Makita UK Ltd join ICMMA to help set standards for the use of robotics in the cleaning industry

Makita logoMakita manufactures its tools in plants across the globe, from its headquarters in Japan to here, in the UK. Their Telford manufacturing plant is the only full-production facility for power tools in the UK and has been successfully running construction on many of their top line cordless power tools since 1991.

At the heart of our manufacturing process is the belief that for a good tool you need a good motor, and Makita makes every effort to make sure our motors are of the best quality. They source the absolute best raw materials and components in order to build the most powerful and efficient motors we can imagine.

Premium grade steel is used to produce armature shafts and gears, and only steel of the highest grade is used, whilst high grade magnetic copper wire goes into each and every one of our tools to ensure superior current flow whilst withstanding extreme temperatures.

Their quality control tests each, and every, machine that leaves our manufacturing plants. Nothing is left untested; on the motor alone we perform 19 extensive tests!

CDP LogoAlongside ICMMA, Makita are members of the HSE’s Construction Dust Partnership and are committed to delivering effective solutions and services that meet customers requirements and improving productivity. Challenging themselves through initiatives which deliver the high standards expected of the Makita brand while reducing the risks that users are exposed to.

Makita offers a wide range of products with integrated dust collection systems and also compact battery operated dust collection systems that enable you to work safely without losing the freedom that cordless products offer. They also offer vacuum cleaners for the quick clearing of work areas.

Kevin Webb, Chairman of ICMMA’s Technical Committee said “On behalf of all our other members I am delighted that Makita UK want to join our other industry members and contribute to our current workplan. Their membership application was unanimously supported and their contribution to creating standards for the use of robotics in cleaning machinery manufacture is very much welcomed.”

DECC present final draft of the Energy Label Framework

DECC Logo ClearICMMA were invited to DECC’s (The Department of Energy & Climate Change) Stakeholder meeting in London last week where they were presented with the following changes to the 2nd revision:

  • The draft will be a ‘regulation’, not a ‘directive’ as previously intended – A regulation will come into force directly in every Member State whereas a directive has to be implemented in national legislation by each Member State.
  • Labelling will revert to A to G – With blank classes available at the top end to accommodate technological advancements.
  • Rescaling will take place when 30% of the sold products in a year are in the highest energy class following an 18 to 24 month study – although it is doubtful whether the study will take place.
  • There will be transition period of 14 days for re-labelling of products.
  • Despite wide scale industry concerns the product database was kept within the proposal. Details of implementation will be defined by EU COM – At the moment it is only known that the product database will be established by 1st January 2019.
  • Manufacturers will be required to enter product details onto the database, which will be controlled by the EU COM – Details can be entered any time up to placing on the market.

DECC were unable to answer our question about retroactive measures. We were keen to understand what would happen to products already placed becoming incompliant after re-labelling. DECC were quite dismissive of industry’s concerns about the burden of workload, security and competitive confidentiality of complying with the product database requirement.

The final draft has been in Brussels since 11th November, awaiting vote, and is expected to be published 26th November with a final vote taking place in March 2016.

The regulation will come into force as of 1st January 2017.

DECC’s Ecodesign 2015-2017 Work Plan…

Ecodesign image…delayed owing to the Commission’s “Ecodesign doubts”

ICMMA have been pressing for the publication of the 2015 – 2017 Work Plan since before the Summer Technical Committee meeting, particularly in relation to the inclusion of pressure washers as these were short-listed products.

Once published there will still be a backlog to get through from the 2014 Work Plan. Although it is not expected that all short-listed items will appear on the published list as of last week pressure washers were still included.

ICMMA establish UK Industry Partnership links with robotics research project

FLOBOT%20logoICMMA representatives met with Prof. Tom Duckett and Dr. Nicola Bellotto last month to explore the University of Lincoln’s FLOBOT project and establish ICMMA’s role as an industry partner to their research into a large-scale, autonomous floor washing machine, for washing the floors of supermarkets, airports and other big areas that have to be cleaned regularly.

Although it can be manually started, programmed and monitored by people, there will be no need to physically move it around making the process more efficient.

Professor Duckett said: “The general idea is to create professional service robots that will work in our everyday environments, providing assistance and helping to carry out tasks that are currently very time – and labour – intensive for human workers. Participating in this Innovation Action project is really exciting, because it means that many of the underpinning research concepts and technologies we have been developing at the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems now have the potential to leave the laboratory and become part of real products like cleaning robots, which could impact on the everyday lives of people everywhere.”

ICMMA appoint new Legislative Expert for UK Government affairs and lobbying

ICMMA & EU-nited LogosEUnited have recently asserted the value of ICMMA and off the back of this a new ICMMA Legislative Expert has been appointed to lead on the UK Government affairs and lobbying activity on the behalf of ICMMA Members. ICMMA is now well placed to facilitate communication with many relevant UK Government departments, necessary for ensuring an additional vote in the right direction at an EU level.

EUnited will continue to support ICMMA by reporting into Technical Meetings but the focus will largely be on UK activity which will be led by Charalambos Freed who, following his appointment to Nilfisk next month, will take up company membership of ICMMA and the role of ICMMA Legislative Expert.

EUnited releases ICMMA statement:

EUnited “Through collaboration with ICMMA, EUnited Cleaning is able to discuss different upcoming changes in European Regulations and work out a position towards the EU. For example ICMMA can participate at the Expert Forum of DECC, and other stakeholder groups, where they can present their technical feedback which is worked out in collaboration with EUnited Cleaning. ICMMA can and has accessed and influenced the UK Government in matters relating to commercial cleaning machinery. Furthermore, ICMMA can formulate position papers which are sent again to UK representatives of the Government on different issues whether matters of consultation or legislation. Thus helping to ensure that UK industry have a unified voice with which to argue with Government e.g. in the case of WEEE, RoHS or energy label requirements.”

ICMMA takes up its seat at EUnited’s Panel of National Associations for the first time today.

ICMMA challenge DECC’s energy labelling proposals

DECC Logo ClearICMMA representatives met with DECC earlier this month to challenge their current package of proposed energy-related legislation, a new Energy Labelling Regulation to replace the current Framework Directive.

Proposals envisage abandoning the plusses that were introduced in the last revision to cope with those products that have improved beyond A over the past 20 years. Existing labels would have to be revised within five years to match this new Regulation.

Among other changes it is proposed that all energy labels should be revised periodically, with both old and new labels being supplied (but not displayed) simultaneously for a certain period; that the top scales would be expected to remain empty for up to 10 years; and that empty classes at the bottom of the scale should not be shown. So vacuum cleaners might have an A-D scale with C being the best available on the market.

Following the meeting, the subsequent suggestions have been lodged with DECC which they have confirmed that they will consider:

  1. Instead of implementing the product database it would make more sense to coordinate and apply, in a more intense way, the already existing tools, ranging from ADCO groups to ICSMS, which could be widened to cope also with performance issues.
  2. Product labelling should be easily assigned to an unambiguously defined timeframe at least for the market surveillance authorities and to avoid any retroactive measures in the field of re-labelling. Furthermore, a case by case study shall be undertaken in order to take the technology of every product into account when looking on re-labelling and rescaling. This includes the differentiating between household and commercial vacuum cleaners.
  3. Modification of Article 12 ‘Delegated Acts’ and Article 13 ‘Exercise of the Delegation’ to an implementing act in order to give Member States the possibility to stay involved in more detail.

ICMMA have been brought into DECC’s Energy-using Stakeholder Group and will be attending later this Autumn to hear about and further influence the provisions of the labelling directive as well as an update on the DECC Workplan and the potential inclusion of hand driers and pressure washers.

ICMMA Members urged to take part in Defra’s review of the cleaning machinery products eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowance through the Water Technology List

ecaThe Water Technology List is part of the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme.  Businesses can claim back first year capital allowances on water efficient plant and machinery listed on the WTL.  ECA lets businesses write off 100 per cent of the cost against taxable profits in the year of purchase. Defra annually reviews the lists of eligible water technologies and products.

The aims of the ECA scheme:

  • To encourage businesses to invest in more sustainable technologies by providing fiscal incentive to users
  • To be used as a marketing tool for manufacturers, thereby encouraging innovation.

Defra are currently reviewing the eligibility criteria for Industrial Cleaning Equipment listed on the Water Technology List (WTL).

There are approximately 474 products currently listed on the WTL for Industrial Cleaning Equipment which currently consists of the following technologies, first added to the WTL in 2007 and last reviewed in 2008/09:

  • Scrubber/Driers (ride-on machines)
  • Scrubber/Driers (walk behind machines)
  • Steam Cleaners

ICMMA Members are invited to share your views on whether the current criteria continue to reflect developments in the market place while remaining relevant, clear and workable.
 
As part of this annual criteria review the WTL require information from manufacturers and suppliers on the UK market and the penetration of water efficient products in UK businesses. This information is essential for assessing the impact of the ECA scheme. The data provided is used to estimate the

current size of the UK market, the potential value of WTL equipment and estimated growth in the market.
 
The questionnaire and associated information can be found at the following link: Criteria Review Consultation 2015 – Industrial Cleaning Equipment. Please email your completed questionnaire to: [email protected].  All responses must be received by Friday 11th September 2015 at the latest.

Code of Practice for Operators set for revision this Autumn

icmmacopThe Code of Practice is for the training of operators and the safe operation of ride-on and pedestrian operated cleaning equipment and was originally produced in June 2011 and at that time was recognised by the Health and Safety Executive as a genuinely useful set of guidance for the safe use of equipment. ICMMA’s Technical Committee feel that the time is now right to revise this document to bring it up to date and the technical departments of each of our Members are involved in making amendments.

The document will be amended and placed again before the HSE for their review at the Cleaning Industry Liaison Forum before being made widely available to the industry through strategic partnerships with the British Cleaning Council and The Building Futures Group and on ICMMA’s new website www.cleaningmachines.org

ICMMA invited to join EU-nited’s Panel of National Associations

cmsFor the first time ICMMA have been invited by EU-nited to have a place on their Panel of National Associations. The panel meeting takes places as part of CMS Berlin, the international trade show for cleaning systems and infrastructure services, in September.

Kevin Webb, Chairman of the ICMMA Technical Committee said of the opportunity “I am delighted that the part that ICMMA Members can play as a collective has been recognised in this way. We are grateful to EU-nited for the invitation.”

Karcher UK host ICMMA’s Technical Committee

Energy CertificateFollowing the last successful meeting at RAF Duxford, ICMMA’s Technical Committee met in the first week of July at Karcher UK. The group, swelled by new and potential Members, heard about the review of Eco-Labelling and the likely impact proposals to re-label away from A+++ would have on consumer confidence as well as updates on Machinery Directive’s RE-D Seminar and another areas of standardisation. ICMMA continue to work closely with their European counterpart EU-nited to lobby UK to vote favourably for the industry at an EU level.

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