December 2021

News Annual Buyers’ Guide 2022 www.pwemag.co.uk Plant & Works Engineering | 0 7 reshoring production capacity. He added: “A significant expansion of manufacturing capability cannot be achieved using the current methodologies, which are largely based on manual labour and obsolete equipment. The ‘Made Smarter Review’ identified that the application of automation and robotics in UK industry could contribute £183.6 billion over the next decade. The solutions are available and proven. The challenge in the UK is adoption, and also the education of the finance community so they understand and support investment.” The report calls for more support for UK businesses to help them with adoption at every stage, from identifying opportunities, getting workforce buy-in, selecting suppliers, ensuring they have the right skills, and implementing solutions. It also calls for knowledge-sharing across industry and the automation supply chain in order to develop, demonstrate, test and de-risk affordable and deployable automation, targeting those UK manufacturers who have under-invested in the past. Better training is also called for, particularly short courses which don’t take key people out of the business for long periods of time. The report also calls for a specific emphasis on SMEs to adopt automation and robotics technology, possibly through an extension to the Made Smarter programme. It also recommends stronger networks, specifically for robots and automation, to encourage more cooperation and communication, to share knowledge and expertise, and to represent the sector to other parties, including Government. Professor Chris White of the Industrial Policy Research Centre said, “The opportunity is here and because of the pandemic the public perception has changed – calling for an increased resilience in our supply chains. The acceleration of the introduction of robotics and automation into production and the adoption of new technology generally will create a revolution in the way it thinks about manufacturing and its culture. The future of work, and for that matter, the future of manufacturing, is about to change dramatically. Its culture can no longer be described as ‘dirty, dangerous and dull’, but one that is clean, safe and as exciting as our imagination will allow. The Winners of the 2021 AEMT Awards were announced during a Gala Presentation Ceremony in Coventry on Thursday 18 November. The event was attended by some two hundred people from across the electrical and mechanical trades arena. Having been postponed from its original 2020 dateline due to the pandemic, there was a great deal of anticipation ahead of the event with all attendees eager to reunite and re-engage with their colleague and peers. This year’s Awards programme again attracted some excellent entries across the seven categories, with all the Finalists being deemed to be of the highest quality by the independent judging panel. The Judging Session, which was this year held virtually via a Zoom Meeting, once again used comprehensive assessment protocols and a supporting ‘points scoring system’ to determine the Finalists in each category. This process also identified the category Winners, although this information was kept secret until being revealed by the category sponsors during the prestigious Awards Ceremony. Commenting on the awards dinner, Thomas Marks, Secretary and General Manager at the AEMT said: “We were delighted with the entire event from start to finish. The venue, food and drink were all excellent, the stage-set and overall presentation was fantastic, and our after- dinner speaker, Alfie Moore, was simply brilliant. But for me, just seeing so many people from across our sector coming together to recognise and celebrate the excellent work which it collectively conducts every day, is simply wonderful. Sincere congratulations go to each of the Finalists and of course to the eventual Winners.” The 2021 AEMT Awards Winners are as follows: PRODUCT OF THE YEAR Sponsored by PLANT & WORKS ENGINEERING Menzel Motors: IP67 Motors - Defy Flood Conditions PROJECT OF THE YEAR Sponsored by EMiR SOFTWARE Fletcher Moorland: iBOT PCB Card Refurbishment SERVICE CENTRE OF THE YEAR Sponsored by ABB ADC Electrical SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by DRIVES & CONTROLS Preformed Windings CONTRIBUTION TO SKILLS & TRAINING Sponsored by MUSK PROCESS SERVICES EMiR Software RISING STAR AWARD Sponsored by FANUC UK Jack Rowe, Fletcher Moorland DIVERSITY IN ENGINEERING AWARD Sponsored by PREFORMED WINDINGS Joint Winner - Central Group Joint Winner - Heasell Electromechanical Services LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION AWARD Sponsored by AEMT Tim Marks (Retired) Tim was presented with this prestigious award for being the person who has probably put more work into the AEMT than anyone else in the history of the organisation, except maybe the founders. He served on the AEMT council 2021 AEMT Awards winners announced