Compliance & Precision News Round-Up - Issue 32

This issue covers:

Rewarding engineering excellence
UK lighting industry initiative
Cropico D07 Plus for accurate low resistance measurement
Call to support energy efficient appliance sales
Market recovery for electronic components

Rewarding engineering excellence

The sixth British Engineering Excellence Awards (BEEAs) will be held on 9th October 2014 at 8 Northumberland, London.

The Awards are open to all companies with an engineering design function and aim to demonstrate and promote the quality of engineering design within the UK.

The winners from categories that cover electronic products will be those that have recognised that creativity and design innovation are the critical elements of continually improving and reinvigorating themselves to stay ahead of the competition.

Visit www.beeas.co.uk for more information

UK lighting industry initiative

The UK Lighting Industry Association (LIA) and the UK Government has launched a jointly prepared strategy for the UK Lighting Industry.

The LIA worked closely with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in helping to draft this strategy and included valuable input from a wide variety of stakeholders in the lighting world culminating in a document outlining a roadmap to 2030.

'The UK has a number of Sector Plans for major industries such as Nuclear Power, Aeronautics and the Motor Industry so it is gratifying that the Government recognises the potential in the lighting industry to not only help it meet energy reduction targets but create jobs, growth and exports' says Peter Hunt, LIA COO

Michael Fallon, Minister for both Business and Energy, launched the Sector Plan at the LIA Annual Luncheon at Drapers Hall. When questioned on the purpose of the strategy Michael Fallon said 'It maps out the future of the industry and points to the partnership between industry and government showing how the industry is likely to evolve and what needs to be done further to help make it a success globally.'

Peter Hunt added 'The preparation of this document is just the very beginning but the hard work starts now in turning this strategy into deliverable actions both from the industry and government. We have the support of government but the success of this strategy will depend on the buy-in from industry to make it work'. More details at www.thelia.org.uk

Cropico D07 Plus for accurate low resistance measurement

Improving the accuracy to which low resistance can be measured is a key feature of the Cropico D07 Plus digital ohmmeter.

The versatile, rugged and easy-to-use D07 Plus simplifies resistance associated with electrical connections, weld integrity, cable and joint resistance, electric motors and other engineering applications.

Accurate to within 0.05%, lead resistance errors are eliminated with the incorporation of true four-wire technology, while advanced features include seven selectable measurement ranges, extending from 0.1μΩ to 6 kΩ - in addition to a 10A measuring current.

A long scale count meter (up to 60,000) enables the automatic averaging of forward and reverse measurements, which can then be downloaded to a PC or printer if required via a full serial RS232 or USB outlet port.

A QWERTY keyboard and LCD graphics panel allow quick and easy access and control. Other features include temperature compensation, full cooling curve facilities with built-in graphical plotting, remote start facility and comprehensive digital calibration.

Remote power is provided by rechargeable batteries, which provide up to one hour's continuous use at the lowest ranges and 20 hours for all others. Specialist test leads and calibration standards are also available from Cropico.

Call to support energy efficient appliance sales

A report calls on the Government to help the public replace their old appliances and cut their energy bills by up to £75 a year.

In its "Promoting highly efficient electrical appliances" paper, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimates that enabling the purchase of energy efficient appliances could save the nation the equivalent power generated by 1,500 wind turbines or the proposed Hinkley nuclear power plant.

The report was commissioned by the environmental charity Global Action (GAP) and supported by AMDEA (The Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances). The report highlights that incentive or scrappage schemes have proved highly successful in transforming the uptake of efficient appliances in many other countries.

Douglas Herbison, Chief Executive, AMDEA agrees that the Government energy policy should pick off the simple solutions first: "We endlessly debate the virtues of wind power, nuclear and fracking. Vast sums have disappeared into schemes, like the Green Deal, to improve the fabric of homes, while comparable savings can be made at a fraction of the cost and hassle by replacing old inefficient appliances. Consumers could use a little help in the form of Government incentives or financial subsidies."

While the average amount of electricity consumed by white goods appliances across the EU has dropped from 265kWh per year to 246kWh from 2005 to 2010, over the same period there was no improvement in the UK.

Visit www.amdea.org.uk for more details.

Market recovery for electronic components

After consecutive sales declines in 2012 and 2013, the power transistor market is forecast to climb 8% in 2014 and reach a new record high in 2015, says IC Insights.

For more than three decades, power transistors have been the growth engine in the $21 billion commodity-filled discrete semiconductor market, handling the vital job of controlling, converting, and conditioning currents and voltages in an ever-expanding range of electronics—including battery-operated portable products, new energy-saving equipment, hybrid and electric vehicles, "smart" electric-grid applications, and renewable power systems.

However, the power transistor marketplace has uncharacteristically struggled for the past two years, posting the first back-to-back annual sales declines in more than 30 years (-8% in 2012 and -6% in 2013) due to delays in unit purchases by cautious equipment makers responding to economic uncertainty and price erosion from excess production capacity.

The two-year losing streak for power transistors is expected to end in 2014, with worldwide sales rebounding 8% to $12.5 billion. IC insights forecasts power transistor sales rising 9% in 2015 to $13.7 billion, topping the current annual peak of about $13.5 billion set in 2011.

More information at www.icinsights.com.