The Austrian motor-maker ATB is merging three of its UK subsidiaries – Laurence Scott, Morley and Special Products – into a single organisation called ATB Group UK. Ian Lomax, who served as managing director of Morley for almost ten years before becoming chief operating officer of ATB in Austria, has been appointed chairman of the new business.
The 2016 Drives & Controls Show – which takes place in Birmingham, UK, from 12–14 April, 2016 – is on track to have 50% more stands than at its previous outing in 2014. “With eight months still to go, we are over 70% full, even after increasing stand space by 40%,” says exhibition director, Doug Devlin.
A British start-up company specialising in novel high-performance piezoelectric materials and devices has raised £2m of funding to accelerate the commercialisation of a range of devices for applications such as condition monitoring, actuation and flow measurement in extreme environments.
A new British company called Senseye is developing a technology for predicting the health of industrial machinery, based on concepts that are already being used in the aerospace and defence sectors to help cut operations and maintenance costs by 20%. The company says that the technology, which “costs less than a pump”, could be affordable for smaller manufacturers and machine-users for whom this type of condition-monitoring has previously been too costly.
Delphi Automotive is buying the UK-headquartered cable management specialist HellermannTyton Group in a deal that values the business at around £1.07bn ($1.67bn). Delphi’s main interest is thought to be in HellermannTyton’s automotive portfolio, but the deal will also strengthen Delphi’s position in the electrical architecture market, while providing a platform for it to expand in HellermannTyton’s other industrial end-markets, including aerospace, defence, alternative energy and mass transit.
The UK automation distributor Vipa has changed its name to Gapp Automation, reflecting the wide range of products and services from a variety of manufacturers that it now supplies.
John Martin, sales director for Danfoss’ drives business in the UK, has been appointed country manager of Danfoss Drives UK, the new business that combines the activities of Danfoss and Vacon. He will oversee the merger of the Danfoss and Vacon operations to create what is expected to be the UK’s largest dedicated drives team.
The work of robotics experts in the UK will be coordinated nationally for the first time following the launch of a network that will encourage academic and industry collaboration to accelerate the development and adoption of robotic and autonomous systems.
Kevin O’Carroll has been appointed managing director of SMC Pneumatics (UK), succeeding Steve Bangs who has stepped down after leading the company for 17 years. O’Carroll, who has been with SMC for 28 years, was previously assistant MD.
Siemens is taking a custom-built exhibition truck on a three-week tour of the UK in July, starting in Cambridge on 2 July and finishing in Aberdeen 22 July. The Integrated Drive Systems (IDS) roadshow is designed to demonstrate how the company’s integrated drive systems can improve productivity, reliability and efficiency across many sectors.
The Exico name is returning to the UK motors and inverters market after an absence of ten years. Jerry Hodek who ran the business previously, is back as managing and technical director of the reborn Exico, with Lucie Hodkova as sales director.
The Basingstoke-based motion technology specialist, LG Motion, has acquired a controlling interest in the Dorchester-based ultrasonic measurement equipment manufacturer, Precision Acoustics.
A new Web-based business has been set up to sell power transmission products in the UK and Ireland. Ipswich-based Drive Parts Direct is the brainchild of Nigel Rose who has more than 30 years of experience in the sector, initially with Pix Europe, and later at Distag QCS.
A Wolverhampton-based supplier of industrial chain has started to manufacture chain in the UK. Donghua, the UK arm of the Chinese Hangzhou Donghua Chain group, has invested in equipment to produce bespoke attachment chain, thus offering its customers more choice and shorter delivery times. It has also expanded its technical workshop.
Lafert Electric Motors has moved to new UK premises in Crewe, bringing together its product and support services under one roof. The site consists of a 465m2 warehouse and workshop area, and 65m2 of office accommodation.
