News

Industrial equipment, services and inspection news and information for manufacturing, process, facilities and related fields.

04/06/2014 Essex manufacturer in court after workers’ fall An Essex firm which makes precast concrete stairs has been fined £12,500 and ordered to pay £1,357 in costs for safety failings after four employees fell when a stair mould collapsed beneath them at the company premises in Earls Colne. » Read More

03/06/2014 Honeywell project system to cut costs by 30 per cent Honeywell Process Solutions has launched its LEAP project services, aimed, it says, at helping manufacturers in the processing industries get plants up and running faster and at lower cost. » Read More

03/06/2014 British Safety Council launches 2014 safety and health awards The British Safety Council has formally launched its 2014 Sword of Honour and Globe of Honour awards, to celebrate exemplary management of health, safety and environmental risks. » Read More

02/06/2014 SynRM2 motor is IE5 efficiency without rare earth magnets Building on the current IE4 'super premium efficiency' standard, ABB's 'ultra-premium efficiency' IE5 SynRM2 technology is claimed to reduce energy losses by a further 20% – and without rare earth magnets. » Read More

02/06/2014 Quilt and pillow firm in court over worker’s injuries A Middleton company has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £718.50 in prosecution costs after a worker suffered severe injuries when his right hand was trapped in a moving machine. » Read More

30/05/2014 Lasting safety lessons as Flixborough is remembered Next Sunday (1 June 2014) will mark the 40th anniversary of the Flixborough disaster – the UK's worst ever mainland process plant explosion, which still influences chemical and process industry safety thinking today. » Read More

30/05/2014 £3m engineering department opens in Cambridge A £30,000 robotic arm controlled by MP Julian Huppert has officially opened a £3 million engineering and manufacturing department in Cambridge. » Read More

29/05/2014 ECS delivers new weir gates for Iffley Weir refurbishment The Environment Agency has completed refurbishment of the historic Iffley Weir – part of the flood defence scheme on the River Thames near Oxford – with the installation of new weir gates, which replace wooden sections, fitted in the 1980s. » Read More

29/05/2014 360 degree spy alarm tracks almost anything Thermal imaging systems specialist HGH Infrared Systems has launched Spynel-X, the world's highest definition IRST (nfrared search and track) device, capable of capturing full panoramic images in real time to 120 megapixels. » Read More

29/05/2014 Clariant and Siemens to launch sour gas shift technology Speciality chemicals firm Clariant has signed a deal with Siemens Fuel Gasification Technology to cooperate in the commercialisation of a new, jointly developed sour gas shift (SGS) technology for coal gasification. » Read More

28/05/2014 Last chance to book WM’s Factory Health and Maintenance Conference It is your last chance to book for WM's Factory Health and Maintenance Conference on 5 June and pick up valuable tips on how to boost your bottom line. » Read More

28/05/2014 Semta smashes skills records A record number of budding engineers have embarked on Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland – it has been revealed. » Read More

28/05/2014 Rochester food firm in court again for serious danger to workers A Kent-based food manufacturer has been prosecuted for a second time for safety failings after a worker was injured using a machine with a guard that had been intentionally disabled. » Read More

27/05/2014 Manufacturing Technology Centre gets Europe’s most powerful laser A new laser-based research and development cell, installed at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Ansty, West Midlands, has been equipped with Europe's most powerful non-military laser. » Read More

27/05/2014 Hotel ECM motor retrofit saves 400,000kW per annum One of Boston's (North America) most famous hotels is reaping the benefits of massive energy savings, as well as delivering on its commitment to protect the environment, thanks to a retrofit of energy-efficient motors. » Read More

27/05/2014 Q8Oils publishes plant maintenance guide A plant maintenance brochure from Q8Oils provides an overview of the firm's range of slideway lubricants, rust preventatives, greases and plant maintenance oils. » Read More

23/05/2014 National Trust Plas Newydd switches on marine source heat pump The National Trust has completed commissioning of Britain's largest ever marine source heat pump – at Plas Newydd, the Trust's 300-year-old mansion on the North Wales coast. » Read More

23/05/2014 Engineering firm in court over worker’s injuries A Radcliffe company has been fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,767 costs after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was dragged into dangerous parts of a moving machine. » Read More

22/05/2014 Packing firm’s compressor waste heat warms local college Greiner Packaging's plant in Northern Ireland is helping a local college to cut its £40,000 annual heating bill by donating waste heat from compressors and its process cooling installation. » Read More

22/05/2014 Electrochemistry: new way to turn low-grade heat to electricity Researchers at MIT and Stanford University in the US have discovered a new way to transform low-temperature waste-heat into electricity, where temperature differences are less than 100C. » Read More

22/05/2014 Fall risk failings land Jarrow firm in court An engineering company has been fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £1,146.80 in costs for safety failings which exposed workers to serious risks of injury from a fall. » Read More

21/05/2014 Tata Steel saves 7,400 MWh with ABB DriveSave scheme Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks is reporting energy savings of more than 7,400 MWh a year, following installation of 62 ABB VSDs (variable speed drives). » Read More

21/05/2014 ECS Engineering raises the roof on pump maintenance When the pumps at Knowlston Place pumping station, in Matlock, Derbyshire, reached end of life, ECS Engineering Services carried out the replacement project, along with electrical work and building modifications – including removing the ... » Read More

20/05/2014 Company prosecuted after young engineer dies An international smoothie and fruit juice company has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £75,000 costs for safety failings after an engineer was killed by falling pipework during work to decommission a former factory in South Wales. » Read More

20/05/2014 BP improves chemical plant leak detection with wireless technology BP ha revealed that it is using 'smart' wireless technology at its Geel, Belgium, chemical plant as part of a continuous leak detection system to improve safety surveillance on storage tanks, valves and pipelines. » Read More