n NEWS February 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 6 A NEW LABORATORY in London is thought to be the UK’s rst cloud-based facility dedicated to the manufacturing sector. Launched by the cloud engineering company Storm Reply with a six- gure investment, the lab will allow manufacturers to test technologies and create proof-of-concepts o-site, by recreating manufacturing lines virtually. Storm Reply says that this will help to avoid production downtime. The lab’s initial customers have included Kingspan’s Insulated Panels division, Lowden Guitars, and the wire joining and tensioning specialist Gripple, which used the facility to help it to digitise its production lines. The lab is oering a variety of industrial IoT (Internet of Things) services, such as producing line data for multiple sites to improve operational eciency, and asset monitoring and predictive maintenance to help detect equipment problems. The lab’s team of 30 technology and manufacturing experts also develop digital twins and embed AI-powered vision systems on production lines to detect defects. Storm Reply bases its bespoke systems on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The London oce, in Westminster, is one of a network of facilities located in France, Germany, the US and Italy. The company’s headquarters are in a former Fiat factory in Turin. Unlike other manufacturing R&D facilities which rely on hardware or SaaS (software as a service) technologies, Storm Reply’s lab is entirely cloud-based. “Stopping a line to test a new solution is problematic, so manufacturers understandably don’t like shutting down just to test,” says Storm Reply partner, Rachel Grunwerg. “We’ve developed this o-site approach because we wanted our customer projects to be ecient.” “Previously manufacturers had to accept they don’t know how ecient their line is, or work on a gut feeling that they’re at capacity – but data eliminates that guesswork,” adds another partner, Matt Mould. “Manufacturers are understandably wary of being locked into tech solutions, or projects which take years,”he continues. “So, they like that the solutions we create aren’t SaaS products, and that they’re owned by them not us. We’re just as happy working on a week-long project as a multi-year one, which global consultancies wouldn’t even consider.” www.reply.com/storm-reply Cloud-based factory lab is ‘the UK’s first’ pRockwell Automation has completed its acquisition of the Canadian autonomous robotics specialist Clearpath Robotics and its Otto Motors division which makes AMRs (autonomous mobile robots). Rockwell chairman and CEO Blake Moret says the acquisition “marks a turning point”, simplifying and transforming material-handling in manufacturing plants with end-to-end logistics. The AMR market is growing by about 30% a year and is expected to reach $6.2bn by 2027. p More than 77% of manufacturers have already adopted AI, according to a survey of 369 manufacturers in the UK, US and Canada, conducted by Rootstock Software. Production is the most popular application (31%), followed by inventory management (28%) and customer service (28%). Most manufacturers (58%) prefer “copilots” which support human roles, rather than fully autonomous agents. Almost all of the surveyed manufacturers (82%) plan to expand their AI budgets in the next 12-18 months. www.rootstock.com p The electrical measurement and monitoring specialist, Megger, has launched a new division, Megger Industrial Reliability. The move has been driven by its acquisitions of Diagnostic Solutions and Distence, and will enhance its industrial service oering. In recent years, Megger has extended its portfolio from electrical test and measurement equipment to monitoring and predictive maintenance systems. Using techniques such as vibration analysis, the new division will provide actionable data and insights to improve decision-making while streamlining maintenance processes. www.megger.com/en-gb/ megger-industrial-reliability p The global installed base of commercial and industrial robots will reach 16.3 million machines by 2030 as manufacturers attempt to oset retirements of baby boomers from the sector, according to ABI Research. It predicts that companies will view the demographic shifts as an opportunity to revamp their processes and operations, using new technologies to augments employees’ working lives. www.abiresearch.com p The global market for warehouse robotics will expand at a CAGR of 14.4% in the period to 2031, reaching $15.1bn by then, according to a new report from Meticulous Research. The growth is being driven by online shopping, the need for faster deliveries, and the rapid adoption of AMRs (autonomous mobile robots). Restraints include the high costs setting up automated warehouses, developing infrastructures, and integrating advanced robotics NEWS BRIEFS ROCKWELL AUTOMATION is opening a research laboratory in the Czech Republic to help it deliver new products and services, as well as advancing automation through links with the standards and academic community. The Prague researchers, part of Rockwell’s Advanced Technology team, will address anticipated customer needs, validate the future of Rockwell products, and identify strengths and limitations of new technologies. Their research be fed into product and service development, and will contribute to Rockwell’s intellectual property portfolio. The researchers will collaborate with local universities to share knowledge and best practices to create advanced technologies. “Our Advanced Technology team is a key part of Rockwell’s innovation ecosystem, helping to translate emerging technical concepts and identify potential industrial applications,” says its director, Kyle Crum. Rockwell opens research lab in Prague Storm Reply’s London lab can test manufacturing systems off-site to reduce downtime.
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