Banging heads together to solve the skills conundrum
Gambica has created a group that brings together academics with industry representatives in an attempt to move forward in solving the perennial problem of how to create a skilled workforce for the future. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, reports on the group’s activities and the progress it has made.
What do the new efficiency regulations mean for you?
New regulations on efficiency levels for motors and VSDs came into effect in July. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, examines the changes and their implications for motor and drives users.
Manufacturers need help if UK is to achieve full potential
The need to move towards net-zero emissions is adding to the pressures faced by UK manufacturers. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, argues that if they are to make the transition, they will need government assistance.
Ventilator challenge could help to ease the skills gap
Last year, a collaborative project united industrial companies with UK university students to help solve some of the problems arising from the urgent need for ventilators. As Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, explains, the project also helped to equip engineering students with the skills needed to digitalise UK manufacturing and to help close the skills gap.
We must apply the lessons of Covid to the future
UK manufacturing appears to have come through the Covid pandemic relatively well. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, argues that we need to apply the lessons learned during the past year to help improve our levels of growth and productivity, and to ensure that the UK achieves a sustainable competitive advantage.
Do you need to buy new equipment? Or just use your existing kit better?
Before installing new equipment in your plant, or upgrading existing, equipment, you need to ask what you are trying to achieve. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, argues that often you just need to use your existing equipment better.
Academics and industry join forces to bridge the skills gap
A new chapter has begun in the never-ending story of tackling skills shortages in the UK’s manufacturing sector. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, explains how a new group has been set up that brings together representatives of academia and industry with the aim of coming up with novel ideas to tackle the problem.
Five routes to more sustainable factories
Manufacturers have a key role to play in helping the UK to achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, argues that now – before factories return to full-capacity operation – is an ideal time to implement sustainability measures, and he suggests five.
Digitalisation technologies can help us to move forward
During the pandemic we have become more reliant on technology than ever before. As we emerge, manufacturers will need to turn increasingly to connected technologies as they adapt to the new future, argues Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation.
Conserving energy – in our lives and in our factories
The Covid pandemic has forced many people to reconsider how they live their lives to conserve their mental and physical energies. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, argues that we need to adopt a similar approach in the way that we use energy in industry.
Learning lessons from other island nations
As the UK starts to emerge from the pandemic and to implement Brexit-related changes, we need to look to lessons we can learn from other island-based economies, argues Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation.
Helping to bridge the academic-industry gap
A recent online conference organised by Gambica has highlighted the need to bridge the gap between universities and industry. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, reports on some of the ideas that emerged from the event, and on plans to help narrow the gap.
Let’s get started on tomorrow, today
As we prepare for life after the pandemic, we will need to adopt new ways of doing things that may be very different from how we did them in the past. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, looks at some of the new technologies, work practices and approaches to training that will be vital in the post-Covid era.
Play, Pause, Rewind, Stop… Anthropause?
The post-Covid world is going to be very different to the one we inhabited before the pandemic arrived to wreak havoc on almost all aspects of life on earth. Nikesh Mistry*, Gambica’s sector head for industrial automation, argues that we need to think carefully how technologies such as VSDs could help lead us to a better, more sustainable world.
The real obstacles on the road to smarter factories
Many manufacturers are not enjoying the full benefits of digitalisation, partly because of the difficulty obtaining real-time data from their plants and machines. In this guest column, Jan Hemper, technical director of Gambica* member, InControl Systems, argues that such barriers can be overcome by closer cooperation between SIs and suppliers.
