Editor’s comment: December 2017

Welcome to the December issue of PES, signifying the end of another pretty eventful year.

Much of 2017 has been taken up with politicians pontificating over Brexit and duelling with Michel Barnier and co. on the divorce bill. This is a major stumbling block; the EU representatives refuse to discuss the all-important subject of trade until we dig deep and cough up a rather sizable sum of money. Some commentators however believe it’ll be money well spent because the bill would pay for itself through the extra tax revenues the UK would gain through a free trade deal with the EU.

Actually, as I write this, Theresa May has cleared the way for Britain to pay the EU a hefty Brexit divorce bill of some £40 billion in a bid to break the deadlock in withdrawal negotiations. Of course, before this issue is printed, things may – and probably will – change. Hopefully by next December when I find myself here again, things will be a tad clearer!

What else? Well apart from the Government calling a cocky general election and nearly losing it, perhaps I should turn my attention to our industry.

I think 2017 will go down as the year when Industry 4.0 – connected manufacturing – made the transition from being a buzzword into reality. Nowhere was this more apparent than at EMO 2017 – it was literally everywhere across the halls.

Companies have realised that for this to work, the architecture needs to be truly open and not manufacturer-specific. Whilst machine tool manufacturers would love to believe that their customers use only their kit exclusively, the reality is different with most companies using equipment from a variety of suppliers. For Industry 4.0 to work, the disparate machines all need to be able to ‘communicate’ with each other – and that includes legacy equipment. Real progress has been made in this regard.

What else? Oh yes, the UK Government announced that it will ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide pose a major risk to public health. The move, ultimately will take in hybrid vehicles.

With so many manufacturing companies entrenched in the automotive supply chain it’s somewhat scary to think about this too much, but I guess we’ll do what we always do – adjust and adapt. In the foreseeable future it’ll be diesel vehicles that will be hit first and no doubt we’ll see hybrid vehicles enjoying a sustained period of popularity.

After that we’re talking electric cars – but there are significant power issues to overcome before they become mainstream. Driverless cars? I’m not even going to go there.

On that note, I’ll sign off and take the opportunity, on behalf of the PES team, to thank you for your ongoing support. Have a great Christmas and a prosperous and profitable New Year!

Dave Tudor Editor