News from the 27th May - 10th June 2022

Ultra-fast EV charging project ‘will accelerate manufacturing – and adoption’

The £9.7m government-backed Celeritas project aims to reduce electric vehicle battery charging times to 12 minutes. This should accelerate the adoption of the vehicles and help towards the UK government’s target of zero tailpipe emissions by 2050.

Funding is being delivered by the Advanced Propulsion Centre and consortium members Sprint Power, BMW, BP, AMTE Power, Clas-SiC and Eltrium.

https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/ultra-fast-ev-charging-project-'will-accelerate-manufacturing-and-adoption

Cradle to Cradle’: Plans unveiled for UK sustainable lithium supply chain

The first large-scale commercial lithium refinery in the UK is set to be built as part of a deal between electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer InoBat and mineral processing specialist Green Lithium.

The strategic partnership will see Green Lithium supply InoBat with battery-grade lithium chemicals, as part of a wider collaboration designed to advance the firms “shared sustainability ambitions”.

https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4050835/cradle-cradle-plans-unveiled-uk-sustainable-lithium-supply-chain

Sheffield manufacturer to create 32 local jobs following £9.7m investment project

Sheffield based Advanced Manufacturing Ltd (AML) has secured a £1.98m investment from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which will see it create 32 new jobs.

The funding will help the gas turbine machining specialist to launch and roll out AML Accelerate, a programme designed to “stimulate rapid growth”, which will transform the business from a single site with 50 staff and a £5m turnover to over 80 staff and two sites with a £12m turnover.

https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2022/06/06/sheffield-manufacturer-to-create-32-local-jobs-following-97m-investment-project

News from the 20th May - 27th May 2022

UK wind turbine blade recycling project, PRoGrESS, commences

A pioneering new UK project, PRoGrESS, is now underway to develop what is said will be Britain’s first wind turbine blade recycling pilot plant.

The £2m, three-year project, part-funded by Innovate UK and industry partner Aker Offshore Wind (Lysaker, Norway), seeks to deliver a circular model for wind turbine blades to support the U.K.’s climate change targets. Led in Scotland, it will benefit the wider U.K. economy and create green jobs.

https://www.compositesworld.com/news/uk-wind-turbine-blade-recycling-project-progress-commences

New manufacturing facility to rise on Ford’s Dagenham estate

A qualified Ford vehicle modifier is to launch a new manufacturing facility on the Ford Dagenham estate in June. The factory has the potential to create more than 120 new jobs when fully operational.

MS-RT is a design-led automotive engineering company creating bespoke Ford vehicles. Santander UK has provided MS-RT with a £2.3m funding package enabling it to develop its new premises on the site of Ford’s main UK manufacturing plant.

The facility has capacity to produce 32 vehicles a day.

https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/new-manufacturing-facility-to-rise-on-fords-dagenham-estate/

Dyson working on home robots

Dyson is moving beyond vacuum cleaners and hand driers and will try to develop robots capable of helping with household chores.

The company has announced plans to create a major robotics centre at its facility at Hullavington Airfield, in Wiltshire, that will work on new types of domestic robot. The site will be home to 250 robotics engineers.

Dyson says it is investing heavily in developing new technology - and half of the 2,000 people to have joined the company this year are engineers, scientists, or coders. It is also hiring robotics engineers across disciplines including computer vision, machine learning, sensors, and "mechatronics".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-61574202

News from the 13th May– 20th May

Aston University manufacturing spinout secures £1m funding

A medical manufacturing company spun out of Aston University has secured £1m in new funding to help it scale up development of a coating used to make drugs.

Aston Particle Technologies has developed a novel technology known as isothermal dry particle coating, a blending process which greatly simplifies formulating pharmaceutical ingredients in the process of producing drugs.

The process is said not to use heat or solvents that cause damage to drugs which will allow pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs which may presently be undevelopable.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/manufacturing/aston-university-spinout-secures-1m-23949755

US Air Force flies into the AMRC in Sheffield

The United States Air Force (USAF) has visited the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) to see how the facility's world-leading technologies and techniques could reshape their day-to-day operations.

A delegation from RAF Lakenheath, home to the 48th Fighter Wing, visited the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) facilities in Rotherham and Sheffield to understand how digital technologies, composite materials and advanced machining could be integrated into the USAF’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) processes.

Last year, the AMRC worked with RAF Leeming, home to the RAF’s innovation hub RAF eXperimental (RAFX), to demonstrate how Industry 4.0 digital technologies could transform how it operates and trains its workforce.

https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/us-air-force-flies-into-the-amrc-in-sheffield/

Phillips 66 and Shell unite on Humber to drive carbon capture technology across global refining sector

Phillips 66’s Humber Refinery is set to become the first in the world to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions using technology pioneered by fellow oil major Shell.

The companies, together with global engineering giant Worley, have reached an agreement to deploy the Cansolv CO2 Capture Technology as part of the huge Net Zero push on the Energy Estuary.

The first-of-a-kind project supports Humber Zero, with neighbour, heat, and power provider VPI Immingham, having already committed to the Shell Catalysts & Technologies development, as revealed in February.

It is described as having the potential to provide a model to help decarbonise refineries, making a significant impact on the UK’s net-zero target. At least 95 per cent of the carbon produced in the South Killingholme plant’s fluid catalytic cracking process will be captured, ahead of compression and transportation to geological structures under the North Sea.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/phillips-66-shell-unite-humber-23938016

News from the 6th – 13th May

Work starts on £60m development of derelict Peterborough site for Crown Bevcan that will create 280 jobs

Work has started on a £60 million development to build a drinks can manufacturing centre in Peterborough.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing hub will be built on the 30 acre derelict former Mars Petcare site in Shrewsbury Avenue, Woodston, and once completed is expected to create 280 jobs.

The work to create what will be called Delta Park, is being undertaken by site owners Trebor Developments, which secured planning approval from Peterborough City Council for the project in March.

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/people/work-starts-on-ps60-million-development-of-derelict-peterborough-site-for-crown-bevcan-that-will-create-280-jobs-3681464

£350m Vivergo Fuels plant returns to production to feed forecourt demand for greener pumps

Hull’s £350 million biofuels plant is producing again.

The huge Vivergo operation at Saltend Chemicals Park was mothballed in 2018, as legislation lagged on higher volume blends in road fuels

September saw Westminster finally implement the long-sought uplift, with the ethanol content increased from five to 10 per cent at the pumps.
It was a move a decade in the making, and the February 2021 announcement prompted AB Sugar to bring the 750,000 tonne capacity plant back.

Now in the final throes of commissioning, with a significant spend, first shipments have left the site, having built a team up from a skeleton 15 left to supervise the sprawling facility to 100.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/manufacturing/350m-vivergo-fuels-plant-returns-23880833

British rocket company Orbex reveals first full-scale micro-launcher rocket

British rocket company Orbex has unveiled the first full-scale prototype of the Prime orbital space rocket on its dedicated launch pad publicly for the first time.

The unveiling of the first of a new generation of European launch vehicles – designed to launch a new category of very small satellites to orbit – represents a major step forward for the British rocket company as it prepares for the first ever vertical rocket launch to orbit from UK soil. Orbex´s Prime rocket is the first ‘micro-launcher’ developed in Europe to reach this stage of technical readiness.

With the first full integration of the Orbex rocket on a launch pad now complete, the company is able to enter a period of integrated testing, allowing dress rehearsals of rocket launches and the development and optimisation of launch procedures. Orbex recently revealed their first test launch platform at a new test facility in Kinloss, a few miles from the company’s headquarters at Forres in Moray, Scotland.

https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/orbex-reveals-first-full-scale-microlauncher-rocket-developed-in-europe/

News from the 29th April- 6th May 2022

New survey reveals global industry is accelerating investment in energy efficiency

The Energy Efficiency Investment Survey 2022 comes in the wake of a recent UN report calling for concerted action from countries to cut greenhouse emissions at a faster rate.

The global survey conducted by Sapio Research targeted 2,294 companies in 13 countries, ranging in size from 500 to 5,000 or more employees. It offers the latest snapshot of how industries across the world are planning to invest in energy efficiency measures to achieve Net Zero. A key finding is that more than half (54 percent) of the companies are already investing, while 40 percent plan to make energy efficiency improvements this year.

https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/new-survey-reveals-global-industry-is-accelerating-investment-in-energy-efficiency/

Worley brings its tool box to Grimsby as it gears up to play key part in Energy Estuary engineering boom

Specialist Equipment Solutions, global engineering giant Worley’s plant and equipment facility, is set to open in Grimsby.

The new base has been established to bring the provision in-house, alongside calibration services.

Already operating in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth, having been established there to support North Sea operations in oil and gas, SES will bring more than a century’s experience in plant and equipment provision and solutions to the region while acting as the go-to provider for Worley in the area.

Third party businesses and projects will also be able to benefit from a full spectrum of specialist tools for onshore projects, offshore oil and gas maintenance, modifications, hook-up, and decommissioning.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/worley-brings-tool-box-grimsby-23858266

Airbus to ramp up production despite 'challenging' economic outlook

Airbus is planning to ramp up production of its A320 family of aircraft despite challenges facing the aerospace sector amid the war in Ukraine and strains in the economy.

The company, which employs thousands of people at its UK sites in Filton, South Gloucestershire, and Broughton, North Wales, made the announcement as it reported its Q1 results.

The business reported a 15% rise in revenues to €12bn, mainly reflecting the higher number of commercial aircraft deliveries. A total of 142 commercial aircraft were delivered - up from 125 in the same period in 2021 - including 11 A220s, 109 A320 Family, six A330s and 16 A350s.

Airbus said commercial aircraft production for the A320 family of planes was progressing towards a monthly rate of 65 aircraft by the summer of 2023 and 75 a month in 2025.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/manufacturing/airbus-ramp-up-production-despite-23868094