Motors are “the best in the world”; plus manufacturers still see the UK as a competitive location
Drives & Controls
The UK's leading magazine for automation, motion engineering and power transmission
We kick off 2025 with the world in a state of flux. Exporting manufacturers everywhere are waiting to see the effects of President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff barriers. In the UK, the impact of the rise in NI contributions is becoming clearer and they are an extra cost burden that most manufacturers could do without. Despite pressures from all sides, UK manufacturers are remarkably sanguine, according to a recent survey by Make UK and PwC (see below), which reveals that almost half (49%) of manufacturers believe that the UK is still a competitive place to operate. (A glass half-empty interpretation would be that more than half think that it is not.) Almost two-thirds (63%) of manufacturers believe the opportunities for their businesses in 2025 outweigh the risks, despite 92% thinking that employment costs will climb, 76% predicting that other tax costs will rise, 72% forecasting that logistics and transport costs will grow, and 34% expecting the UK economy to deteriorate this year. So a rather contradictory series of opinions. We will wait to see whether the optimists or pessimists prove to be right.
Donut Labs, the Finnish drive system developer, has revealed more details of its range of doughnut-shaped electric motors and associated technologies at the CES 2025 exhibition in Las Vegas, US. It unveiled a family of five motors, ranging from a 120mm-diameter device weighing 1.5kg which is capable of delivering 3kW of peak power and 20Nm of peak torque, to a 21”-diameter 630kW machine weighing 40kg that can deliver 4.3kNm of peak torque.
ABB is buying Siemens Gamesa’s power electronics business in Spain to strengthen its position in the booming market for high-power renewable energy conversion technologies. The acquisition will expand ABB’s power conversion product and service offering to renewables OEMs and end-users, with new portfolio and engineering assets expected to drive the profitable growth of ABB’s Motion business.
Britain’s manufacturers believe that the introduction of an industrial strategy will be a gamechanger for increasing investment and boosting productivity, while helping them to secure the skills that they need for the future, according to a new survey by Make UK and PwC.
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The German industrial automation specialist Murrelektronik has come up with a new approach to optical signalling for machines that combines machine lighting with colour-coded warnings and status displays. The Modlight Illumix RGBW system consists of LED lighting which not only illuminates the machinery, but also provides a visual indication of the status of different parts of a machine.
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The new stainless-steel sensors from Leuze: Series 33C in hygienic design and Series 35C in robust wash-down design are easy to set up and align thanks to the Power PinPoint LED. The devices are designed for reliable operation in food, beverage or pharmaceutical applications including areas subject to intensive cleaning processes and have Protection Classes IP67, IP68 and IP69K as well as ECOLAB, CleanProof+ and Diversey certifications. Both series are equipped with IO-Link interface which enables quick and easy configuration of the devices as well as diagnostic data that can be used to plan predictive maintenance.
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The Brazilian motors and automation manufacturer WEG is investing around €28m to build a new gearbox manufacturing facility in the Izmir region of Turkey. The 12,000m2 plant, due to be completed by 2027, will boost the company’s capacity for manufacturing gearboxes and components outside of Brazil.
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China’s fifth-largest car maker, GAC (Guangzhou Automobile Group), has unveiled a humanoid robot that can move around on either two or four wheels, and incorporates 38 degrees of freedom. The third-generation GoMate robots are aimed at production line duties, as well as applications in logistics, security, healthcare and education.
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At the recent SPS show in Germany, the Taiwanese supplier Delta Electronics was showcasing its automation portfolio, including new AC servodrives which been developed specifically for the European market. Building on the earlier A3 high-end series, the new A3-EP drives offer precise control, high speed, and energy efficiency. They integrate with Delta’s DIAStudio ecosystem, offering a user-friendly interface and auto-tuning capabilities for optimised system configuration.
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?ABB has launched a 12-inch display for control cabinets, which is both IEC and UL certified, and brings the convenience of touchscreen operation to intelligent main distribution boards. The Lite Panel Pro provides an overview of all of the devices installed in the switchgear, their status and measured values. It can network switchgear devices to simplify commissioning, as well as monitoring energy consumption.
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