New opportunities
Published: 04 August, 2020
The UK Government has confirmed it has given the green light for trade exhibitions to go ahead from October this year, which is an extremely positive development for industry as it will give manufacturers the opportunity to begin to identify the technologies and services they need first hand, to help them recover from the Covid-19 crisis. One of the first events to be held will be the biennial co-located events; Plant & Asset Management, Smart Industry Expo, Drives & Controls, Fluid Power & Systems, and Air-Tech Exhibitions, organised by DFA Media - publisher of Plant & Works Engineering magazine - which will be taking place between January 25th-27th 2021, alongside MACH.
UK businesses are pivoting and seeking growth opportunities in new markets as they seek ways of overcoming the Covid-19 crisis, and it is clear that maintenance technologies and strategies, asset management, automation and digitalisation solutions, can no longer be regarded as ‘nice to have’, they will be central to many firms’ survival. Many of these technologies and solutions will be on show at Plant & Asset Management Exhibition and the co-location of events in January.
During these unsettling times, it is easy to forget what we do best, and only if we continue to be outward looking to reflect the world-class innovation and manufacturing skills we possess, will the UK cope with the challenges post-Covid-19 and take advantage of the new opportunities.
Therefore it is vital that businesses still plan to invest in their maintenance strategies during the recovery and beyond, especially with the advance of digitalisation. Continuing to be forward thinking is key by investing in effective processes, condition monitoring controls and skilled engineers, plant efficiency can be significantly enhanced through preventing shutdowns and the possibility of expensive downtime.
As industry begins to recover from this extremely difficult period, we should remain optimistic about our future prospects. UK manufacturing can flourish if we look beyond our normal comfort zones and use the technologies and strategies that exist to help us identify these new opportunities.
Aaron Blutstein, Editor
