PECM Issue 17 2015 | Page 22

Advanced Engineering Show Productivity Pioneers Forcam Take Centre Stage at NEC Advanced Engineering Show November 4-5 – Stand H62 CNC - Spezialmaschinen With UK productivity some 30 per cent behind the USA, Germany and France many manufacturers will be keen to engage Forcam at the NEC. The company typically achieve productivity gains of around 20 percent in the first year following the installation of their manufacturing execution systems. Increases as high as 33 per cent have been recorded, so pay-back is rapid, with all users achieving further continuous improvement. UK Managing Director Andrew Steele explained, “World-wide there are over 60,000 machine tools and manufacturing processes interlinked using Forcam Force factory shop-floor management software. This streams accurate production instructions to machine operators, gathers information from the operators and machine systems, with instantaneous analysis and reporting so supervisors and managers have an accurate real time picture of production status. Any problems are immediately apparent and can then be resolved quickly.” © iStock Andrew will be making a presentation in Forum 5 on November 5, at 12.15pm. He concluded, “We are looking forward to showing how our experience working with the likes of Daimler, Audi, BorgWarner, GKN Aerospace and many others can be deployed to increase production efficiency in UK factories.” www.maka.com Composites versatile and durable – like a MAKA 5-Axis CNC Machines for ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ Tel. [phone] Email: [email protected] www.forcam.com Composite Panels (Glass and Carbon) Patterns (Epoxy based and Aluminium) Honeycombs and Foams Thermoplastics Applications For the Automotive, Aerospace, Marine, racing, sports and leisure industries, and more ... Green light for a tenth gas-to-grid plant in the United Kingdom The internationally active Agraferm Technologies AG continues to expand its leading market position in England. In addition to their exceptionally reliable technology and high energy yield, their swift planning and realisation of plants have contributed greatly to the German company’s success on the island. The Metheringham Project involves building the tenth biomethane plant in England. Methwold and Crowland are biogas plants which operate using a flexible substrate mix. In addition to gas production, they will also produce electricity using CHP technology. Near Lincoln, in Metheringham, a new gas-to-grid biomethane plant is being built. The plant will consist of just one digestor and post digestor yielding 400 Nm3/h biomethane and 500 kWel. For the plant builder Agraferm, it will be one of its smaller plants. “Plants in this performance class normally require three to four tanks but thanks to our high-load fermentation, Agraferm plants require substantially less tank volume,” explains Chief Technology Officer at Agraferm, Heinrich Schulze Herking. Particularly with large gas-to-grid plants, however, the operators appreciate the advantage of a small environmental footprint, which is why Agraferm is now constructing its tenth biomethane plant in the UK. MAKA 5-axis machining centres are innovative high-end solutions. Process optimisation, precision, quality and reliability stand for Productivity and Flexibility. MAKA Machinery UK Ltd www.MAKA.com C5 Horton Park, Hortonwood 7, Telford TF1 7GX Tel: [phone] Email: [email protected] 22 PECM Issue 17 Individualised concepts win British operators over The second project recently entrusted to Agraferm is at Decoy Farm in Crowland adjacent to the compost facility which is run by Material Change Ltd. The digestor and post digestor are loaded directly with a combination of energy crops and refuse. This downstream CHP plant produces 2.8 MWel. The construction and operation of the AD Plant at Decoy is being managed by an affiliate of Material Change. The third project is also based on an individually drafted concept with a flexible substrate mix. Future Biogas Ltd. has entrusted Agraferm with another biogas plant in Methwold. Of the 50,000 tons of the raw material that will be used at the plant, more than half will come from pig dung rather than from energy crops. This is made possible by upstream milling, two digestors and one post digestor. The Methwold plant will produce biomethane at a rate of 400 Nm3/h as well as power the 500 kW CHP plant. With these three new plants, which will all be completed in 2015, the Agraferm Group presence will increase to 20 biogas plants in the UK providing a raw biogas volume of approximately 200 million cubic metres every year. www.agraferm.com