In its first contract for VolkerStevin, heavy engineering specialist Blackhill Engineering is fabricating large steel structures for temporary and permanent works for the new Thanckes oil fuel depot loading facility refuelling jetty near Plymouth. VolkerStevin is responsible for the £43m Defence Infrastructure Organisation project to modernise refuelling facilities for Royal Navy warships and Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Blackhill has already fabricated 15 sacrificial casings measuring up to 18 m long with a diameter up to 2.3 m, and weighing up to 23 tonnes each, which will form stanchions supporting the jetty head structure.

For further information
https://blackhillengineering.co.uk

Industrial metrology specialist the Sempre Group and CMM pioneer LK Metrology have announced a new partnership. The collaboration will enable the companies to bring productivity-enhancing digital quality solutions to the British and Irish automotive, aerospace, power generation, medical and precision engineering markets. Sempre Group will now distribute LK Metrology’s full product range throughout the UK, and launch the brand to the market in Ireland. The companies share the same goal: to introduce Quality 4.0 solutions that provide actionable information.

For further information www.thesempregroup.com

Telford-based Ricoh UK Products Ltd, a specialist in office automation solutions, has improved its profitability and efficiency through the adoption of industrial robotics to simplify the manufacture of its toner cartridge shutters. Ricoh initially approached Evershed Robotics, which suggested using a combination of Toshiba Machine TH650 SCARA robots to work with its six bowl feeders and a rotary index table. The shutter itself contains five parts which are now assembled in a cycle time of 7.5 seconds. Control is managed by an Omron PLC, which communicates with the Toshiba Machine SCARAs.

For further information www.tmrobotics.com

Lancashire will become a leader in manufacturing innovation and sustainable economic growth, the UK’s regional growth minister said as he welcomed construction starting on the £20m University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in the northwest of England. Luke Hall, Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government, made the comments to mark the first steps in building the 4500 sq m applied research centre at the heart of the Samlesbury Aerospace Enterprise Zone in Preston. A grant from the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal is helping to build the flagship facility.

For further information
www.amrc.co.uk

SLM Solutions Group AG, a German manufacturer of powder-bed metal additive manufacturing (AM) machines, has appointed Kingsbury to sell its products and services in the British and Irish markets with effect from 1 December 2020. The company has more than 600 systems in use globally. Until recently, machines ranged from a single-laser model with a build chamber of 125 mm3, up to a quad-laser version offering a 500 x 280 x 850 mm build envelope. However, in November, a major product launch extended the portfolio to include a 600 mm3 machine with up to 12 lasers.

For further information www.kingsburyuk.com