Tag Archives: PP Control & Automation

News

PP Plus launches to bridge the UK’s commercial ‘valley of death’

The best of manufacturing, business and academia have come together to bridge the £bn+ commercial valley of death in the UK.

PP Plus, which is being led by PP Control & Automation, is delivering immediate access to specialist expertise and knowledge to help support companies looking to develop and scale green technologies.

More than 20 organisations are involved in the biggest growth support network currently available in the UK, including the likes of Brandauer, Centre for Advanced Low Carbon Propulsion Systems, Cleveland Scott York, Product Approvals, Protolabs, Silverstone Technology Cluster and WMG.

Together, they can take innovators from concept development and prototyping to protecting their IP, contract manufacturing and driving sales through PR and marketing.

“PP Plus is all about unlocking and commercialising the ideas that will contribute to a more sustainable future, making UK manufacturing stronger and more successful,” commented Tony Hague, CEO of PP Control & Automation.

“It is clear that the UK has a wealth of innovative companies that come up with new concepts and ideas that have true commercial potential and the opportunity to scale. However, they simply don’t have the capacity or additional expertise to realise these fantastic ideas.

“Even if they know where to look for this, they often tie themselves in knots trying to find the right route as the traditional support network is convoluted. We know this first hand from working with companies on innovative new technologies, so felt the best approach was to create our own way forward.”

He went on to add: “That is where PP Plus was born and the reaction from industry partners, business development strategists and some of the UK’s leading universities has been phenomenal. We now believe we have everything in place to take potential customers on and through the entire journey.”

PP Plus’ initial focus will be on supporting companies developing solutions for clean energy, future mobility, agritech innovation and machinery/equipment that contribute to a circular economy.

This will create sustainable innovations that will answer critical questions about how we are going to feed ourselves in the future, how do we ‘power’ our society and how do we travel without destroying our planet.

The journey starts with a 1-hour discovery session that is completely free of charge and will identify the next steps and the specialist support required to commercialise and scale up the technologies.

That may see the client access one, two or three of the main pillars (manufacturing, business, academia) covering anything from product approval and manufacturing capabilities to accessing grants and funding, marketing support and collaborative research and testing facilities.

Sara Williams, Senior Marketing Manager at Protolabs, added her support: “PP Plus is a great initiative that meets an ever-present need in the UK to bridge the valley of death, pulling lots of commercial, manufacturing, and academic expertise together in one easy to access programme.

“Protolabs is delighted to be one of the founding members and look forward to working closely with all the partners involved to leverage the collective strength of our knowledge and expertise.”

PP Plus has already received significant interest and a number of early projects have entered the ‘discovery’ phrase.

For further information, please visit www.pp-plus.org

News

Sophie’s electric as PP C&A engineer wins major Engineering & Manufacturing Apprenticeship Award

A female electrical engineer, who has already delivered a £1m plus new product introduction, has been named as the Black Country’s best Engineering & Manufacturing apprentice last night.

PP Control & Automation’s Sophie Young, beat off competition from across the area to secure the Ladder for the Black Country accolade in front of 285 guests at Wolverhampton Grand Station and has already set her sights on inspiring more girls into industry.

The 19-year-old has always shown a keen interest in STEM subjects from a young age and joined the strategic manufacturing outsourcing specialist 12 months ago on an Apprenticeship pathway that will see her attain qualifications from a HNC through to a degree.

She impressed judges with her rate of progression and how she is already completing projects that are delivering financial and operational performance to the Cheslyn Hay-based business, not to mention her willingness to act as an ambassador for women in engineering.

“It has been a great first twelve months in industry and this award has really topped it off nicely,” explained Sophie, who was also highly commended in the Overall Apprentice of the Year category.

“There were so many fantastic finalists on display that I was quite surprised to hear my name being announced. I’ll definitely use the recognition to continue with my studies and to also shout about how great a career in manufacturing can be.”

Within the first five months of her apprenticeship, Sophie was given the opportunity to take a project through from quotation level to completion.

This included supporting the New Product Introduction (NPI) process and working with the NPI team to eliminate faults and develop a product ready for production, carrying out inspection reports on first builds and bridging the product into its own dedicated production cell.

Supported throughout her learning by a Senior Electrical Engineer at PP C&A, she also created a full 3D assembly drawing pack, electrical schematics, and worked closely with all departments of the business to meet stringent deadlines.

She even volunteered to build the first iteration of the assembly to prove out her documentation, cutting out 1-hour of build time by identifying a more efficient method.

The assembly now takes 2.5hrs to produce, which has allowed 100 units to be manufactured in 2022, with 400 units scheduled for build in 2023, shipping both nationally and internationally.

Andy Whittaker, Engineering & Quality Director at PP Control & Automation, added his support: “Sophie has been a shining light since she joined and has developed so quickly, impressing everyone in the business with her passion, hard work, skill and eye for engineering.

“The Award is richly deserved and shows what you can achieve in a relatively short timeframe. I’m sure this is just the start of what will be an amazing career for one of our brightest young stars.

“Competitions like this highlight how important it is for companies to invest in young people and give them the opportunity to learn and grow in your business. It’s the only way we’re going to solve the very real skills shortage.”

The Ladder for the Black Country Apprenticeship Awards was organised by the Express & Star and headline sponsor City of Wolverhampton Council.

Sponsoring the Engineering & Manufacturing Award was voestalpine Metsec plc.