carl and his team. The MULTILIFT Ultima is packed with features that are specifically designed to enable the driver to operate efficiently with the upmost confidence and safety in mind. “Thanks to our Sequence Performance™ technology, which facilitates automatic sequence control with a single lever for loading, unloading and tipping, it has never been faster, smoother or easier to operate a hooklift – something that will be particularly valuable to the team at Nedic who will be able to rely on this feature to ensure smooth and efficient jobs.” The MULTILIFT Ultima forms part of Hiab’s wider MULTILIFT range which features a range of pioneering load handling solutions.


FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS | JUNE 2022 5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58