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Modulift’s team of in-house experts designed, manufactured and delivered two custom lifting frames for the High Speed 2 (HS2) project, all within 6 weeks from the initial contact.

The infrastructure project, which is currently the largest in Europe, will provide a welcome boost to the economy with an estimated budget of £106bn. As well as providing faster rail links, with trains reaching speeds of up to 250mph, the Dept of Transport forecast that there will be 2,000 apprenticeships and 25,000 people employed across the project.

Modulift’s team of engineers were asked to provide a custom lifting solution that would lift high speed railcar panels with a lifting capacity of 25t, in two separate locations. The first lifting frame is being used at Southampton Docks, where headroom isn’t an issue. Whilst the second custom lifting frame is at DB Schenkers Immingham warehouse facility, where a low height solution is required.

Equipment produced by Sheffield-based rail depot maintenance specialist, Mechan, is set to improve servicing times in the South West, increasing passenger capacity. 

The bespoke manufacturer has developed a set of 12 lifting jacks and two turntables for a new maintenance facility being built at Exeter’s Old Views depot in Devon. 

The three-road construction with carriage wash is located on a brownfield site, adjacent to the existing depot and St David’s station. It will enhance operational and maintenance capacity, helping to service the new and updated trains being introduced to the region, providing additional seats and more frequent services. 

The idea is as ingenious as it is unique and has the potential to become a global role model: the Bunhill Heat and Power Network (BHPN) project in central London. By using waste heat from the London Underground network, 1,350 homes, a school and two leisure centers in Islington are now heated and supplied with hot water as part of the council’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve CO2 neutrality by 2030.

In partnership with main contractors Colloide Engineering Systems, global technology specialist GEA supplied a purpose built heat pump solution for this flagship project, the first of its kind in the world. Bunhill 2 Energy Centre represents a real blueprint for the use of waste heat from public facilities, taking advantage of state-of-the-art technology on the site of the former City Road London Underground station which was decommissioned almost 100 years ago. The remains of the station have now been converted into a huge underground air extraction system that draws warm air from the tunnels underneath, still used by the London Underground’s Northern Line.

Chris Evans – Marketing and Operations Group Manager at Mitsubishi Electric UK looks at the effect the pandemic could have on the future adoption of automation in manufacturing within SMEs.

A catalyst for digital transformation

It is poignant to recall that at the time the world went into meltdown, industry in general was still riding the Industry 4.0 wave and looking forward to following a collective journey towards digitalisation and smart manufacturing. The global pandemic certainly put the brakes on that but what will happen when we emerge on the other side of this crisis?

Norton Clipper has expanded its diamond blade offering with the addition of its latest performance tier. The new ‘Standard’ range is designed for light to medium-duty building, construction and maintenance tasks.

Available in three main application sectors:

Standard Ceramic: Designed to cut ceramic, glazed ceramic, porcelain tiles and other similar materials for a quality cut 

Standard Universal: Suitable for universal building materials such as bricks, pavers and building blocks – also available in Universal Turbo for a more aggressive cut on harder materials (ideal for roof tiles)

When sand slurry is prepared for a process it usually passes through a Vibratory Ball Mill. Vibratory ball mills are used for the grinding and mixing of sand slurry.

In this process hundreds of steel balls rotate within a sealed drum which contains perforations along its axis at set sizes. When the slurry particles reach the required size, the sand and silica mixtures fall through the perforations within the drum making them suitable for the next stage in production. 

With the arrival of winter, the management of ventilation inside buildings is more important than ever. We’ve known for some time that there is a risk of Covid-19 spreading via airborne transmission. Now the cooler weather has arrived, forcing windows and natural ventilation sources to close, it is something that workplaces need to address.

Why is ventilation so important?

The role of adequate ventilation in reducing the spread of Covid-19 has been stressed by numerous professional bodies and government advisors. This is because, although the most common cause of transmission is through short-range droplets, long-range airborne transmission is possible and is a growing concern as we spend more time indoors. 

Rittal was approached by Powerfish, a Scottish-based panel builder and electrical engineering business, with a brief to design and deliver robust, flexible, and easy-to-install panels for a renewable energy customer.

All the consultations, as well as the design work on the panels, were done remotely, in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions. 

The copper connections were created in-house from drawings produced by Rittal’s online configurator, saving the client both time and money. 

The project was turned around quickly while still maintaining Rittal’s high standards across engineering and customer service.

Hydrotechnik UK are pleased to announce their Bluetooth and Wireless sensor range under the Watchlog brand name. Designed for use with our range of Mobile Apps and PC software as well a cloud based monitoring and logging service. Bluetooth up to 90m and Wireless up to 1.6Km offer users genuine choice.

Labfacility , the largest UK manufacturers of Temperature Sensors and Thermocouple Con-nectors reach their 50th year milestone in 2021. Started in the Riddett family front room , it now encompasses three UK sites and over 70 staff members!

Quality and Service have always been key elements in the continued growth of ISO 9001 accredited Labfacility; technical support is always freely available from their experienced technical sales teams, with exceptional Trustpilot customer reviews.