How tech can keep heritage firms alive
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Celebrities earn thousands of pounds for posting adverts for brands, and this new commitment to transparency is commendable – at the last count, 16 influencers have vowed to the CMA that they will be clear in their online posts about whether they have been paid to promote a product. It’s no coincidence that by agreeing to this they have avoided court action. Under the CMA’s remit, influencers who break the rules can be fined and even jailed for up to two years.
Young, impressionable audiences deserve to know whether someone they admire is truly recommending a product or being paid to do so. However, Influencers will tell you where the outfit they’re wearing is from and the name of the moisturiser they used – are they just being helpful or are they advertising? I’m not sure I know, would a pre-teen know and, more importantly, does the CMA know? A MILITARY uniform manufacturer with a 100-year heritage turned to Huddersfield to embrace advanced technologies to repair its machinery and secure the future of its business.
Wyedean is a Haworth-based manufacturer of military uniform regalia and accessories that has been supplying a vast range of products to the Armed Forces for over a century.
Wyedean approached the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC) in Huddersfield when a cast iron Leesona winder part broke. Made out of cast iron, spares were impossible to come by, and it needed to be identical to fit the 70-year-old machinery. Although a small part, without it the machine wouldn’t work, and production would come to a halt.
The 3M BIC’s in-house design team scanned the broken winder part and manufactured a replacement part in polymer that was lightweight yet potentially strong enough to undertake the same function and fit.
The winder part is currently on a trial period and the intention is to 3D print a replacement in stainless steel and introduce other improvements if the polymer version is the correct form but does not wear well in regular use.
Wyedean MD Robin Wright was introduced to the technology available at the 3M BIC while visiting the University of Huddersfield hosted by fellow Deputy Lieutenants of West Yorkshire, Colin Blair MBE, the University’s Director of Estates and Facilities, and Professor Bob Cryan CBE, the University’s Vice-Chancellor.
Realising a need for additive manufacture, the company was able to access the technology through the Huddersfield Innovation and Incubation Project (HIIP), which was funded through a £2.9m grant from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal – a £1bn package of government investment to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.
The HIIP has allowed the University of Huddersfield to purchase a range of transformational technologies, from scanning and design tools; additive manufacture (AM) in polymers and metals; inspection equipment ; virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), and eye tracking capabilities.
Mr Wright said: “Other than one broken part, the winder machine is in good shape so by replacing the broken part it will probably be good for another 70 years.
“I think it’s crucial that businesses with deep roots in the region’s industrial heritage, like Wyedean, embrace new technologies. Technology is advancing at a rapid rate and established companies need to exploit them to stay in the game.”
Michael Wilson, centre manager at the 3M BIC, said: “This is a great example of how modern technol- ogy can be used to secure the future of legacy equipment to replace parts that can’t be replicated easily today. Additive manufacture allows us to customise products, trial them and amend them if necessary, so we can produce a final product or prototype that is the perfect fit for purpose.
“The region is rich with manufacturing businesses that have been around for hundreds of years, but in order for them to survive they need to innovate.”
■For more information on the University of Huddersfield and the 3M BIC’s new advanced technologies through the HIIP, call 01484 505601, e-mail info@3mbic. com, or go to www.3mbic.com.