March 2021

NEWS n www.drivesncontrols.com March 2021 9 THE MANUFACTURINGTECHNOLOGY Centre is trialling a private 5G network aimed at helping manufacturers to boost their productivity. The network will be installed at the MTC's Ansty Park site in Coventry and will allow manufacturers of all sizes to explore the potential benefits of multi-edge computing and wireless connections for digital manufacturing and robotics. A live 5G-connected robotics demonstrator is planned for later this year. The MTC is launching the 5G capability in partnership with West Midlands 5G (WM5G) and Worcestershire 5G (W5G), with BT as a technology partner. The trial will be one of the first projects in WM5G’s manufacturing programme and the group will work closely with the Worcestershire 5G testbed and BT to supply and integrate the technology. The short-term aims of the testbed are to prove the benefits that 5G services can offer for robot and AGV applications in production environments, and to provide a benchmark for the future of 5G manufacturing. The longer-term aim is to develop a series of 5G use cases combining 5G connections, skills, and applications and offering a test- bed for the MTC’s customers and partners. It will also support the SME Digital Reach programme which offers SMEs guidance and support to increase their productivity by adopting digital manufacturing technologies. 5G’s higher speeds, larger data capacities and lower latencies could unlock the potential of these technologies in a way that is not possible using conventional connections. “Demonstrating the potential of 5G connectivity in our workshop facilities will advance the MTC’s offering in digital manufacturing and automation,” explains the MTC’s technology manager, Alejandra Matamoros. “This will help to deliver additional levels of flexibility in production for UK manufacturers and the integration of supply chains. “As well as establishing a long-term showcase facility to demonstrate best practice and the capabilities of 5G in manufacturing,” she adds, “the MTC's 5G- enabled use case will provide valuable insights into safe and accurate AGV movement for fleet management in the implementation of state-of-the-art production lines for the smart factory.” The first live trial, developed in collaboration with MTC members, will see two robots operating simultaneously to perform the same operation. MTC trial will allowmanufacturers to explore benefits of 5G comms ABB has appointed Joerg Theis as president of its Machine Automation Division (B&R) from 1 April. He succeeds Clemens Sager , who has managed the division since 1 January, 2021. Theis has been with ABB for 23 years and has experience of process and factory automation in the consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage and automotive sectors, with a focus on developing digital services offerings. Trio Motion Technology has appointed Tom Alexander as its president. Chris Backhouse , Trio’s co-founder and previous managing director, has stepped down and fellow co-founder, Roy Bamforth , has moved from his position of sales director to become a non-executive director. Alexander, who joined Trio in 2019 to lead its global business development, will keep his joint role of chief strategy officer for motion control at Trio's Chinese parent, Estun. He has more than 30 years’experience in the automation industry and previously held two vice-president roles at Control Techniques. Martin Hurworth is the new CEO of Bytronic Vision Automation, taking over from Bytronic’s founder, Dr John Dunlop, who becomes chief technical director. Hurworth previously worked at Harvey Water Softeners, where he increased the turnover from £14m to £36m in five years, invested millions in R&D and boosted the headcount from 100 to 300. Teradyne has announced that Kim Povlsen has been appointed president of the collaborative robots pioneer Universal Robots to lead its next stage of growth and innovation. Povlsen, a Dane, has held various executive roles at Schneider Electric, most recently as vice-president for strategy and technology Neil Sandhu , product manager for imaging, measurement, ranging and systems at Sick UK, has been appointed chairman of the UK Industrial Vision association (Ukiva) succeeding Allan Anderson , managing director of ClearView Imaging, who has ended his two- year stint as chairman. Anderson has been elected vice-chairman again. The MTC will host a trial of 5G technologies for manufacturing applications