Hydraulics & Pneumatics March 2022

www.hpmag.co.uk HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS March 2022 45 rewarding and important sector for our next generation of skilled workers, engineers and leaders.” Firm foundation In relation to these strategic pillars, Cooke explains that the BFPA has already put in place a firm foundation to build upon. A few examples he cites are: The BFPA’s hose scheme and training modules link to the association’s health and safety pillar – “We set important standards for the safe application of hydraulic hoses and connectors,” says Cooke. “We also set minimum training requirements for hose assembly skills etc. Such work can be expanded to other areas of fluid power.” Statistical reports – “These reports are greatly appreciated by members,” says Cooke. “They can be expanded to include even more relevant information e.g. from an International perspective.” The BFPA’s standards work with BSI/CETOP and ISO – “This is important work and needs to continue, but with an increased intensity as globalisation accelerates and the need for agreed international standards becomes even more important,” says Cooke. “Additionally, we will be supporting member companies to navigate through UK directives and standards as they are reborn because of Brexit.” Industry and trends – “As digitalisation and more electric drives are considered for industrial and mobile machinery, it becomes critical that we position fluid power as an important means of creating motion in future machine design,” stresses Cooke. “Work on technology trends and the positioning of modern fluid power will be even more important going forwards.” Legislation – Cooke believes the future will have its opportunities but also its share of challenges in terms of the UK economic landscape. “We will focus on working with the right partners to strengthen our voice in political circles, e.g. partnerships with other associations where we have a common sense of purpose,” he says. Education and Training – The BFPA has developed with CETOP a Europe-wide structure of qualifications and standards. Vocational courses can lead to qualifications in pneumatics and controls as well as Industrial and mobile hydraulics. “We will develop further our links to educational establishments in order to promote fluid power to young people from primary school level through to higher and university education,” explains Cooke. Embracing technological change Cooke believes it is now a particularly exciting and critical time to be involved in the fluid power industry as we move forward into 2022 and hopefully with COVID-19 restrictions now largely lifted. “Along with the challenges and opportunities following Brexit and the importance of expanding internationally for many companies in our industry, we need to continue to embrace and adapt to technological change,” he says. In this regard, Cooke reflects that the future of fluid power for industrial and mobile applications is changing and exciting. “We are already in a world of increasing digitalisation where our factories and machines are smart and intelligent and where machines rely not only on the drive and transmission elements but also on the ability to gather and use data for enhancement, reliability and performance. The new and future generation of machine designers and production managers have already been brought up on fast interactions. They will not accept un-flexible machine operations; they will want to control and change their processes or machine cycles from their tablet PCs or smartphones etc. and to view the status and health of the machinery via digital means. Analytics and artificial intelligence will become more prevalent to predict machine performance as well as supporting predictive maintenance.” Important driver With this backdrop of digitalisation, Cooke believes fluid power will also adapt and deliver with the pre-requisite of safety, efficiency and environmental demands. “Today, fluid power is an important sector for UK industry with a large percentage of industrial production as well as off-road vehicles being at least in part dependent on fluid power to create motion,” he explains. “With the advantages of pneumatics and hydraulics in terms of power to weight ratio and the continuous variability of control as well as flexible application, fluid power will undoubtedly continue to feature as an important driver of future industry.” www.bfpa.co.uk