#UKManufacturing #FridayGOODNews Compilation 31st May ‘24 ????

MakeUK publishes manifesto for bold economic vision. https://tinyurl.com/3esv92xw

Big plans for Nissan’s Sunderland manufacturing plant. https://tinyurl.com/4scme27e

Tyneside chosen by British-Korean joint venture to build ￡923m cable factory. https://tinyurl.com/ycxmbepu

Manufacturer Legrand's proposals to create 200 jobs with new Northumberland facility set for planning consent. https://tinyurl.com/bde5ycu5

Record revenue for pharmaceutical manufacturer Almac Group as growth continues. https://tinyurl.com/2bb8rapz

Branston opens UK's 'biggest' mash factory. https://tinyurl.com/39pnrb9t

Indication of higher confidence for UK manufacturing. https://tinyurl.com/4dv2b3fz

Jaguar ends XE, XF and F-Type production, the final models without hybrid or electric options. https://tinyurl.com/m6bdcnzp

Atlas Copco Tools opens Wolverhampton-based Smart Factory Innovation Centre. https://tinyurl.com/m34uh9n5

In another news story about crisps !!!! - Walkers transitions to using used cooking oil for crisp deliveries. https://tinyurl.com/5xyeh8wt

Cornwall to see ￡10Bn construction investment over the next 10 years. https://tinyurl.com/wz3x528y

Hitachi Rail trials UK’s first diesel-to-battery train. https://tinyurl.com/ycxzwe4s

Rolls-Royce launches new facility to boost nuclear power plan. https://tinyurl.com/yc6cy737

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Articles related to Inclusion, Apprenticeships, STEM & Education

Cast your vote - School kids logo design for the Festival Of British Engineering and Manufacturing (FOBEM) https://tinyurl.com/2ju82e7w

Lane Motorsport hosts Loughborough University Formula Student Racing Car Development Team. https://tinyurl.com/9knfny5z

Women in Rail releases end of year report. https://tinyurl.com/5n6sta4h

Water speed record set to inspire the next generation of record breakers. https://tinyurl.com/3avu546t

EngineeringUK welcomes Royal Air Force Air Cadets and E.ON as members to drive tomorrow’s STEM workforce. https://tinyurl.com/56wsdwfk

Skills top priority for manufacturers, despite inflation. https://tinyurl.com/26zct65t

An Article about PLUS Automation (aka My Day Job)

Contrinex SMART Sensors Upgrade the Measurement of Eccentricity During Steel-Rolling.

The precision of Contrinex’s inductive sensors finds them in an astonishing array of applications and this is further expanded by the introduction of their SMART sensors. An example of utilising this new technology is to measure the roller deformation and eccentricity when bending and forming heavy steel or aluminium plates and strips.

Reliable monitoring is essential to avoid potentially significant scrap costs, but taking machines out of service to inspect rollers causes downtime which drives designers to identify real-time monitoring solutions. Contrinex’s SMART Distance Measurement Sensors (DMS) are able to deliver actionable precision information about the condition of a roller, in real-time, including during rolling operations.

CUSTOMER APPLICATION

Bending and forming heavy metal plates and strips, particularly in steel or aluminium, requires large-scale investment in industrial rolling equipment with a consequent need to maintain high levels of uptime and productivity. Key to this is monitoring roller deformation and eccentricity, as these are common causes of out-of-tolerance production which can result in significant scrap costs.

Production engineers rely on regular measurement of both parameters to enable corrective action to be taken before product quality suffers. Traditionally, this required machines to be taken out of service to take the necessary measurements, not only putting unwanted time pressure on maintenance teams but also making it almost impossible to detect every occurrence before product defects occur.

The availability of affordable and robust distance measurement sensors from Contrinex which offer exceptionally high accuracy, has enabled designers to identify real-time solutions, eliminating avoidable downtime. They need rugged, high-performance devices, suitable for harsh industrial environments, that communicate seamlessly with modern control systems. Accuracy and reliability must go hand-in-hand with cost-effectiveness, giving an attractive price-performance ratio.

CUSTOMER SOLUTION

Designers elected to take advantage of Contrinex’s high-resolution Smart Distance Measurement Sensors (DMS) to upgrade an existing machine. By fitting a semi-permanent, but demountable, crossbar along the top roll of a three-roll bending machine, supporting six stainless-steel M18 DMS sensors at regular intervals, the engineering team implemented a robust, cost-effective solution to the problem.

With the sensors positioned immediately adjacent to the surface of the roller, and with a measurement accuracy to within fractions of a millimetre, they deliver actionable information about the condition of the roller, on-demand and in real-time – including during rolling operations. The design of the mounting brackets offers additional protection for the sensors, further protecting these rugged all-metal devices from accidental damage.

The embeddable, one-piece V2A (AISI 303) stainless-steel M18 Smart DMS Sensors, have a nominal 10-mm sensing distance for carbon steel, and are highly robust and resistant to vibration and mechanical shock. Capable of measuring both lateral and axial displacement directly, these devices also record cumulative data, including operational cycle count and temperature, with customer-specific alarm thresholds for each parameter programmed into the sensor memory.

IO-Link connectivity, standard across the range, provides an easy industry-standard interface to the central control system for routine process data. During initial calibration, each sensor’s configuration is stored automatically on the local IO-Link Master; this allows plug-and-play replacement of sensors should the need arise, without any loss of functionality and without any need for recalibration. Designed with the needs of OEMs and system integrators in mind, Smart Sensors provide an unobtrusive fit-and-forget solution.

PRODUCT ADVANTAGES

????Reliable & fast detection

?? High-precision measurement

?? Long sensing range

?? Robust & reliable in demanding conditions – V2A (AISI 303) stainless-steel housings

??? High-speed device-to-device communication enables decentralised data processing and decision-making

?? Cumulative data, including temperature and operating-cycle count, is recorded in on-board data storage

? EMC resilient

??? Wide temperature range -25°C TO +70°C

??? IO-Link – Ideal for Industry 4 - Easy integration to the machine control system for process data

?? Locally stored device configurations allow plug-and-play replacement of sensors