Manufacturing survey calls for support scheme awareness

GAMBICA has released the results of its recent Manufacturing Support Scheme Survey, highlighting the need to increase communications about the support schemes available. 

GAMBICA ran the survey with support from organisations such as IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology), EEF (The Manufacturers' Organisation), IMechE (Institution of Mechanical Engineers) and Intellect.

The survey was conducted to gather accurate data and assess the level of awareness and uptake of 18 key manufacturing support services provided by Government. The 446 participants revealed an average index of 34% awareness of the schemes, whilst 16% of respondents were already using or considering using them.

The most popular schemes amongst those surveyed, with 70% and 69% awareness respectively, were the Apprenticeship Service and the R&D Tax Credits. The schemes that manufacturers are least aware of are the Employer Ownership of Skills Pilot and TRS (Talent Retention Solution).

In terms of take up, 28% of those surveyed were already using the Apprenticeship Service for their company. Interestingly, the scheme to which most companies were signed up was the R&D Tax Credits, with almost a third of respondents confirming that they are involved in the scheme.

"Our aim was to create a survey that would be simple enough to complete but gather good evidence of awareness levels," explained Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA. "The results indicate a wide spread of awareness levels of the different schemes, suggesting the need for specific targeted communication actions. The really positive outcome of the survey is that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is keen to work with GAMBICA and the other survey stakeholders in order to raise awareness and promote these essential support schemes," he concluded.

A forum chaired by BIS  will kick off in November to prioritise actions based on the results of the survey.

"GAMBICA and survey stakeholders like IET, EEF, IMechE and Intellect are invited to take part in the discussions," added Steve Brambley. "We are looking forward to putting our minds together and finding the best ways to communicate the benefits of different schemes to UK plc," he said.

More information about the survey and the schemes available can be found on the GAMBICA website http://www.gambica.org.uk/ManufacturingSupport.

Lifetime cost is more important than purchase cost

GAMBICA, the association for instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology, is set to present two seminars, on energy efficiency and electric motors respectively, at The Machine Building Show in Hall 3 of the NEC, Birmingham between September 25 and 26, 2013.  

Organised by trade show expert Trident Exhibitions, and backed by a wide range of industrial media organisations, this new event is co-located with a number of other industry leading trade exhibitions. GAMBICA is one of the supporting partners.

The first seminar has the title ‘Energy Efficiency – Investing in the machine to reduce the running cost’ and will address the benefit of investing in energy efficient systems to reduce energy costs.

It will focus on the difference between purchase price and lifetime cost for motor driven systems and show that the energy consumed costs significantly more than the capital purchase. The session will also discuss why this is an important factor for the end-user and how machine builders can provide this service, using their own expertise to add value.

“If you justify an investment purely on purchase cost, the “cheaper” option could turn out to be more expensive and the most energy efficient machine would be the most cost effective over its lifetime,” explains Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA and the speaker at both sessions.

“When buying a car like a BMW saloon, the purchase cost is more significant than the cost of fuel, whereas with an electric motor, the energy cost is far more significant than the purchase price. Nevertheless, car buyers do pay attention to fuel and economy.”

The second seminar has the title ‘Electric Motors – how control and automation is the key to energy saving’, building on the financial focus of the previous seminar.

This session will look in more detail at electric motors and the options for control and automation. It will demonstrate how the major gain in efficiency is at the system level rather than component level by looking at both theory and case studies.

It will explore the different forms of motor control, examining the advantages and typical uses of each. Finally, it will look at how best to make a decision on the appropriate form of control for the application, using tools to assist in the process.

“GAMBICA, and particularly its variable speed drives group, is constantly looking for ways to collaborate with communities that use automation technology. The Machine Building Show is a fantastic opportunity to meet with stakeholders who design, build and operate machines and understand their needs.


“The many benefits of automation can be discussed and new ways to bring value can be raised. As a speaker at the event, my goal is that participants will go away having learned something new that will be useful in their work,” concluded Brambley.

GAMBICA joins drive to boost UK electronics by 55%

Graeme Philp in talks with
UK Government

GAMBICA has today joined UK Government and a number of leading trade bodies and associations in a drive to create a 55 percent boost to the UK electronic systems sector. The objective is to build a £120 billion industry within seven years. GAMBICA is the UK trade association for Automation, Instrumentation, Control and Laboratory Technology.

This will create an additional 150,000 skilled jobs across the UK if the plan is realised. Based on the Electronic Systems Challenges and Opportunities (ESCO) committee report, the strategy document reveals how the sector can grow to contribute 7.1 percent of GDP by 2020, placing it among the top five UK industries. Electronics would then support over one million skilled jobs, making it a top five UK employer.

Michael Fallon is co-chairing the electronics systems forum within ESCO and GAMBICA has led the manufacturing work stream for the report and successfully recruited Juergen Maier, managing director of Siemens UK and Ireland industry sector, into the group.

The Report was created for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills with Michael Fallon MP, minister of state for Business and Enterprise and minister of state for Energy, at the launch.

“Industrial electronics, notably instrumentation and automation, has a key part to play in the expansion of the UK’s high value manufacturing base,” explained Graeme Philp, CEO of GAMBICA.

“It generates wealth not only in automation and manufacturing but also in other sectors. The report makes several key recommendations, including measures to improve supply chains and strategic procurement, the skills pipeline and the formation of a think tank to identify future growth sectors.

“According to the Office of National Statistics, over 5,300 companies in the UK classify themselves as electronics systems manufacturers by their standard industrial classification (SIC) codes. Those companies together employ more than 220,000 people in the UK.

“The survey that we undertook as part of the ESCO report found that around a quarter of the companies that off-shored their manufacturing during the last 20 years have re-shored it. The prime reason given for this is the hidden costs associated with off-shoring such as quality control issues. These are much more difficult to manage at a distance.”


The UK is already renowned as a leading innovator in the electronic systems sector, and 14 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies have established design and/or manufacturing operations in the UK. However, compared to South Korea, which has a similar size, GDP and population, the UK has previously failed to create strong international electronics brands.

The report calls for a long-term strategic approach between Government and industry to ensure that the right ecosystem is in place to encourage the investment and entrepreneurship. It is believed that this will trigger the rise of these high-growth enterprises.

GAMBICA forms industrial network security group

Is your password crackable?

GAMBICA has formed an industrial network security group to identify standards and best practice for members and their customers to help counter the threats of viruses, industrial sabotage and terrorism. 

The new group already has 19 members and came about as a result of feedback from other group members suggesting that this is an area of increasing interest to the automation industry.

“I put out a proposal to GAMBICA’s membership and within hours got messages back from about 15 member companies saying they were definitely interested in participating in such a group,” reveals Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA.

“We had an exploratory meeting where it was determined that the industry is interested in spreading best practice among both vendors and their customer base.

“Defence-in-depth is what is needed; because there is no single solution to industrial network security – it is systematic. Industrial network system security is just part of the wider topic of security and needs to be integrated, not treated separately. There is no point in having an uncrackable password protection system if people write them on sticky notes and put them on their screens.”

Brambley points out that industrial networks are rarely managed in the same way as enterprise networks, and fall under different areas of responsibility in a business. Office applications are typically managed by an IT department using its approved security software, standards and codes of practice, while the industrial side tends to be looked after by an engineering department without necessarily involving the IT team.

For example, it is not uncommon for a PC controlling a manufacturing cell to be running a very old version of Windows, such as NT or XP without an internet connection.

“At some point later in its life, the engineering department may decide it wants to connect some manufacturing cells to get production information out onto the IT network,” add Brambley. “This can introduce vulnerability if the cells are managed by a PC with an old version of Windows that has not been updated.

“Industrial network systems need to be dealt with differently from IT networks in a business.

“Communications need to be continuous and without glitch for monitoring a fast process, whether the controlled process is food, oil, metalworking, paper or anything else.

“This is different to an enterprise IT environment, where it does not matter if a PC takes a few seconds to update and the user can’t access a Word document during that time!”

Brambley concludes that security measures need to recognise the needs of the system and that the automation industry has a part to play as the experts in integrating their own systems into a wider security policy. They need a voice and a presence to tackle these issues and GAMBICA’s new group provides this.

GAMBICA tops British Standards table for contributing members

A recent report from BSI, the business standards company, has revealed that GAMBICA has more members contributing to BSI committees than any other trade association. The report, entitled Structuring Knowledge: Standards Development Briefing states that GAMBICA has representation on 100 technical committees and sub committees.   

The report was published by BSI to demonstrate that standards are a crucial part of the way that business delivers value to the economy and to society.

BSI committee members are leading experts who help to create published standards. They come from industry, trade associations, government organisations, professional associations, research institutions, academia, consumer and public interest bodies.

Furthermore, the report does not only demonstrate influence over standards in the United Kingdom. In order to influence standards at a European (CEN / CENELEC) and international level (IEC / ISO), work has to be conducted at a national standards working group level through the BSI.

This has been highlighted over the last twelve months by changes in the regulatory landscape in Europe, most notably with the release of the new standardisation regulation, EU No 1025/2012, in October 2012, as well as moves in numerous countries to clarify the referencing of standards in regulation.

“This shows how well GAMBICA is ensuring that it lives up to one of its core principles, namely that our members will be provided with the best possible representation when standards which can dramatically affect their business prospects are being developed both in the UK and Europe,” argued Ron Neiger, president of GAMBICA. “This analysis shows that there is no association which does more for its members’ interests in the standards arena.”

“Advances in standardisation are only possible through the collaborative effort of our valued network of standards experts and stakeholders,” said Shirley Bailey-Wood MBE, director of publishing at BSI. “It is this work that enables us to identify and shape standards that respond to the pressing industrial and societal issues of the day, while delivering real benefits to business, industry and the general public.  Participation in a committee ensures that member’s requirements, understanding of the market and voice is heard and captured into the development of a standard, and we are actively seeking experts to get involved.”

Top 10 trade associations on BSI committees and sub committees as published by the BSI are:

1, GAMBICA Association - 100
2, UK Steel Association - 80
3, British Cables Association - 70
4, British Plastics Federation - 68
5, Safety Assessment Federation - 54
6, Energy Networks Association - 54
7, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders - 53
8, Intellect - 48
9, Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances - 46
10, Engineering Equipment and Materials Users' Association – 41

The report can be downloaded in full here.