Photo: [L to R: Ben Wilson and Jess Sugden, MPM Ltd, Tracey Dawson and Amy Shenton, Daletech Electronics, Paul Stead and Jake Sheffield, Saftronics]
Apprentices Jess Sugden, Amy Shenton and our very own, Jake Sheffield took the stage at a recent Leeds Manufacturing Festival event, sharing their perspective on why they chose apprenticeships over other career paths and lessons for employers wanting to recruit young people into their business.
For young people, there was some equally direct advice: “Do your research on what you want to do and the kind of company you want to work for,” said Jake, an apprentice who has been with since last year. “Go to open days and visit different companies. Make sure they are offering progression.”
Managing director Mark Godfrey sees apprenticeships as increasingly important in bringing new people into the business and developing the skills they need.
“Our workforce is split 50:50 between the shop floor and office staff and we’re increasingly looking at other areas of the business, not just engineering, that could be helped by apprenticeships,” he said.
“Apprenticeships are the future for our workforce – they give us the opportunity to develop and grow people to fit our business from day one.”
Full article can be found here
This week we were delighted to welcome Leeds City College to our facility in Leeds. Paul Stead, Head of Sales & Marketing, gave a presentation and tour to Maria Parker, Tracy Brady and Andrew McCann. It is hoped that their students will be able to benefit from a variety of resources, skills and opportunities as a result of the partnership including training, tours, mock interviews and work experience.
Saftronics make the switch to RSE
Scottish-based Engineering and manufacturing contractor RSE (Ross-shire Engineering) have announced the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Saftronics.
Formed in 1979, Saftronics specialise in process control systems and LV switchboards for a wide variety of applications across many industrial sectors. We are the preferred and trusted supplier of choice for many leading and high profile companies.
The acquisition marks another step South for RSE as they continue to develop and expand their offering as a leading MEICA contractor to Municipal and Industrial water and utilities companies UK wide. Saftronics boasts a purpose built 2,400m² design, manufacturing and testing facility and we employ 110 people.
The deal will see RSE take up a majority equity share in the business whilst retaining the key skills of the Saftronics Management Team.
Saftronics Managing Director, Mark Godfrey, commented on the deal:
“We are thrilled to become part of the RSE group. Having worked very closely with RSE for many years, the integration represents a truly great fit for Saftronics and will enable both RSE and ourselves to provide a much more enhanced offering to our customers than ever before.”
RSE Managing Director, Allan Dallas, commented:
“We are delighted to welcome Saftronics into the RSE group of businesses. We have worked extensively with the company and staff over a number of years and they will complement our services and growth strategy. Their focus on quality and innovation are a natural fit to what RSE are about as a company.”
With over three decades of experience, RSE offer a full service capability, from project inception and detailed 3D design – through fabrication, installation and commissioning stages – together with client training and subsequent operational and maintenance support. The company is recognised for their industry leading design and manufacture of modular water treatment plants and recent previous acquisitions include adding Dalgety Bay based Chemical Dosing company PSI ltd.
Saftronics joined a range of professionals from the Leeds Manufacturing Alliance to visit the UTC Leeds on Friday 3rd May to talk to Year 10 students about the advantages of gaining work experience and possible opportunities within their own organisations.
The Year 10 UTC Leeds students impressed Saftronics with their passion for engineering and manufacturing.
Paul Stead, Head of Sales and Marketing at Saftronics, said: “It’s always been a passion of ours to grow young people through the business. We found this an ideal opportunity to get our name known amongst these young, talented and enthusiastic students who may be interested in a career in electrical engineering.”
Jonathan, Technical Director at Saftronic, started his career as an apprentice and shared his experience with the students, said: “I wanted to give the students an insight into how I started and how I’ve progressed throughout my career.”
He continued: “I really enjoy working with our apprentices, I love to see their enthusiasm and how they build on their knowledge. I think it is wonderful that UTC Leeds is targeted towards engineering.”
In the May 2019 edition of Electrical Review magazine Paul Stead, head of sales and marketing at Saftronics Ltd, examines how the smart industry is affecting switchgear.
With over 40 years’ experience of design and manufacture of low voltage switchgear, Saftronics Limited has kept at the forefront of electrical distribution technology. With the digital transformation of infrastructure, buildings and industry, power distribution, IT and the internet are all converging – resulting in a trend for analysis of energy consumption and monitoring the condition of electrical equipment.
Traditional switchgear provides very little data and maintenance is based on planned schedules that may cause downtime for process industry and disruption to power supply. This can lead to high annual costs and additional personnel to perform regular maintenance, and if switchgear is not maintained, failures or blackouts could occur. As operators are constantly looking for new ways to reduce energy costs and gain higher productivity and efficiency, reducing maintenance costs and preventing downtime is a priority. Continuous monitoring of switchgear can give operators an understanding of how the electrical system is performing and when and where maintenance is required. With the evolution of Industry 4.0 and digitalisation, the focus has been shifted to digital or smart switchgear.
In its simplest form, switchgear manufactured with condition monitoring equipment gives a different approach – not only with maintenance tasks, but it can also identify load peaks and optimise the energy consumed in a production facility or building environment.
SO HOW DOES IT WORK?
Designing and planning power distribution switchgear for industrial plants, infrastructure and buildings is becoming more complex and demanding in the requirements. Whilst some OEMs of electrical components are still in the initial phases, there are solutions already available for digital transformation of switchgear.
Digital switchboards can be fitted with components that provide greater visibility of not only current and voltage, but also power, power loss, temperature, operating cycles and other measured values or calculated data. Once these facts are recorded and analysed, operators can start to optimise and reduce maintenance that in turn will have an effect on running costs of the asset, as well as lifetime costs.
Modern switchgear fitted with these components can collect all the energy relevant data and increase the transparency of the electrical system, recording accurate power consumption and operational information. These values via communications interfaces can be made available in an automation or building management system.
As an example – in a data centre, if a server load is increased, this would be communicated to the automation or building management system. Cooling fans could be adjusted at an earlier stage to prevent the system failing due to overheating.
Switchgear can also be fitted with devices that continuously monitor the temperature of busbars and cable connection points. Faults and failures are frequently caused by poor connections, that may not be apparent at the time of installation.
Poor electrical connections can result in the effects of arcing or cause a fire in the switchgear. Periodic thermal monitoring with the use of an infrared camera will only give a snapshot, but continuous monitoring with infrared cameras and temperature sensor data can be recorded, and with smart technology, alert the plant operator 24/7.
STAYING APPY
The data and information of the switchgear’s condition monitoring system can also be communicated to a cloud-based system. There are already many apps and tools available for operators to view, and configure the information that is more meaningful to their performance of the facility or when maintenance is required.
An online app condition monitoring tool compares the current data to historical trends and other relevant data, to allow the operator to run the electrical system, optimise and reduce scheduled maintenance. This in turn will have a positive effect on the switchgear’s lifetime running costs.
The switchgear will still require maintenance – however, with the use of smart components, it is possible to reduce the switchgear’s operation and maintenance costs by 10 to 30%. Shutdowns for maintenance tasks can be better planned and in a production facility, this is key to gaining higher productivity and efficiency.
With digital switchgear and predictive maintenance, operators and maintenance teams can move away from the traditional time-based maintenance activities and simple monitoring tools, and let the smart components do the work. Utilising smart solutions in switchgear with condition monitoring and data collection capabilities provides transparency into the electrical system and, combined with knowledge, it can be possible to identify failing components before they become an issue, causing unscheduled downtime or blackouts.
Like a smartwatch can monitor your body’s performance, help you identify areas for improvement and increase your performance, smart switchgear is a powerful new way to keep electrical systems healthy, in peak condition and keep annual maintenance costs low, allowing you to focus on other important tasks within your business.
Specification of intelligent MCCs requires taking into consideration the variables of cost, capability, and complexity. Therefore, it is important to realistically assess your capabilities and objectives. Keep in mind that additional functionality usually comes with additional cost or complexity that you may not need.
The following list are questions to consider when specifying intelligent MCCs.
A good MCC supplier will offer a range of options; one size does not fit all. The manufacturer should be able to help you answer these questions, so you can select the best approach for your application. The supplier also should be able to integrate with multiple networks and existing control systems. They must be willing to work with third parties and value-added system integrators. And they should be able to provide total solution packages where appropriate.
Finally, a complete functional test of the equipment prior to shipment is essential to realising reductions in commissioning time. Be sure the vendor intends to conduct the test by actually energising the I/O, not with simple point-to-point wiring checks.
Locating distributed I/O within each MCC (preferably within each shipping split) reduces installation and commissioning time for a lower installed cost. Construction is common across applications and provides clear segregation between automation and motor control. This segregation can be important where division of responsibilities, existing spares, and training are overriding issues.
Processors can be added to most distributed I/O systems to provide local control capabilities. Integration into PLC-based control schemes is straightforward and distributed I/O is available for all popular networks.
Intelligent devices embedded in the MCC not only provide network communications, but extensive functionality not available on standard devices, such as network configuration, diagnostics, extensive process information, and advanced protection for each unit.
Significant technical expertise is required, but the systems have excellent life-cycle benefits in process applications where the additional information, diagnostics, and protective features easily justify the incremental cost of the equipment.
Get in touch with us to speak to one of our experts.
Saftronics Limited ,Pearson Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS10 1BQ, UK, Company Number – 01935773
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