Manufacturers can now test the effectiveness of their weighing systems over the internet thanks to a new risk check service.
Created by Mettler Toledo, a leading manufacturer of precision instruments, the Good Weighing Practice (GWP) service allows manufacturers to assess the risk of weighing a given balance.
Professionals in quality management across the pharmaceutical, chemical and food and beverage industries can access the GWP by answering a series of eight questions over the internet.
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A team of scientists has launched a study to look at ways of cutting the carbon emissions released by crops grown for biofuel.
The £1.1 million project, funded by the National Environment Research Council (NERC), will consider ways of trapping carbon in the soil to limit its negative impact on the environment.
Southampton University professor Gail Taylor, an expert on plants and the environment, will be leading the initiative.
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A new sieve tensioning system has ‘closed the technological gap’, according to a review on Solids and Bulk.
The materials handling specialists revered the TorqueMaster system, which is used in sieve shakers such as the Analysette 3, manufactured by Fritsch Analysette 3, because it allows for accurate sieving analysis.
Product reviewer Andrea Kohler admitted the Fritsch sieve shaker is not a common brand but said the TorqueMaster is the best tensioning system for all sieve stacks as it can be used with any sieve shaker.
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The future of biofuels is looking sweet after scientists discovered that high-level sugar stores in plants can aid the conversion of plant biomass into sustainable bioenergy.
The findings of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Researcher Council (BBSRC) suggest that sugar stores assist the conversion as their fermenting qualities have the ability to speed up the burning process needed to produce biofuel.
Dr Paul Dupree of Cambridge University, who is leading the study, said his team found a type of sugar called glucomannan that can be safely increased in the plant Arabidopsis, without any detrimental effect to the plant.
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The British Aggregators Association (BAA) has welcomed plans for several new quarries in Scotland, hailing it as a welcome change to the usual tales of "doom and gloom" in the industry.
Its comments come after planning permission for two new hard rock quarries were passed by Scottish authorities.
The first has been granted to Collier Quarrying and Recycling of Cowdenbeath, which is to develop a site near to the Moss Moran gas plant in Fife, near to one of the main road routes to Edinburgh.
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Businesses in north Devon are being advised to chop their fuel costs by turning to locally-sourced wood for energy.
Firms from across a range of sectors including charity, commercial and industrial markets are being urged to take advantage of a government backed scheme to help them go green, according to the North Devon Gazette.
Businesses are able to access a share of the £1.5 million bioenergy capital grants providing they have an active interest in converting to biomass-fuelled heat.
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The UK pharmaceutical industry could face a tough year ahead, as global pressures ‘take a toll’.
That is the view of journalist Andrew Jack who today wrote in the Financial Times that tighter budgets will place restraints on the market, which has otherwise been unaffected by the global recession.
He added that higher costs and slow recruitment are driving clinical research trials overseas, which could lead to less investment in research and development within the UK.
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a new test which aims to prevent BSE from being carried in animal feed.
The test has been developed by the FDA’s office of research for the Centre of Veterinary Medecine (CVM) and involves a method of detecting BSE causing proteins, known as prions.
Prions are detected in a process called the polymerase chain reaction, a system capable of selecting small particles of prohibited materials which can then be amplified and identified under a microscope.
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Wirral’s manufacturing industry has received a boost thanks to the beginning of a speciality tea contract in Moreton.
Typhoo will be creating ten new jobs in an operation to provide famous Knightsbridge store Harrods with fine teas, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Belt conveyors will be used at the facility, which employs 277 people, after the contract was moved from the south.
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More manufacturing firms slipped into administration in 2009 than in the previous year, although there are hopes that the industry is beginning to recover.
New figures from business advisory company Deloitte revealed a 12 per cent rise in manufacturing administrations in the past 12 months, with the industry accounting for 17 per cent of all UK administrations during 2009.
Despite being particularly hard-hit by the recession, the rate of new administrations began to ease towards the end of the year.
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Manufacturers can now test the effectiveness of their weighing systems over the internet thanks to a new risk check service.
