Hydraulics & Pneumatics May 2022

To open the session, Paul Cooke explained that, like traditional factories, the future factory will have four walls, the floor and the roof. However, everything else will be flexible. “All the production and assembly machinery will be smart, connected, configurable and fully automated,” he said. “Moreover, in this factory of the future will be the next generation of production and maintenance managers and engineers. These people have been brought up in our digital world and are used to getting what they need using their smart devices.” Fluid power – continuing to drive industry Against this digital backdrop, Cooke is convinced that fluid power will continue to play a critical role. “This is one of the key issues that I like to impress – fluid power is important and will continue to drive industry,” he said. “We will be as important tomorrow as we are today. manufacturers and suppliers who focus on actuators – whether they be hydraulic, electro-hydraulic, pneumatic or electro- pneumatic. Additionally, there is industrial pneumatics where we see a lot of automation and mechatronics. There are also manufacturers who make hoses, fittings, pipes and connectors – important for transmitting the power backwards and forwards within the fluid power systems. Cooke also highlighted the importance of filtration equipment to keep everything clean and working efficiently. “So, when I talk about the fluid power industry, I’m really talking about the diversity of all the people that are in these two exhibition halls – but we have one thing in common and that is fluid power,” he stressed. “We’re one family with fluid power at our heart, but we have a lot of diversity.” Smart connected solutions Cooke made the point that although our industry remains, and will continue to remain, critically important, it must continue to adapt and develop to remain highly competitive on the world stage while keeping UK industry moving. “Today, we have devices and controls that are smart, intelligent and can deliver data in real-time to the plant,” he explained. “This data can help the factory of the future, for example, in terms of production cycles, production efficiencies, promoting plant monitoring and preventive maintenance as just a few examples. So today, we can supply smart, intelligent, connected solutions and devices from our industry in terms of fluid power. Cooke spoke of the importance of control systems utilising open dialogue protocols. “From a smart device or desktop computer you can change the production cycles of the machine,” he pointed out. “The future won’t be like it was in the past where if you wanted to Fluid power supplies the control and motion to ensure production in the UK keeps moving, and about 60% of production in the UK in part depends on fluid power solutions and products – many of which are displayed in this exhibition.” Cooke pointed out that the fluid power industry represents about £1 billion in terms of total market value in the UK and Ireland. “So, today we remain very important and the way the industry adapts going forward is of course extremely important not just for the fluid power industry but also to UK’s prosperity,” he said. Cooke added that the fluid power industry is very diverse, explaining that there are manufacturers and suppliers who focus predominantly on mobile machinery, the construction market supplying valves and transmissions. There are companies active within the industrial hydraulics market supplying valves, controls and transmissions. There are also UPDATES Fluid Power and factories of the future At this year’s Fluid Power & Systems exhibition, held at Birmingham’s NEC from 5 to 7 April, visitors were able to participate in a physical version of organiser DFA Media’s popular panel discussion series, Talking Industry. As well as continuing in its now firmly established virtual format, the exhibition saw the series’ successful expansion from the digital sphere to in-person panel discussions under the Talking Industry Live brand. Among the discussions that comprised Talking Industry Live over the three days of the show was a presentation titled Fluid Power and Factories of the Future, which was chaired by Paul Cooke, Interim CEO of the British Fluid Power Association (BFPA), with a panel comprising Martin Hoskins, Sales and Customer Development Manager at Bosch Rexroth, and Martin Costin, Drives & Networks Specialist at SMC. 42 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS April/May 2022 www.hpmag.co.uk Paul Cooke: “Fluid power supplies the control and motion to ensure production in the UK keeps moving, and about 60% of production in the UK in part depends on fluid power solutions and products.”