Compressed air and fluid power specialist Thorite has been named Family Business of the Year in the prestigious Yorkshire Business Masters Awards. The accolade comes as the fifth generation Bradford-based company celebrates 172 years of unbroken operations and the centenary of its incorporation.

SMC is engaging with OEMs to prepare for the 4 bar landscape, asserting that end users can cut their energy costs by up to 29% in some instances, which creates a powerful USP for the OEM.

For customers who want a more sustainable design for their moving application, Igus has added four new materials made of recycled plastic to its iglidur ‘ECO programme’. The ECO H, ECO P, ECO A180 and ECO G consist of regranulate, so conserve resources, while their abrasion-resistance helps to reduce microplastics.

Standard parts and components stockist and manufacturer, WDS Components, has extended its Stock Guarantee programme to cover a wider range of products.

Visual Components, the developer of 3D simulation software, has acquired the robotics division of Delfoi, a pioneer company in robot offline programming (OLP) software solutions worldwide.

Ingersoll Rand has opened a new, 13,500ft2 central warehouse in Manchester, enabling it to ease supply chain issues by holding stocks of complete compressed air systems, including compressors, downstream and ancillary equipment.

Softstarter technology from ABB is helping to provide uninterrupted water supply to 60 percent of Varanasi city as part of a partnership with city water supplier Jal Kal Varanasi to reduce leaks, pipe bursts and water hammering by around 30 percent.

Applied Automation has signed a sole UK distribution agreement with Danish collaborative robotics specialist, Spin Robotics, which has developed affordable and easy to use ‘plug-and-produce’, end-of-arm, screwdriving tools for assembly applications using collaborative robots.

A new safety solution for palletisers and depalletiser using induction loops, light curtain and monitored signal sequence satisfies the requirements of revised standard EN 415-4, thereby ensuring maximum safety. Leuze has produced a new Technology Report detailing this new safety solution.

Rockwell Automation and Cognite have announced a strategic partnership to further unlock the value of manufacturing data and accelerate technological change for the industry.