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Charting the right course to efficiency in the marine industry

British Fluid Power Association recently published an article which collates testimonies from a number of BFPA member companies spokespeople, including Paul Prouse from Rotec Hydraulic Ltd. They consider some of the challenges associated with the effective use and maintenance of fluid power systems and related equipment within the marine sector.

One of the most challenging industry sectors for engineering sciences has to be marine, where technology must be designed and built to withstand the demanding conditions associated with the open seas. Therefore, within the fluid power and related systems and equipment industry, providers to the marine sector need to ensure their products are designed and built to be 100% fit for purpose.

Arguably the most glamorous market segment within the marine industry is superyachts. As many superyachts are based in warmer climes, such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean or Dubai, the operation and maintenance of electro-hydraulic systems should be performed with equipment that can function effectively in very high temperatures.

Concept to design

Rotec Hydraulics Limited covers both commercial and pleasure applications. Rotec provides service and installation facilities to local and national fishing fleets, as well as operating systems for fuel, fire and hydraulic services fitted to luxury yachts.

Integrated systems

Integrated systems are the present and the future within the marine sector, according to Paul Prouse, Managing Director at RotecHydraulics Ltd. He maintains that the first challenge to providing the right system is obtaining a suitably detailed specification from customers of what kind of solution they are require for their specific system requirements and then matching these requirements to a practical solution that best suits the customer and the application. “There are now so many options electro-hydraulic/pneumatic products on the market which are constantly evolving,” said Prouse. “As the customer does not always know what is available it is up to us as design engineers to keep up to date with new products on the market and where they could be integrated if suitable.”

Prouse makes the point that an electro-hydraulic system that Rotec could fit on a superyacht would have to be compact, low maintenance and aesthetically pleasing whereas the same system fitted to a fishing boat would be rugged, industrial, easily maintainable and more cost sensitive. He adds that electro-hydraulics now offers a multitude of options that Rotec can then transpose to customers to give them system information, compact hydraulic systems, control interfaces and safety functionality.

Within the bespoke luxury yacht market, Paul Prouse makes the point that time from concept to design based on the budget can be difficult to predict as there can be many factors that increase design time over the original estimation. “Customers may have been working for much longer periods (months or years) on their design concept requirements, and when it comes to our part, timescales are often short in relation to the overall project timescales,” he said. “What could be classed as R&D work for bespoke projects is not always thought about or included in project costings and timescales, which adds pressure on designers to get it perfect first time.”

Rotec’s recent collaboration on the WaveAccess project was another example of a successful application of the use of hydraulics in a testing marine environment.

“Electronic control systems incorporating electronic valve control, electro-proportional valve control and actuator positioning feedback gives us a platform from where we can now control hydraulic actuators from a remote location without the need to be near to the hydraulic components,” he said.

Read more about the WaveAccess project: https://www.rotec.net/rotec-help-develop-groundbreaking-vessel-waveaccess/

The full BFPA article, including testimonials from other hydraulic companies available at:

https://bfpa.co.uk/news/charting-the-right-course-to-efficiency-in-the-marine-industry/

Author: Sarah Gardner, BFPA

Rotec part of a groundbreaking vessel development: WaveAccess

In 2014, Rotec were invited to join Coastal Charters, a commercial maritime business based in West Cumbria, on the development of WaveAccess.

The project originally came as a response to an emerging trend within the offshore wind industry to move the construction further out into the sea. The company anticipated the industry’s need for a reliable vessel that would be faster and able to cope with the challenging conditions further offshore.

The goal of the project was to design and build a rapid crew transfer vessel that would be faster, safer and cheaper to run than the vessels in use, resulting in the pilot vessel: Tenacity

The radical new design allows for transport of passengers and crew with dramatically reduced fuel consumption at twice the speed, while maintaining safety, minimising motion sickness and improving comfort at up to 40 kts in seas in excess of 2m. The vessel can be used for crew transfers in industries such as oil & gas, offshore wind and construction, search and rescue, patrol, medivac, safety boat, to name a few.

See video of the vessel in action on WaveAccess website or YouTube channel

Thanks to Rotec’s extensive marine experience and previous control systems the company had developed for use on multi-hull jet vessels in the wind-farm support vessel industry we were invited to participate in this innovative project.

Andy Rimes, Rotec’s Technical Director outlines the project “Together with the team at WaveAccess and other specialists we developed a bespoke control system for the twin waterjet propulsion system to provide fully automated synchronised control of the jets, clutches, thrusters and main engines both in normal forward cruising modes and reverse facing tower operations.”

The electronic system is based on Parker Hannifin’s Iqan mobile controller and associated products. “As well as the electronic supervisory control and monitoring system we also completely re- equipped the Italian Castoldi waterjets hydraulic drive and control systems to provide fully proportional control electronically controlled from the Iqan system. This provides a smoother, more controllable and economic drive system. “

All design work and bench testing took place at Rotec’s premises in Taunton, with the installation, setup and sea trials carried out by Rotec engineers at Coastal Charters home in Cumbria.

It was a challenging, yet ultimately rewarding, experience to be involved with the development of a concept vessel such as this and we wish Stephen and all the crew and team at WaveAccess best of luck with their promotion of the successful and innovative vessel to the industry.

For more information please visit: www.waveaccess.co.uk

Author: Sarka Humpolcova

Date: 06/04/2017

Engineering Talks 1.4: Bridgwater engineering student joins us for work experience

Harry Safe

This week we had a welcome addition to our engineering team at Taunton in form of the lovely Harry Safe, a final year student at Bridgwater College, who joined us for work experience.

Name: Harry Safe

Course: Level 3 Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

How did you get the work experience at Rotec?

I was looking at the local companies and since my parents know Paul Prouse (Managing Director), I send him an email asking about any opportunities and he agreed to take me on for a week.

Is this the only work experience you are doing?

Yes

Could you guide me through your week at Rotec?

On Monday I was with Richard Renfree, working on Solidworks, designing disc brakes. On Tuesday I was with Dan Foster, doing electrical work on winching systems. On Thursday I was with Matt Cooke, testing release valves and taking apart flow control valves and today, I am building brackets for the winches I worked on on Tuesday.

Any highlights?

Yes, yesterday was pretty good, hands – on work.

So you prefer hands-on work to for example design?

Yes, both are good, but yes, definitely prefer the more hands on work.

Do you feel the experience benefited you, if so, how?

Definitely benefitted me, it’s a bit of an eye-opener really, it gives me an idea of what’s it actually like to work in the industry, instead of just not knowing anything about the work places.

What are your future career plans?

I am working on getting enough UCAS points to allow me to enter the RAF as an officer, which is what I want to do.

Paul Prouse foreword for BFPDA

Rotec’s own Managing Director, Paul Prouse, was selected to hold a chairman position for the BFPDA (British Fluid Power Distributors Association) throughout 2016. In his 2017 foreword for the association’s publication ‘Yearbook & Members Directory’, Paul talks about two of the topics dominating the headlines of newspapers across the world; Brexit and Women in power…

“It is hard to put pen to paper and not talk about Brexit, the topic has dominated the headlines throughout 2016 cultivated continuously by everyone from small SMEs through to large corporate businesses trying to second guess what ‘best strategy’ for their business should take whilst the politicians arguably find themselves with a task to extract the UK from Europe that in reality, the net effect is unknown along with strategy or policy that was never scripted.

I will come back to Brexit. In the meantime, what has also been interesting throughout the year and in part has caused me to reflect on the situation within the trade members of BFPDA and our industry as a whole is the renewed emphasis on women within the industry. The global stage has been dominated by Mrs Merkel, Mrs May and the near miss of Mrs Clinton joining the ranks as respective leaders of 3 of the world’s wealthiest nations providing a healthy balance in tipping the scales that in part have been dominated by men.”

read the FULL ARTICLE

Engineering Talks 1.3 : Interview with an aviation specialist

Name: Richard Quelch

Qualifications: HNC in Mechanical and Structural Engineering

Years of working experience: 34 years

Job Title: Mechanical Design Engineer

Speciality: Aerospace

Where are you from?

Originally from Southampton, but moved into the West Country about 20 years ago. I also lived in Germany, Israel and Brazil for some time, due to work requirements.

Do you have any hobbies?

I love fly-fishing and outdoor pursuits in general, such as gardening; Somerset is a great place for all of these!

I also just recently finished working on an innovative Facebook development project called Aquila – a 42 m unmanned solar-powered drone, designed to fly at 90,000 feet , whose goal is to bring the Internet to remote reaches of the world where there is no satellite coverage. The wing is controlled from the ground and flies in around 60 km radius – providing coverage to huge areas. I thought it was a fun and worthwhile project and offered my company’s services; we became a part of a propulsion unit team. It is currently in a test phase, but the plan is to manufacture 100’s of these to employ all over the world.

Find out more about project Aquila here

Are there some other innovative projects you have been involved in?

Errrm… Yes. Unfortunately can’t mention them in any depth as they were for the Defence Department and are secret. (laughs)

Sounds like you’ve had an interesting career path , can you tell us a bit about it?

Sure. I guess it all started with an apprenticeship with Siemens. I was part of a project developing a towed array sonar for the marine industry – a piece of defence mechanism used on Submarines. I came out with a HNC in Mechanical and Structural Engineering. I then went on to work for Airbus, Embrear & Dornier – on and off for many years and I ended up working all over the world including Germany, Australia, Brazil and Israel. I was part of their teams developing the A340 and also the A380, from conception to finish. Previous and subsequent jobs were with AgustaWestland Helicopters in Yeovil, where I was involved in the EH 101 and also AW159 – “Wildcat” development – the latest craft currently being deployed by the military.

Airbus A340 and A380, Helicopters: EH 101 and AW159 “Wildcat”

What interested you in a job at Rotec?

Well, it’s local, I’ve been travelling most of my life and at 55 I would like to stick to my home (laughs).

I think Rotec has a great future, it’s a company that will expand I think and probably at the correct rate and that appealed to me. Also I enjoy the management as well as the practical side of the job. Rotec have invested in innovative 3D Solidworks software and would like to see it used to it’s full potential and since I have over 15 years of experience of using Solidworks as well as other systems it was a good fit. I am also looking forward to working on some new Rotec product ranges the company are looking to introduce, which I think is very progressive!

If you enjoyed this article you might like these: Engineering Talks 1.1: Interview with an apprentice or Engineering Talks 1.2 : Women in Engineering

Author: Sarka Humpolcova

Date: 24/11/2016

University Degree or an Apprenticeship?

The debate about university degrees versus apprenticeship is nothing new. The truth is there is no direct competition between university degrees and apprenticeships once they get past the application stage. It is like comparing red and white wine – neither is superior, it simply depends on the circumstance and personal preference.

However that doesn’t change the fact that there is a large number of new school leavers each year who are deciding to take the life altering step towards one or the other. Whether this is you or your child / sibling / friend or family member, it is important to know the pros and the cons of each choice as often the school leaver’s talents could be applied to both: apprenticeship or a degree.

Apprenticeships summary

Generally more hands on work
Provides in depth training in highly specialised fields
Earning while studying
Avoiding student finance and future debt
Smaller groups in class – more individual attention

University degrees summary

Highly focused on academic work
Keeping your career options open with a broader area of study
Many employers won’t consider applicants with the right working experience if they don’t also hold a university degree
Lesser barriers to further advancement in the long term

Studying at university offers the option to focus fully on studying for 3 (or more) years and offers a greater diversity of employment options after graduation, which comes in handy if you’re not entirely sure which career path to follow.

For many employers a university degree is also a mark of drive and achievement they find crucial when looking for new recruits.

KIRK KINSELL, European president of InterContinental Hotels says:

“University acts as a filter for people who can prove themselves to have goals, objectives and accomplishments and have survived in that environment.”

There is no doubt that the increase in university fees plays a crucial role when it comes to making a decision. A year after the rise in tuition fees, PricewaterhouseCoopers experienced a 200 % increase in applications for education/working schemes following A levels (comparison of years 2008 and 2011).

However the statistic increase of people not going to university will mean less competition for positions requiring degrees in the long term.

Kirk Kinsell says “If we think about today versus 20 years ago, today’s companies put a lot more emphasis on degreed candidates. I think degrees will be even more important in 20 years’ time.”

And it is likely this trend will indeed continue; a report recently launched by Boris Johnson claims that by 2022, 60% of jobs in London will be at degree level. This would suggest that apprentice trained workers will struggle reaching for high level jobs and will likely be eventually pressured into further education.

This being said, there is a probability that any further education will be paid for by an employer, leaving the formal apprentices virtually debt free, which is undeniably a rare occurrence in the current financial climate and may contribute towards overall life satisfaction factor.

There has been a long prevailing misconception in relation to apprenticeships best voiced by Steve Holiday, the Chief executive of National Grid:

“What we’re in danger of moving towards is an attitude of ‘if you go to university, you’ll be successful or if you’re not quite as successful, you go down these alternative paths’ “

The sentiment is clearly outdated if not wrong altogether. There is a demand for educated graduates, but there is also a huge need for highly skilled technicians. Many apprenticeship positions are as prestigious as a spot at the top 10 university:

“From receiving 9,000 applications in the year starting August 2009, BT received 33,000 for the following 12-month period for 500 places. In the same year, Oxford University received 17,000 applications for 3,000 places. BT is looking to broaden the scope of its scheme to include more IT roles and may take on up to 250 additional apprentices this year.”

(ANDY PALMER, Head of skills, BT)

People who opt in to enrol on in house training schemes or apprenticeship schemes have often progressed into senior roles within the company.

IAN POWELL, Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers says:

“Students joining the firm on this route earn a competitive salary while studying for a professional qualification, plus there are no student debts to repay. One of our current board members joined the firm as a school-leaver and is a great example of the fact that those who don’t pursue a degree can make it to the top of the firm.”

Whether you decide to go to university, join an apprenticeship or an in-house training scheme, it is, without a shadow of a doubt, worth considering a career in engineering.

(What is it like to be a Woman in Engineering? We asked Claire, our electrical engineer)

The engineering industry in particular has been struggling with a shortage of talent, the problem being more a case of quantity rather than quality however. The companies agree that the individuals recruited are excellent, willing to learn the skills necessary and learning fast. The situation seems to be worse for smaller business, with smaller marketing and recruitment budgets, it is difficult for them to get themselves in front of school leavers and graduates at first place. So what happens then is that a large number of applicants compete for a small number of jobs with the industry giants, and often get discouraged if unsuccessful, finding jobs in other industries, while small companies (especially the ones in more remote areas) are screaming out for suitable candidates.

Rhys Morgan, director of engineering and education at the Royal Academy of Engineering says:

“However, even if all these issues were addressed and 100 per cent of engineering graduates went into industry (a questionable aim in itself), we still wouldn’t have addressed the skills shortage we’re told companies are facing. In short, we need more engineering students. And this can’t be addressed just by engaging more with young people’, said Morgan. ‘Universities are almost at capacity,’ he said. ‘So even if we did get more students coming through to study STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] subjects, we’re not going to have the capacity. There’s a real timebomb coming up.’