Food Manufacturing

Mourning the passing of the humble sugar cube...

I couldn't let this moment pass without celebrating the invention and mourning the demise of the sugar cube, and highlighting its largely unrecognised legacy within the field of engineering. The sugar cube was invented in 1841 by Swiss-born Czech entrepreneur Jakub Rad at the sugar refinery in Moravia where he was director. At the time sugar was moulded and sold in large (8-12in) cones, sometimes called a sugar loaf. Once in the home, people would cut off the required amount of sugar for a given need from the cone. Rad, though, in 1841 conceived the easier-to-handle cube and developed the machinery to make it. The story goes that his wife, Julia Radova, one day cut her finger sawing off a chunk of sugar from a cone, and complained to her husband, asking why sugar couldn't be available pre-cut. Rad took the suggestion on board and in the autumn of 1841 presented his wife with a packet of 350 white and pink sugar cubes.

8th July 2011

Website features sensors, controls and technical resources

Gems Sensors and Controls has launched its new web site that extends the reach of the company's sensor and control products, and design and manufacturing services, to design engineers involved in the development of fluid control systems. It features expanded content, reorganised for easier access, a more intuitive product selection process - including sorting by sensing type and application - plus an all-new search-driven online catalogue.

7th July 2011

Advanced Air Services - 10 years as a Festo Premier Stockist

Advanced Air Services, which is specialist supplier of pneumatics automation and control systems, is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a Premier Stockist for Festo by hosting a special automation technology show at its facilities in Hull on Thursday 26 May 2011.

10th June 2011

New catalogue of polymer bearings published by igus

Igus UK has published a new Polymer Bearings catalogue for 2011, which is available on request in hard copy format or can be downloaded directly (93.8MB).

9th June 2011

Rockwell Automation acquires repair and service provider

Rockwell Automation has acquired Lektronix, an independent industrial automation repair and service provider in Europe and Asia, based in Cannock, UK. Lektronix provides automation repairs, spares and other maintenance services for most industrial automation products, including programmable logic controllers (PLC), electric motor drives, industrial computers, and computerised numerical control (CNC) equipment. Industries served include food and beverage to heavy process industries. Lektronix's management team will join the Rockwell Automation Control Products & Solutions operating segment.

2nd June 2011

Eriks to distribute Castrol Industrial lubricants

Eriks and Castrol Industrial UK have formed a new partnership under which Eriks will undertake the national distribution of Castrol Industrial's high-performance lubricants. For Castrol, this partnership provides the access it wanted in the MRO market.

15th May 2011

Eriks acquires California Seal and Fastener (Cal Seal)

Eriks has acquired California Seal and Fastener, Inc (Cal Seal), of Santa Clara, USA. Cal Seal is a leading US supplier of speciality sealing, vacuum components and accompanying logistics services, with facilities in Santa Clara, CA, Portland, OR and Austin, TX. Cal Seal's wide range of consumable spares and preventative maintenance parts and supplies further increases Eriks' presence in the semiconductor and other high-tech markets. Cal Seal will become part of Eriks Seals and Plastics, Inc, one of the company's divisions in the USA.

9th May 2011

Schaeffler to co-develop sports equipment and monitoring systems

The Schaeffler Group is supporting top-level sport with its technological expertise through sponsorship of the Institute for Research and Development of Sports Equipment (FES) in Berlin, Germany.

21st April 2011

Non-Contact Measurement Techniques and Best Practices

Micro-Epsilon (UK) is running a series of Technical Workshops on Non-contact Measurement Techniques and Best Practices. The first of these took place on 12 May 2011 in Reading, and the next is scheduled for October 2011 (venue to be confirmed).

14th April 2011

Automate manufacturing to ensure UK's economic growth

BARA has reported that 2010 UK robot sales are up 65% on 2009 figures, reversing the declining trend in robot sales which the UK has seen year on year since 2005. A recent end-of-year robot sales comparison survey carried out by BARA, which is made up of 40 robotics and automation companies and includes all major UK robot suppliers, shows that the increase in robot sales was much higher than industry pundits initially predicted. "The 2010 figures, the best result since 2005, paint an optimistic picture for robotics and automation," comments Mike Wilson, president of BARA.

1st March 2011

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