MU July \ August 2017

News
www.machineryupdate.co.uk july/august 2017 MACHINERY UPDATE 7
imPacked was held in Nottingham
In-house event saw
new kit launched
for various markets
Hayssen Flexible Systems
held its week-long packaging
event in June where its own
equipment was demonstrated,
along with other company’s
machinery supplied by
Accraply, BW Containers,
Interactive Coding Equipment,
Jacob White and Yamato Scale
Dataweigh.
Billed as the largest in-house
packaging event in the UK,
Hayssen’s imPacked 2017
demonstrated a range of
food packaging machinery
in operation for a variety of
market sectors including a
new bagger from Hayssen
itself (more details page 20).
Sales and marketing
director, EMEA Tony Crofts
was delighted with the
attendance during the week.
PROGRAMME LOWERS THE AUTOMATION BARRIER
Helping with robot literacy
Universal Robots has developed its own Robots Academy, a free of
charge e-learning programme containing six modules designed to
maximise user engagement among students. The company believes
facilitating knowledge creation and access to the latest cobots will
attract more young people to help meet the looming skills gap in
manufacturing industry across Britain.
www.universal-robots.com
British workers are
confident that robots
won’t take their jobs
Manufacturing workers
in the UK are confident
robots will not be
taking their jobs over the
next decade, according to
a survey commissioned by
Epson. More than six in 10
(62%) said manufacturing
roles will evolve rather than
be replaced, while 59% are
confident machines will not
be able to replicate human
qualities like flexibility,
creativity and reaction.
While confident about
retaining their jobs, British
workers expressed optimism
about the impact of technology
on the manufacturing sector.
More than two thirds (68%)
think the quality of goods
will increase as the result of
innovation, while 64% agree
that technology will reduce
the impact on the environment.
Workers did share some
concerns about the role of
robots in manufacturing.
Over seven in ten (72%) think
Jobs will evolve and not be replaced
robots will be able to take
on more complex tasks that
would take humans longer
to master. Almost two thirds
(64%) are concerned about
cyber security, seeing it as the
greatest obstacle to innovation.
• Our annual feature covering
automation, robotics and
vision systems starts on page 32.
Industry needs to
address its archaic
image to the young
The MTA (Manufacturing
Technologies Association)
CEO James Selka used his key
note speech at the National
Manufacturing Debate hosted
by Cranfield University in
May to highlight the importance
of industry collaboration in
tackling the skills gap.
He highlighted that the image
of manufacturing is still a
barrier for recruiting new talent.
“We need to refute
the pervasive myth that
manufacturing is dirty,
dangerous and a dead end,”
he said. “Whereas modern
manufacturing is clinical, it is
clean and that jobs in it come
with remarkable opportunities.”
PPMA Show
shines light
on industry
The PPMA Show 2017 returns
to reveal the best of global
manufacturing innovation from
26-28 September 2017 at
the NEC Birmingham.
Seen as the UK’s unmissable,
free-to-attend, processing and
packaging machinery exhibition,
it will provide manufacturers with
insights into the latest machinery
products, technologies and
materials. Registration is now
open and easier than ever before
– taking less than three minutes
for attendees to secure.
Organised by the Processing
and Packaging Machinery
Association (PPMA), the show
will offer visitors a chance to
see new machinery in action,
find inspiration, new ideas and
solutions, gain access to potential
new suppliers and evaluate and
purchase the latest technology
as well as talk face-to-face with
the industry’s leading technical
experts across all sectors.
The PPMA Show 2017 will also
feature all-new entertainment and
interactive features, including a
computer-controller goalkeeper,
known as RoboKeeper. Described
as the World’s Best Goalie, the
RoboKeeper has already taken
on the likes of footballers Lionel
Messi and Neymar and will
challenge visitors to try and score
a goal live at the exhibition.
The RoboKeeper uses cuttingedge
robotics and vision
technology, reacting within
fractions of a second.
W www.ppmashow.co.uk
Can you beat the RoboKeeper?