The renaissance of UK manufacturing

GAMBICA and Intellect will be holding a joint event in February 2012 in London to promote the concept of automation and its benefits in the manufacturing chain. Called Automated Britain – The Renaissance of UK Manufacturing the event will also explore whether there are any perceived obstacles that discourage industry from making more investments of this type.

Automated Britain is aimed at industry leaders in the UK manufacturing chain, including senior strategists and decision makers, investors, business consultants and Government officials.

GAMBICA believes that the key benefits of automation technology are enhanced competiveness for UK industry, improved energy efficiency and pollution control.

The purpose of the Automated Britain conference is to alert the manufacturing industry, Government and the media to the opportunities that automation offers. It will spread best practice by having senior executives from the automation and manufacturing industries jointly present case studies on successful uses of automation.

The companies presenting at the event will be drawn from GAMBICA’s membership, which comprises the majority of the major players in the automation sector. Each vendor will present in partnership with an end user and will focus on the business benefits delivered by the equipment.

“In the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Review at the end of 2010, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills recognised the importance of automation as a key technology in enabling globally competitive manufacturing operations to invest and grow in the UK,” explained Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA.

“Smart automated systems and processes are not only essential in attracting foreign direct investments, but represent a key component to grow and rebalance the British economy. A combination of world-class R&D, both corporate and academic, and early adoption of automated technologies by UK-based modern manufacturers can accelerate economic recovery and unleash the potential to give Britain’s long-term prosperity.”

Automation has a similarly important role to play in improving energy efficiency and can make a significant contribution to the carbon reduction agenda. Most of the highest profile energy efficient technologies of the last few years, such as lean burn car engines and domestic boilers, have been largely the result of the incorporation of modern automation and sensing and control technology into the equipment.

Scaled up into major manufacturing industries, these techniques can cut energy consumption, reduce costs and improve efficiency.

This is particularly relevant given that Europe’s major polluting industries are about to face a raft of new EC directives, based on the polluter-pays principle.

Furthermore, automation technology continues to be a strength of the United Kingdom and a manufacturing industry in its own right. It contributes over £5bn per year to the UK economy and directly employing around 100,000 people.

GAMBICA launches VSD energy savings calculator

~ Easy to use calculator predicts return on investment ~

The VSD savings calculator

GAMBICA has launched a simple calculator that estimates the energy savings that installing a variable speed drive (VSD) on a relevant application can achieve. GAMBICA, the national organisation that represents the interests of the instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology industries in the UK, launched the product on behalf of the members of its variable speed drives group.

The free calculator allows potential buyers to make an informed decision before purchasing a VSD for their application. It comes in the form of an easy to use Microsoft Excel file and is available to download from GAMBICA’s website.

The new VSD energy saving calculator is intended as a first-pass indication tool to help decide if a VSD will bring energy savings to the application. The calculator can also help estimate what payback period can be expected, making it clearer that a VSD represents a guaranteed investment that will reduce energy bills by more than its cost.

Electric motors consume significant amounts of electricity; estimated to be about two-thirds of all industrial energy use. Even a simple electric motor, costing a few hundred pounds, can be expected to consume many tens of thousands of pounds worth of electricity over its useful lifetime. Variable Speed Drives can help to make significant energy savings by controlling the motor speed, particularly in pump and fan applications.

“Energy saving is currently a high priority on the British and EU agendas and VSDs are gradually being recognised as one of the most important tools for cutting energy costs,” explained Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA. “We hope this new tool will encourage non technical people, particularly in purchasing departments, to embrace the technology,” concluded Brambley.

The energy saving calculator can be downloaded for free from the GAMBICA website at http://www.gambica.org.uk/vsdcalculator.

GAMBICA calls for greater VSD awareness in purchasing following IEA white paper

Steve Brambley of GAMBICA

~ UK automation trade body GAMBICA supports International Energy Agency findings ~ 

GAMBICA has responded to the International Energy Agency’s white paper ‘Energy-efficiency policy opportunities for electric motor-driven systems’ by calling for purchasing teams to take action to implement the IEA’s findings. The trade body also believes that machine builders and systems integrators can help reduce the energy demands of electrical motors by moving towards a standardised process for describing energy efficiency in quotations.

The IEA’s document argues that energy usage on electric motor applications is going to double by 2030, as a result of the anticipated need for more installations across the globe. However, the IEA also suggests that current energy usage could be cut by ten per cent despite this increase, if all appropriate efficiency measures were put in place to control the new motors. The paper provides a strong and global validation of GAMBICA’s previous position on energy efficiency policies in the UK.

The IEA paper shows the actions and deadlines by which the organization hopes to achieve its aims, in the form of a workplan, entitled “Torquing the Talk”. The top priority in the workplan is convening a technical working group by the end of 2011 to maximise the saving potential of variable speed drives, fans, pumps and induction motors. As GAMBICA has pointed out many times before, VSDs should be central to many company’s environmental and energy efficiency plans.

GAMBICA believes that that the actions of systems integrators and machine builders, the people who are often responsible for building variable speed drives into engineering applications, are crucial in implementing the IEA’s workplan.

“By including the lifetime energy cost of the application in their quote to the customer, these groups can both mark themselves out in comparison to their competitors and provide a better, more cost effective service to the end user,” explained Steve Brambley, head of GAMBICA’s Industrial Automation sector. “Ultimately I would like to see a consistent standard applied to all industrial systems that would clearly delineate their energy efficiency.

Something similar to the miles-per-gallon ratings used for vehicles would give a clear comparison and be easily understood by non technical people.

“GAMBICA has long held that engineers in the UK are aware of the benefits of using variable speed drives in industrial applications,” continued Brambley.

“However, we believe that more should be done to prompt purchasing teams to base decisions on lifetime energy costs as well as capital expenditure. This brilliant IEA document should be essential reading for anyone concerned with the level of energy use in their business.”

Shares wouldn’t be risky if they were as safe as VSDs

Imagine for a moment this idyllic situation; you buy shares in a company where the return is guaranteed. People would queue up to invest their money in this new, risk free, stock market. Although such utopian circumstances don’t apply to the FTSE, they do apply to variable speed drives (VSDs). However, there isn’t a queue to buy these devices; perhaps because of a lack of understanding of the ROI they deliver. 

Installing a variable speed drive is the closest thing industry has to signing up for free money. They can reduce the energy bill on your application or system by more than the capital cost in a relatively short period. Furthermore, like our utopian stocks a VSD will pay yearly dividends - in the form of reduced energy bills. As energy prices continue to soar, the ROI on a VSD application increases in proportion to the bill. (Although I’m sure we would rather just keep the bills low.)

Perhaps greater awareness is required? Perhaps engineers should pay closer attention to the lifetime cost, including energy, of a system, rather than just its capital cost? Or perhaps finance and purchasing teams need to be made aware of what engineers already know – that VSDs are the lowest risk investment UK plc can make to bring its environmental and economic goals a step closer to fruition.



 

GAMBICA responds to Carbon Budget with a call for measured tax credits

~ Overall reaction to Government targets positive, but trade body would like to see specific measures focussed on energy saving technology ~

Dr Graeme Philp, the chief executive of the trade body GAMBICA, has responded to the Government’s carbon budget by calling for a tax credit system to encourage investment in energy saving technology.

Dr Graeme Philip of GAMBICA

GAMBICA is the UK-based organisation which represents the instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology industries.

Dr Philp argues that, while carbon reduction is a clear and present need, Government needs to address it in such a way that business in the UK remains on an equal footing with the rest of Europe. He believes that putting energy saving technology in the spotlight will help achieve this.

“The carbon budget contained a lot of very sensible ‘what’ but not enough ‘how’,” argues Philp. “Energy saving technology is Europe’s biggest energy resource. I believe that creating the right environment for businesses to learn about its implementation should be a prime carbon objective.

“There are tried and tested forms of technology that can help the UK meet the Government’s re-aligned target of a 50% emissions cut averaged across the years 2023 to 2027, compared with 1990 levels,” continued Philp. “It’s my belief that a tax incentive, probably in the form of a highly targeted credit, would be an excellent way of encouraging participation from business and industry.”

Dr Philp also made the following points:

•    The objective should be to build towards a sustainable manufacturing economy that both reduces the UK’s carbon footprint and re-establishes its engineering industry on a global footing
•    Government should work more closely with trade bodies who offer expertise in energy saving
•    Britain’s manufacturing economy currently operates using aging equipment. Encouraging the replacement of this equipment with energy efficient alternatives should be high on the Government’s agenda.

Dr Philp is available for interview to expand on the arguments expressed in this press release - contact Richard Stone or Oana Baetica on 01785 225416.  


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For further information contact: Steve Brambley, Deputy Director
Association for Instrumentation, Control, Automation & Laboratory Technology (GAMBICA), Broadwall House, 21 Broadwall, London SE1 9PL
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7642 8080
Fax: +44 (0)20 7642 8096
e-mail: sbrambley@gambica.org.uk
www: www.gambica.org.uk

Press enquiries: Richard Stone or Oana Baetica
Business Innovation Centre, Staffordshire Technology Park
Beaconside, Stafford, ST18 0AR
Telephone: +44 (0) 1785 225416
Fax: +44 (0) 1785 225416
e-mail: richards@stonejunction.co.uk  or oana@stonejunction.co.uk
www: www.stonejunction.co.uk  
Blog: www.stone-junction.blogspot.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/RichieStone
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/technicalPR
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/technicalpragency

About GAMBICA: GAMBICA is the Trade Association for Instrumentation, Control, Automation and Laboratory Technology in the UK. It has a membership of over 200 companies including the major multinationals in the sector and a significant number of smaller and medium sized companies.

Ref: GAM039/06/11