April 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 8 n NEWS RUBIX, EUROPE’S LARGEST supplier of industrial MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) products and services, is buying Eriks’ UK & Ireland business for an undisclosed sum. Rubix describes the acquisition as “complementary” and says it will bring together two multispecialist industrial distributors oering a broad range of products and services, while extending Rubix’s ow technology portfolio. Rubix group CEO Franck Voisin says that following the acquisition, Rubix UK, Ireland & Iceland will become his group’s second-largest regional market, with combined annual revenues of more than €850m. Eriks UK & Ireland distributes ow products such as hoses, valves, sealing and gaskets, as well as associated technical services including customisation and repair. It incorporates the earlier Wyko business which Eriks’ Dutch parent company bought for £139m in 2006. The Rubix group was created in 2018 by renaming the former IPH Brammer, which had itself been born the previous year when the venture capital ¢rm Advent International, which already owned Brammer, bought the European industrial supplies distributor, IPH, and combined the two businesses. Since then Rubix has acquired several other UK businesses including Matara, Knowlton & Newman and Gapp Automation. Today, Rubix has a global network spanning more than 750 locations in 22 countries, and employs 9,000 people. It claims to be the only pan-European distributor that carries all premium brands. In 2023, it had a turnover of €3.15bn. Vince McGurk, CEO of Rubix UK, Ireland and Iceland, says that the complementary UK businesses, “provide the opportunity to deliver a more comprehensive solution to the needs of our customers. The strong ¢t, shared values and commitment to meeting customer needs would make this a very positive move for the manufacturing sector across the UK and Ireland.” The transaction, which is subject to the customary regulatory approvals, is expected to complete this year. Rubix buys Eriks UK & Ireland to create €850m-plus business Rubix and Eriks could create a combined business worth more than €850m AN INDIAN ROBOTIC TESTING specialist, Sastra Global Business Innovation (SGBI), has announced plans to invest £8m in a UK operation in Manchester over the next three years. The investment, aimed at expanding the company’s innovation and development activities, is expected to create around 75 jobs. Sastra’s UK plans were revealed during a recent visit to India by the British trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds. Investments by Indian companies in the UK totalling more than £100m were announced during the trip. Sastra’s decision to invest in the UK – the ¢rst by a southern Indian robotics company – followed an order that the company won in 2023 for 150 testing robots for a UK public sector customer. That order was ful¢lled from the company’s headquarters in Kerala. The company was founded by three young engineers in 2013 as Sastra Robotics. It specialises in robotic-aided testing and analytics systems. Its customers include ABB, Honeywell, Qualcomm and Robert Bosch. The company has set up a headquarters in the US and has an existing UK operation in London. https://sgbi.us Indian robotics firm plans to invest £8m in UK, creating 75 jobs EVENTSSensor+Test 2025 Nuremberg, Germany 6–8 May, 2025 The show describes itself as “the leading international trade fair for sensor, measuring and testing technology”. Its organisers say it is “in demand like never before because we oer exhibitors a platform where they are not only seen, but also appreciated.” In 2024, 383 companies from 29 countries took part. There will be areas focusing on condition monitoring and calibration. www.sensor-test.de/en AutomationUK 2025 CBS Arena, Coventry 7–8 May, 2025 The automation, robotics and vision show is organised by Automate UK, formerly the PPMA Group of Associations, which encompasses Bara and Ukiva. The two-day event incorporates the previously separate Vision UK show, raising the prole of the machine vision and automation sectors in an integrated event. Jake Hall, “the manufacturing millennial”, will make a keynote presentation in his rst UK speaking engagement. www.automation-uk.co.uk CWIEME Berlin 2025 Berlin, Germany 3-5 June, 2025 The exhibition for the coil winding, electric motor, transformer and generator industries, returns to its Berlin venue and is expected to attract more than 550 exhibitors and around 6,500 visitors. Last year’s Start-Up Zone brought together edgling companies and their latest technologies. This year’s Innovation Zone will expand on this and provide a platform for cuttingedge technologies, including AI and machine learning, predictive maintenance and monitoring, IoTenabled tools, smart sensors and data analytics. https://berlin.cwiemeevents.com/home Smart Manufacturing Week 4–5 June, 2025 NEC, Birmingham More than 450 exhibitors and 13,500 visitors are expected at the two-day event that includes the Drives & Controls show, Smart Factory Expo, Maintec, the Air-Tech and Fluid Power & Systems zones, and the Design+Engineering Expo. Running concurrently are the Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit, the Industrial Data and AI Summit, and the Automation & Robotics Accelerator Symposium. www.smartmanufacturingweek.com 2025 OT Cybersecurity Summit 17-19 June, 2025 Brussels, Belgium This event, organised by ISA, will focus on strategic OT (operational technology) cybersecurity based on the ISA/IEC 63443 standards. It will include various technical tracks, training courses as well as a cyberescape room. https://otcs.isa.org
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