Unicef and Domestic Data Streamers have collaborated with us at BCN3D to create an art installation depicted in the streets of Paris in the form of 3D printed busts to raise social awareness of the issues children face as a result of the mental health pandemic and social stigma.
Barcelona (Spain), 1 November 2021 - Faced with the complexity of anxiety, stress and depression problems caused by the pandemic, Unicef approached creative agency Domestic Data Streamers with a shocking report on the number of children suffering from these disorders in France. Domestic Data Streamers took this information and created 10 busts of real children for a thought-provoking art installation in the streets of Paris.
With millions of people around the world experiencing feelings stemming from these new non-pandemic situations, Unicef and Domestic Data Streamers agreed that it was time to take a crucial stand, ensuring that children will be part of the debate at the World Mental Health Summit 2021 in Paris.
~ Planon position in this IDC MarketScape reflects its ability to meet education customer needs today and for the future, supporting stakeholders across the campus in making optimal decisions to improve faculty, staff, student, and visitor experiences. ~
Brighton, 4 November 2021 – Planon is pleased to be named a ‘Leader’ in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS Education Maintenance and Facility 2021 Application Vendor Assessment*. The IDC MarketScape assessment identifies Planon’s open platform strategy and ecosystem, digital visualisation capabilities and notable global higher education presence as major strengths that Planon delivers to its clients.
The IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Education Maintenance and Facility Application Vendor Assessment aims to provide potential education software customers with a list of vendors that have taken great strides to incorporate the capabilities and strategies that support the broad needs of maintenance and facility management for education.
Sulzer pumps help Calysseo produce a more sustainable food resource
Sulzer is supplying loop reactor pumps to Calysseo's facility in Chongqing, China, to support the production of an innovative bio-protein for the Asian aquafeed industry. FeedKind® has the potential to reduce pressure on wild fisheries as well as decreasing the agricultural resources and water used to produce animal feed.
A joint venture between Adisseo and Calysta, Calysseo is building the world's first commercial-scale manufacturing facility for FeedKind. The single-cell protein will be supplied to the Asian aquafeed sector, which represents more than 70% of the world's market.
The fermentation process used to obtain the feed solution, being built by Black & Veatch global engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) company, will rely on Sulzer's high-flow AH axial flow loop reactor pumps. These are specifically designed to address heavy-duty applications.
The pumps are being engineered to handle the unique challenges of the bioprocessing application. Sulzer is adjusting the pump design for clean-in-place (CIP) and to withstand corrosion and erosion, as the broth contains entrained gases as well as solids. In addition, to enable the facility to reach a processing capacity of 20,000 tonnes (approx. 22,000 tons) per annum, the pumps will be able to deliver a high flowrate with a 900 kW motor and a discharge diameter of 1.2 m (48 inches).
Rebecca Ruan, Key Account Sales Manager at Sulzer, concludes: "We are excited to be part of such an innovative project that can truly help to reduce the carbon footprint of the Asian aquafeed industry. As Calysseo aims to expand its capacity even further with a larger plant, we look forward to collaborating with the company in the future with our state-of-the-art pump equipment."
Parker presents new ‘Expert Insights’ leadership tech talk on mobile electrification
Etoy, Switzerland, 1. November 2021 - Parker Hannifin, the global leader in motion and control technologies, will present a new ‘Expert Insights’ tech talk on Thursday 18 November 2021. International keynote speaker Mark Jeffries will moderate the discussion on the topic of mobile electrification with two Parker leaders.
Companies across the globe are pursuing decarbonization as part of their emissions reduction strategies, including Parker who this year announced a goal to become carbon neutral by 2040. Many off-road machinery and transportation companies are focused on electrification, and this option is a game-changer – enabling vehicle design engineers to work with an entirely new architecture.
In the second discussion of the series, Parker’s Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Mark Czaja, and VP of Business Development - Motion Systems Group, Paul Horvat, will discuss the implications of clean technology. The talk will explore how mobile electrification is evolving, key sustainability considerations and the possible influences of technology advances, business investment and government policy,
Following the recent completion of Sulzer's purpose-built service center in Birmingham, the facility was officially opened by His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent on October 27, 2021. The investment in this state-of-the-art service center represents Sulzer's ongoing commitment to delivering the next generation of service excellence and provides 24/7 support to customers around the world.
Located on the prestigious Birmingham Business Park, the latest enhancement to Sulzer's extensive network of service centers has been specifically designed to optimize workflows. It ensures customers receive best-in-class service in terms of quality and speed of repair. Following the official opening, guests were given a guided tour of the new facilities and shown how their businesses will benefit from the latest in advanced repair technologies provided by Sulzer.
Building on the legacy of the Camp Hill site, which has provided engineering expertise for 100 years, Sulzer has relocated its wealth of engineering knowledge and craftsmanship to a purpose-built facility. The comprehensive range of in-house design skills and cutting-edge technology are being used to deliver precision repairs and improve equipment performance.
Following the autumn budget today (27 October), Alastair Wilson, Tax Partner at MHA, believes the Chancellor missed a trick by failing to address long standing issues blighting the manufacturing sector including supply chain issues and freight costs:
“The Chancellor’s budget did little to address ongoing pressures being felt across the UK manufacturing sector including supply chain issues and rising shipping and fuel costs.
“The highlight for manufacturers will be the positive expected tax relief from the increased scope of qualifying costs within the R&D Tax Reliefs regime to include certain data and ‘cloud’ costs which up to now were the burden of businesses. However, the Chancellor should have gone further by making Robotic Process Automation software costs a specific inclusion as a qualifying cost, which would help the government accelerate its aim of ‘high productivity, high wages’ across the economy.
“The extension of the £1m Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) until the end of March 2023 is welcome but is unlikely to change many businesses’ investment plans and certainly will not offset the negative financial impact to come from the rise in Corporation Tax announced in the March 2021 budget, or the increased level of National Insurance for employers (which will become the Health and Social Care Levy) announced in September.
“The increase to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage which will come into effect from April 2022 are clearly beneficial for employees but will add to the wage inflation being experienced by employers. The combined impact of the NIC increases and the Minimum/Living Wage levels will automatically cause wage inflation of more than 5% for many employers from April 2022. Ultimately these will likely end up being passed on to end consumers.
“In short, it was a very quiet budget for the manufacturing sector that did little to solve the ongoing issues being experienced across the sector. As some in the industry have said, it may not be a ‘high productivity, high pay’ economy but more a ‘high cost’ economy.”
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The engineering skills shortage has over time become more acute. Finding the right personnel who are capable of carrying out complex maintenance tasks quickly and efficiently to keep plants up and running is an increasing challenge. The ever-growing application of renewable energy resources also adds to this challenge, particularly when it comes to measuring power quality. Mark Bakker of Fluke looks at how advancements in power quality test instrumentation are helping to alleviate some of these pressures.
With cost pressures rising and a shortage of sufficient skilled staff to carry out regular maintenance and inspection, it can be difficult to give all installed equipment the attention it needs. Constraints on costs, limited in-house technical resources and a lack of adequate training are just some of the common factors that can lead to maintenance best practices not being followed. Particularly challenging applications, such as those in hard-to-reach areas, can also contribute. The lack of technical expertise has in recent times become even more pressing, with the IET reporting that to meet demand for skilled labour, the UK requires 186,000 engineers to be trained immediately, while Germany reports a shortage of 340,000. Similar shortages are reported in France.
Plugging such vast skills gaps will not happen overnight, and so new technological solutions are required that allow personnel to carry out effective maintenance in less time and using less resources, while also ensuring maximum safety. In response, new advances in test and measurement devices which offer truly plug-and-play functionality are helping to deliver more effective and timely maintenance routines, helping to avoid the risk of downtime, reduced capacity or expensive equipment failure.
AIRMATICSTM, the IoT compressed air monitoring solution from CMC, the global compressed air controls, performance and monitoring specialists, is offering would-be gamers the chance to win $100 in Amazon vouchers every month by playing TAG dash, an online computer game launched by the Belgian-based firm.
In a bid to inject a bit of fun into the world of air compressors, players get to jump into the shoes of Maintenance Mike, a bottling plant specialist, who must install an AIRMATICSTM SMART TAG on four compressors located on a factory floor as quickly as possible before returning to the AIRMATICSTM AERO control panel to commission the installation.
Time penalties are incurred for coming into contact with a number of obstacles that include forklift trucks, boxes and steam. Everyone gets a place on the TAG dash leader board and each participant is automatically entered into a monthly prize draw for the chance to win the vouchers.
Graham Coats, Sales Director at CMC, comments: “Air compressors are a critical component for any manufacturer, yet they can be highly technical and are often overlooked. With TAG dash, we hope to bring a bit of excitement to an otherwise unexciting area, shine a light on the humble air compressor and create a bit of healthy rivalry amongst those who work in the manufacturing sector.”
Nicolas De Deken, President at ENERGAIR, the US division of CMC, adds: “If ever there was a refreshing approach to raising awareness around sustainable air compressor management, then this is it. With Tag dash, CMC has taken a specialist area and, using a touch of creativity, given the world of air compressors a universal appeal. I’ve no doubt that engineers and plant managers across the world will welcome Maintenance Mike and the chance to win each month.”
AIRMATICSTM is a cloud-based solution that provides data, analytics and insights for individual compressors through to entire compressed air systems, in real time, via an easy-to-use graphical interface. The technology can cut compressor-related energy bills by up to 30 per cent and has saved Britvic €173,796 each year since it was installed.
As we celebrate the first anniversary of the Tomorrow’s Engineers Code, EngineeringUK has announced that over 160 organisations have now committed to working together to increase the number and diversity of young people entering engineering careers.
Organisations range from large international engineering firms to SMEs, professional engineering institutions, and government departments including: the Department for Education, universities, including Anglo American, Airbus UK, Imperial College London, Make UK, Network Rail, Nissan, Shell and Siemens.
Becca Thurston, Early Careers Manager at Wessex Water said:
“Joining The Tomorrow’s Engineers Code has helped add more structure and purpose to our careers engagement. We are going to start using the Impact Framework and the Measures Bank tool to help us to review the data we are collecting and the impact our activities and presence at events is having. Having access to the work of others is inspirational and reassuring.”
Scope of work for UK’s largest manufacturer of electric and range-extended vehicle drive systems included Finite Element Analysis
And comes as London-headquartered Equitus repositions itself as a group of companies following period of growth
Equitus, a London headquartered company, has delivered a design validation of battery racks for Magtec.
The scope of work for the UK’s largest manufacturer of electric and range-extended vehicle drive systems included Finite Element Analysis (FEA).
Equitus is one of a small selection of companies with high level technical proficiency capabilities in FEA, a computerised method for predicting how a product reacts to real-world forces, vibration, heat, fluid flow and other physical effects.
The collaborative project has ensured that Magtec’s racks - which when loaded with batteries weighing a combined 1260 kgs subject them to forces six times that of earth’s gravity - are safe while also providing assurance to electric truck manufacturers.
Design validation included alignment with five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
It comes as what was Equitus Engineering repositions its offer to become Equitus World; now the parent of Equitus Engineering, Equitus Design and Equitus Innovations.
The transition to a new business model - with all four now having their own domains - follows a period of growth for Equitus, which also has bases in Manchester, UK, and Bangalore, India,
Equitus founder Raam Shankar said: “Working in such a progressive and collaborative way with Magtec has been a great pleasure.
“Magtec approached Equitus to do some design validation of their battery racks, we assessed the design and offered Magtec recommendations that were accepted.
“The wide spectrum of our capabilities and experience in FEA means that we select the right analysis approach whether that is problem physics, application, idealisation (shells, beams, solids) contact setup and modelling, and a range of static and dynamic loading conditions.
“For Magtec, the weight being carried over the frames was two batteries of 230 kgs each and four batteries weighing 200 kgs. Our capabilities, coupled with Magtec’s commitment to safety, provided validation and assurance in design to electric truck manufacturers. In the year of COP 26 being held in Glasgow, we feel that UK companies collaborating on UN SDGs is a positive thing.”
Raam, TEDx Alumni, added that Equitus is now entering the most exciting phase in its six-year history.
“We decided to reposition the business model from one to four separate yet integrated companies. This approach will enable Equitus to pursue our objectives with more clarity while providing clearer value and solutions driven work for our clients.”
Equitus has worked with clients including Babcock, European Space Agency, Pall Corporation, Sellafield, STFC, Centrax Gas Turbines, AMOT Corporation, and Kawasaki.
Magtec was formed in 1992 and has been at the vanguard of the very latest clean technology; designing and manufacturing electric drivetrain solutions to power or repower commercial vehicles and trucks.
The company currently has hundreds of drive systems operating in trucks around the globe and is based in the heart of Sheffield’s manufacturing hub.
Across all sectors there are differing regulations and practices that organisations need to adhere to in order to operate their businesses safely, effectively and efficiently. From hygienic food storage, to the safety of materials handling equipment and monitoring when certain assets or equipment might fail, businesses need to record data and check its accuracy to prove their product or equipment is safe and that the organisation is adhering to consistent safety measures.
Yet in many cases, businesses continue to rely on manual, time consuming, paper-based monitoring processes which are not only inefficient, but also have a high likelihood of inaccuracy. With pressures increasing on businesses to improve productivity and streamline their operations, they need a means of performing these critical regulatory processes in a way that not only saves valuable time, but also provides peace of mind that these checks are timely and crucially – accurate.
Chris Potts, Marketing Director, ANT Telecom explains how automated compliance monitoring through the use of IoT sensor technology can support businesses in achieving these goals, as well as providing further data-led insight to take proactive and preventative action where necessary.
