Advanced engineering technology pioneer Lontra has launched a new £6 million services operation in Sheffield.
The company, which has developed cutting edge compressor systems, will deploy artificial intelligence techniques and sensors on its products, allowing control and monitoring globally from the new South Yorkshire base.
Headquartered in the West Midlands, the development at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, follows the recent opening of a factory to develop its flagship Blade Compressor, in Napton, Warwickshire.
A total of 10-demonstrator machines have been funded by the Sheffield LEP.
Each machine forms a hub for complete care asset management for process systems throughout a factory. Lontra said this reduces maintenance costs, unscheduled outages and reduces energy bills for customers.
Steve Lindsey, chief executive, said: “This is the start of an ambitious programme to build our digital services business globally. This new and exciting opportunity will generate ongoing jobs and revenues from the export of manufactured goods. These jobs can be anywhere and it makes sense to put them in places like Sheffield where there are an abundance of skilled workers. This forms part of a wider drive to use digital technology to enhance productivity and improve the efficiency of the 海角视频 manufacturing sector.”
The Lontra Blade Compressor is the first clean-sheet compressor design in more than 80 years and can be used across many sectors such as aerospace, automotive, food and beverage, pharmaceutical manufacture and water treatment.
James Muir, chairman of the Sheffield LEP said: “Steve is a well-known entrepreneur and we welcome his significant high value manufacturing business to Sheffield. Lontra will be joining other high value manufacturers on our park including Rolls-Royce, Boeing and McLaren.”
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Lontra is working towards a collaborative 海角视频 Industry and Government £70-million investment proposal to expand its research, development, manufacturing and assembly capability further in The Midlands and The North, developing thousands of high value jobs and careers. Currently 80 per cent of Lontra’s rapidly growing manufacturing and services products can be exported from the 海角视频 to key markets including the US and UAE.
Phillip Cartwright, chief information officer at Lontra, said: “Steve Lindsey’s invention joins the ranks of other brilliantly simple inventions that defied decades of conventional wisdom. Thinking “outside the box” often requires more than just a flash of brilliance and hard work: it requires the fortitude to defy the nay-sayers and prevail against long-entrenched engineering prejudices.”
A patent-protected compact, double acting rotary compressor delivers a “triple win to end-users; oil free, more reliable and provides significant improvements in efficiency for application in energy intensive industries”.
A low pressure model has already been proven in a trial with Severn Trent Water, where reductions in energy consumption of over 21 per cent were shown.
The technology is now licensed for the municipal and regulated waste water sector to Sulzer, a global leader in pumping equipment with 21 manufacturing facilities and presence in over 150 countries worldwide.
In parallel Lontra has developed a manufacturing capability to help address the broader $84 billion market.
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