Midland Pressure Diecasting (MPD) has boosted its output significantly after installing a fully automatic £250,000 aluminium die-casting machine at its Willenhall facility, adding to its existing fleet of automated die-casting machines.

The move will introduce efficiencies and create an additional 20% capacity to take on more work, which in turn will generate a number of new jobs. The latest spend has marked a very good three months for the firm, with a contract secured to supply a suite of new tooling and castings that will generate a 15% growth in turnover.
For further information http://midlandpressurediecasting.co.uk/

The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), a joint collaboration between Coventry University and Unipart Manufacturing, has been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize. Celebrating excellence, innovation and public benefit in work carried out by colleges and universities, the accolade is the highest national Honour awarded in UK further and higher education, and is only granted by Her Majesty the Queen every two years.

AME – self-described as the UK’s first ‘Faculty on the Factory Floor’ – is located at Unipart’s site in Coventry, where it is committed to developing industry-ready graduates by giving them direct access to real-life engineering projects. Based in a purpose-built 1700 sq m hub, over 200 students have completed or are working towards their degrees, utilising the latest robotics, automation and welding technology.
For further information www.ame.co.uk

Edinburgh-based Inrobin has partnered with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) to develop a new insurance model offering an Industry 4.0 approach aimed at achieving better pricing for manufacturers.

Based on the IIoT, the new model analyses real-time data from industrial machinery. This strategy allows insurance companies to offer competitive rates based on the individual usage of equipment according to factors such as frequency of machine maintenance and operational efficiency.
Manufacturers are set to benefit from a combined offering of risk prevention and tailored insurance, with in-depth data analysis also providing a greater understanding of how to run machinery more efficiently. This new model will also bring additional benefits, helping manufacturers improve maintenance schedules and prevent breakdowns, which can cause expensive downtime.
For further information https://is.gd/ezuhan

Worldline has pressed the ‘go-live’ button on its WL Digital Doorman IIoT solution at the Siemens site in Congleton.

This cyber-security platform ensures fully secure and transparent machine access management for vendors and service staff. The service contract spans a period of five years and has the potential of being offered to an additional 20 Siemens locations across the UK. Siemens at Congleton is the first installation of WL Digital Doorman in the UK, and is underpinned using a platform based on over 15 years of expertise and heritage in this area.
For further information https://worldline.com/

The AMRC has joined forces with a UK technology start-up and a global engineering giant in a transatlantic bid to disrupt the $3bn metal additive manufacture (AM) market by using AI and robotics to carry out the otherwise labour-intensive removal of support structures.

Project SALSA (Separation of Additive-Layer Supports by Automation) will see the development of a tool that will use robotics and machine vision to detect and remove supports from metal-additive parts. Led by Bristol-based Additive Automations, SALSA also involves Renishaw Canada, the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) and the AMRC.
For further information www.amrc.co.uk