News

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

08/06/2011 Denca to build controls for new cell culture plant Automation control systems specialist Denca Controls is to supply the E&I controls for the new IPB2 facility, designed by laboratory clean room specialist T Squared for chemicals firm SAFC in Irvine, Scotland. » Read More

08/06/2011 BBC Fake Britain boosts the campaign against counterfeit PPE BSIF (the British Safety Industry Federation) is praising last week's showing of Fake Britain on BBC One, which included an investigation into the devastating impacts of counterfeit and illegal PPE (personal protective equipment). » Read More

07/06/2011 Speedy says suppliers must shape up or ship out Plant rental firm Speedy has launched a sustainability strategy under which its suppliers are being warned to prove their environmental credentials or risk losing out. » Read More

06/06/2011 24-hour service for geared motors from Siemens Mechanical Drives Round-the-clock service for geared motors and couplings has been introduced by Siemens Mechanical Drives. » Read More

06/06/2011 Worker cheats death after being dragged through 125mm gap A worker who sustained horrific injuries, but lived, having been dragged through a gap no wider than a CD case on a poorly guarded machine, has become a symbol for getting guarding right. » Read More

03/06/2011 Four killed in Chevron Pembroke refinery explosion Four people have been killed and one seriously injured as a result of an explosion and fire yesterday evening (2 June 2011), at Chevron's Pembroke refinery, currently being bought by Valero Energy. » Read More

03/06/2011 Ex-serviceman’s severed arm costs Transwaste Recycling £18,000 An incident in which an ex-serviceman had his right forearm severed by a baling machine, while working at the Transwaste Recycling plant in 2009, has refocused attention on the Importance of machine guarding. » Read More

03/06/2011 Algerian desalination plant saves energy with inverters and soft starters The Spanish consortium building the Tlemcem-Honaine desalination plant near Oran, in Algeria, is expecting significant efficiencies as a result of using inverter drives and soft starters. » Read More

02/06/2011 Firms fined £130,000 after worker's electric shock Two companies, a director and a subcontractor have been fined a total of £130,000 for health and safety failings, after a construction worker suffered serious burns following an electric shock from an overhead power cable. » Read More

02/06/2011 Drives maintenance service integrated with online data SEW-Eurodrive has launched what it calls a Complete Drive Management (CDM) service that integrates maintenance and servicing of industrial drives with an online databank. » Read More

01/06/2011 Heinz fined over finger loss at Wigan baked bean factory Food giant Heinz has been fined £20,000 plus £5,000 costs after a worker suffered serious injuries to his left hand on 11 April 2008 at its Kitt Green baked bean plant in Wigan. » Read More

01/06/2011 Laser sensors improve concrete blocks production quality German automation firm R&W Industrieautomation has developed a laser-based system for measuring the height of concrete blocks during production. » Read More

31/05/2011 Scotland’s premier water project goes for Hensel electrics Engineers working on Glencorse water treatment works, for Scottish Water, have installed over 400 top of the range electrical enclosures and junction boxes from Hensel. » Read More

31/05/2011 Alcoa cuts compressed air maintenance costs, with Hydrovane Thirty-three new 37kW Hydrovane compressors are helping global aluminium producer Alcoa to increase productivity and cut maintenance costs at its San Ciprián refinery, in Spain. » Read More

27/05/2011 Speedy takes steps to eradicate falls from height Equipment and plant rental firm Speedy says it is standardising on award-winning Xcalibre fall arrest blocks to eradicate falls from height among customers. » Read More

27/05/2011 Extrusion machine firm sees advantages of intelligent ac drives Extrusion, winding and coiling equipment manufacturer Meltech Engineering has taken the design of its semi-automatic plastics inline coiling equipment one step further, with the elimination of a separate PLC. » Read More

26/05/2011 UKAS accreditation for nuclear new build inspectors The HSE and the nuclear industry in the UK are working with UKAS (the UK Accreditation Service) to develop new accreditation for inspection bodies and agencies that work in the nuclear industry. » Read More

26/05/2011 Elantas sees significant steam savings with Gem Italian insulation materials manufacturer Elantas Deatech reports significant savings in steam consumption at its site in Ascoli Piceno, following installation of Gem steam traps. » Read More

25/05/2011 Baldor offers same-day build-to-order gearbox service Gearbox specialist Baldor has improved its fast turnaround assembly operation, which now has access to a large machine shop, enabling it to provide plants in Europe with a same-day build service. » Read More

24/05/2011 Microalgae to biofuel project set to generate new energy Nine partners from seven countries have joined in an innovative project to show that ethanol, biodiesel and other bio-products can be produced from algae on a large scale. » Read More

24/05/2011 Cumbria new biomass contract goes to Stobart Stobart Biomass, the supplier of timber-based biomass fuel, has agreed terms for a long-term supply and logistics contract with West Cumbria's Iggesund Paperboard. » Read More

23/05/2011 Romanian power plant goes for machinery health system Romanian energy firm SC Complexul Energetic Rovinari has selected Emerson Process Management's CSI 6500 machinery health monitor for predictive health monitoring of critical machinery at its Rovinari power plant. » Read More

20/05/2011 High efficiency motor inverter saves €45,000 on furnace cooling Engineering Steel Belgium (ESB) reports saving €45,000 per annum with three cooling pumps on one of its electrical steel furnaces, since installing WEG W22 132kW, IE2 high efficiency motors, controlled by CFW-09 variable speed drives. » Read More

19/05/2011 Inverters save feed manufacturer £17,000 per annum An unnamed animal feed manufacturer in Merseyside has seen plant electricity usage fall from £94,000 per year to £77,000, so lowering the cost per tonne of its end product by 18%. » Read More

18/05/2011 Kingfisher wear protection goes to Qatar energy from waste plant Kingfisher's experience of wear protection systems for energy from waste plants in the water industry has resulted in a major order for a sewage treatment works in Qatar. » Read More