A DIGITAL PLATFORM has been set up with up to £6m of Government backing, to help connect the UK’s PEMD (power electronics, machines and drives) community and to close the skills gap in the sector. A recent conference to launch the Electric Revolution Skills Hub, was told that if action is taken now, the UK could become a PEMD hotbed, generating more than £12bn of revenue by 2025. Hundreds of thousands of new skilled jobs will need to be created over the next two years to reach this goal. The Hub – offering access to training, development and jobs – has been developed by Coventry University in collaboration with UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) and its Driving the Electric Revolution initiative. It will be underpinned by a “body of knowledge” mapping the skills and technologies needed. Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, maxon and many SMEs are already backing the initiative, with 150 companies and organisations set to benefit in its first year. “The Skills Hub is a dedicated platform created to benefit the sectors that make up UK PEMD,” explains Deepak Farmah, the Hub’s commercial director. “We’ve allowed too many sectors disappear or become design houses, letting other countries manufacture our technologies – we can’t let this happen to electrification and clean mobility. “The opportunity is huge, and we’ve got some of the brightest minds in the industry,” he adds. “Now is the time to seriously look at capacity and capability, ensuring we have the people in place – with the right skills – to take advantage of the emerging demand for PEMD. “You will be able to find training courses through a trusted directory, as well as sourcing new talent through an interactive jobs board [thought to be the first for the PEMD sector]. The platform will also be a vital resource for people looking to make the transition into electrification.” The Hub plans to develop a common language for the PEMD sector to bring clarity to the way businesses, training providers and individuals talk about the topic. “Not only is the Hub creating a complete body of knowledge, it is also providing the availability to upskill and re-train engineers,” says Driving the Electric Revolution’s deputy director, Venn Chesterton. Electrification will be essential if the UK is to achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, the skills gap could be a major obstacle to reaching this goal. Research by the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the University of Warwick and the Faraday Institution has found that 70,000 new employees will be needed for the UK’s electric automotive industry over the coming decade, while the energy sector will need to replace or retrain 48% of its workforce – a total of 277,000 employees. While the Skills Hub is focusing on training and careers, Driving the Electric Revolution has also launched four industrialisation centres around the UK with more than 35 partners. These centres help businesses to develop and scaleup new PEMD technologies and manufacturing processes using world-class technologies. The initiative has an £80m budget for the period 2019-2024. There is a video about the Hub on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bAlKaalT1Z0 www.ershub.co.uk n NEWS April 2023 www.drivesncontrols.com 6 New skills hub could help to boost the UK PEMD sector to £12bn p Rockwell Automation has bought Knowledge Lens, an Indian company that combines digital technologies with deep data science, AI (artificial intelligence) and engineering expertise to provide insights from enterprise data. The Bengaluru-based business will join Kalypso, Rockwell’s digital services business, to help manufacturers around the world to accelerate their digital transformations. Details of the transaction have not been revealed. p Schaeffler is buying the French condition-monitoring specialist EcoAdapt SAS to strengthen its position in the field of digital predictive maintenance, and to expand its industrial portfolio. The terms of the deal have not been released. EcoAdapt combines smart hardware and data analytics to analyse and optimise energy consumption, and to offer predictive maintenance for electrical rotating machines by analysing their electrical signals. p Variohm has acquired the US magnetic switch and sensor manufacturer, Magnasphere. Its product range is based on a patented magnetic switch technology said to offer advantages over reed, Hall Effect and other types of switch in terms of its failsafe security, EMI resistance, installation simplicity and cost. p ABB is investing $20m to boost production at its North American robotics headquarters in Michigan. The highly automated facility will include AI-enabled robots, digital manufacturing using modular production cells, and autonomous mobile robots. The expansion will add 72 skilled jobs to the 300 already employed at the site. p The Manufacturing Technology Centre is opening an advanced manufacturing training centre at its Liverpool facility which will deliver skills to businesses and learners in the North West. The centre will offer upskilling courses and HNC programmes, as well as a new oneyear Level 2 Lean Manufacturing Operative apprenticeship covering topics such as production, quality control, and health and safety. p The UK compressed air and fluid power specialist Thorite has launched a campaign to raise awareness about unseen energy inefficiencies in compressed air systems that can lead to high costs. The Behind Closed Doors campaign urges users to monitor what is happening in their compressor houses, where leaks that go unnoticed can inflate energy bills. NEWS BRIEFS The Electric Revolution Skills Hub will offer access to training, development and jobs
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