BFPA Winners at the 2017 MCI Awards
18 May 2017
The second MCI Awards took place on 9 May 2017 at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham. The evening was produced and managed by Touchwave Media in association with BFPA, BFPDA, BCAS and GAMBICA and brought together the motion control industry to celebrate business and professional excellence.
This year’s BFPA and BFPDA companies who sponsored awards at the event were Beaumanor Engineering Limited, Bosch Rexroth Limited and Parker Hannifin.
Our congratulations go to all the winners but in particular to the following BFPA members:
Winner of Project of the Year was Bosch Rexroth Limited for their Offshore Wind Farm Piling Project
Bosch Rexroth introduced simultaneous piling of the four piles for 
each wind turbine on the customer’s template, saving time and introducing unprecedented accuracies beyond the reach of traditional methods. A bespoke precision heavy duty electrohydraulic subsea drive and control system was developed with enhanced capability with superior connectivity and control from the commissioning vessel’s cabin. Significant reductions in time and costs were achieved during the installation and deployment programme with no impact to operational safety.
Winner of Contribution to Skills & Training was Bosch Rexroth Limited for the Bosch Rexroth Challenge
The Bosch Rexroth 
Challenge is a tailored course for the JCB Academy which has helped circa 350 sixth form students develop their skills in hydraulic engineering; exploring aspects of control, hydraulics and sensor technology. Included is an onsite factory tour, a series of practical exercises using Bosch Rexroth training rigs, and a visit to the London Eye to gain insights into the hydraulic systems and sensors used on the iconic landmark.
BFPA’s Lifetime Contribution Award for 2017 went to Gary Wyles, ex-Managing Director of Festo UK for his work on didactic training in the industry.
After being presented with the award Gary commented: “My thanks again to Chris and the BFPA as a whole for the Lifetime Contribution Award – I still can’t quite believe that it was me who received it this year! What I found particularly exciting was the range of technologies that were represented amongst the audience. For UK manufacturing to succeed in challenging conditions it is vital that we are quicker to understand and adopt the latest technologies and not raise artificial boundaries between the various drivers of technology just because they work with a different medium. The networking opportunities were excellent, the venue and food was great and the entertainment great fun. Maybe I am a little biased though as it was a particularly special event for me personally and a great honour to be recognised with the Lifetime Contribution Award. Most unexpected but highly appreciated.”
For more details about this event please visit the website http://mci-awards.co.uk/