But a new report has revealed that process operators aren’t planning to curb investment in the latest equipment and technology.
Instead, the study by trade show specialists easyFairs® discloses how almost 60 per cent are planning to increase their spending in 2008 – and they’re particularly keen to source innovative new products that not only boost efficiency but also help them meet strict environmental regulations.
Only 6.9 per cent of respondents – from bulk materials sectors like agriculture, food, chemicals, cosmetics, plastics, metals, recycling, biofuels and pharmaceuticals – intend to tighten purse strings over the next 12 months, whilst almost one in seven plan to increase investment by between 75 and 100 per cent on last year.
Almost half of the Project Managers and Mechanical Engineers questioned said their annual budget would be targeted at Process Control & Instrumentation (45.7%) and Materials Handling & Conveying (37.1%). These were rated the two areas that could best deliver efficiency improvements (38% and 39.4% respectively), closely followed by Energy Efficiency (33.8%).
Legislation confusion
The study – entitled easyFairs® SOLIDS Report 2008 – suggests investment in legal training for employees, as well as new technology, would also be money well spent.
That’s because despite 53.4% of respondents claiming to be ‘very knowledgeable’ or ‘quite knowledgeable’ when it comes to production law, a quarter admitted that their understanding of workplace legislation was limited.
Survey commissioners easyFairs® host a pair of leading trade shows – easyFairs® MAINTEC and easyFairs® SOLIDS – at Birmingham’s NEC from 11-13 and 11-12 March respectively.
Both events feature a series of free learnShop seminars from pre-eminent industry professionals and, as easyFairs® Managing Director Peter Heath highlights, the keynote speeches will address legal issues as well as the latest production techniques.
“It was revealing to discover how many managers admitted their understanding of production legislation was lacking,” said Mr Heath. “Many of our learnShops tackle new legislation, particularly environmental compliance guidelines, and will provide audiences with a solid knowledge grounding.
“There is also a dedicated Industrial Environment Forum at this year’s show aimed at engineers charged with improving plant efficiency and environmental compliance. It will showcase technologies and solutions that address key performance issues at every stage of the plant process, including emissions, filtration and separation, energy efficiency, waste minimization, workplace safety, and fire and explosion protection.”
Green priorities
With electricity prices rising steeply, the study showed that Energy Efficiency (56.9%) was the most important criteria when identifying new plant equipment – ahead of both Capital Cost (54.2%) and Maintenance (52.8%) – and it was also cited as the key environmental consideration.
Two thirds of surveyed companies – which ranged from chemicals, plastics and rubber, to food, pharmaceuticals and equipment suppliers – said Waste Management was their ‘green’ priority, followed by Dust Control (62.5%), Minimising Waste (58.9%) and Recycling (51.8%).
Interestingly, while almost half of the leading manufacturers said Noise Monitoring was vital, most turned their nose up at Odour Monitoring – only 12.5% claimed that was on their eco-agenda. And despite businesses claiming to make giant strides in reducing their ‘carbon footprint’, less than one in six (16.1%) are deploying Carbon Trading as part of this green initiative.
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