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In 2005 Kubota became the first and is still the only mini excavator manufacturer to offer a complete security system as standard equipment on its machines.

Now the company has raised the standard even further with the introduction of its newly upgraded 'ANTI-THEFT PLUS' security system, which has also gained the certification of Thatcham, the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre.

It is the first construction equipment security system integrated into machines when they are built to achieve Thatcham endorsement.

The coveted certification is recognised by insurers and should result in substantial discounts on premiums for users of Kubota mini excavators.

'ANTI-THEFT PLUS' is now fitted as standard to all new Kubota machines from 1.5 to 8 tonnes.

Richard Harrison, Sales & Marketing Manager, Kubota (UK) Ltd – Construction Equipment, said: “It's s

atisfying to know that our new 'ANTI-THEFT PLUS' system is considered so secure it has gained the certification of Thatcham, perhaps the best known name in the business for vehicle security. This should be good news when it comes to insurance premiums, as well as providing extra peace of mind for hire companies, plant users and owner operators alike.”

Mike Briggs, Vehicle Security Manager at Thatcham, said, “This is a major step forward in the fight to combat plant theft and Kubota are to be congratulated on taking the lead as the first plant manufacturer to gain this certification for standard fit equipment.”

“In 2005 when we launched the original 'ANTI-THEFT' system we were the first mini excavator manufacturer to offer a key-based security system as standard. It's been a great success and to date we have no record of any Kubota machine fitted with it ever having been stolen by means of thieves tampering with the ignition,” added Richard Harrison.

The unique easy-to-use security system is based on an individually programmed key for each machine instead of the traditional universal starter key. The 'ANTI-THEFT PLUS' key has an identification code embedded in an IC chip that incorporates a state-of-the-art immobiliser system.

It starts and stops the engine like a conventional ignition key, and also opens the machine's cab door, fuel filler cap and engine canopy. Without it, the fuel, hydraulic and electric systems are fully immobilised. Any attempt to start the machine with an un-programmed key activates the system's alarm. There is also now extra guarding around the more sensitive areas of the machine operating system.

Two pre-programmed keys are supplied with each new machine. A third master key gives users the opportunity to easily reprogramme the machine with a new unique identity number, via buttons on the digital dashboard, if one or both of the original keys are lost or mislaid at any time.

Kubota is the UK, European and world leader in mini excavators and provides the widest range of machines available from a single manufacturer. Customers can select from 19 base models spanning the weight range from 850kg to 8 tonnes and including the largest selection of highly versatile zero tail swing machines.

Kubota also outstripped its competitors with the recent announcement that all its new machines will now carry a full 3 year warranty as standard. Typically most other manufacturers currently offer a maximum 2 year standard warranty period.

“The decision to extend the standard warranty to 3 years (or 3,000 hours) was another industry first for Kubota and confirms our confidence in the quality, reliability, durability and superiority of our minis.”

“Their outstanding performance, versatility, excellent residual values and exceptional dealer support, together with our unique new 'ANTI-THEFT PLUS' security system as standard, make Kubota mini excavators unbeatable value for money, particularly in these tough economic times,” concluded Richard Harrison.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia, the boat that helped to make The Queen the most travelled monarch the world has ever known, is now benefiting from environmental systems manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric’s range of air conditioning solutions – providing modern comfort in a traditional setting.

The yacht, launched in 1953, is now permanently berthed at Leith Harbour, Edinburgh, Scotland, and is open as a visitor centre, with additional conference hire and banqueting facilities.

In its day, the yacht could travel at speeds of 22.5 knots, using its extensive 125.65m length and 16.76m breadth to journey to locations worldwide. This was the ship that, even with its full complement of around 300 Royal Yachtsmen and Royal Household staff, The Queen named as the one place where she could truly relax.

In keeping with the traditional elegance of the yacht, Eric McPhail of refrigeration and air conditioning specialist Kooltech, selected and supplied a range of systems to provide comfortable conditions to blend into the background of the design.

The new installation includes two PUHY-P250YHM-A condensing units located in the ship’s funnel and ten PEFY-P63-VMS1-E fan coil units. Prior to installation, Kooltech treated the condensing units with Blygold at its Glasgow site – a treatment which applies a coating to provide long lasting corrosion protection to heat exchangers without affecting the heat transfer or pressure drop.

“One of the key issues when working on the Britannia was to maintain its glamour and traditional design, while providing the optimum comfort for visitors,” explains Bob Farrington, Kooltech’s Brand Manager.

“The purpose of the air-conditioned area on the yacht was to re-create the Royal Deck, which in the past was used for Royal cocktail parties, with a permanent awning and glazing.”

Britannia has a dedicated maintenance team, many of whom have a Royal Navy or shipyard background, all working 363 days a year to look after and preserve the yacht in keeping with her former glory.

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One technology that is being increasingly implemented for the ‘smart home’ is KNX (Konnex), or EIB (European Installation Bus) as it is also known. It is currently revolutionising electrical installations, and is relatively simple to understand, requiring only a bus line along which all bus devices (sensors and controls) may communicate. It is similar in many ways to the analogue addressable technology employed in fire and security systems.

The central feature is the embedded control protocol – with devices, such as sensors, actuators and smart controllers communicating with each other to perform circuit management functions to control a network of command modules, with devices from many manufacturers all capable of functioning on a single system.

Until recently, however, electrical accessories that were able to initiate or respond to the protocol were only available in mainland Europe, with corresponding ‘European only’ specifications. But with the recent coming together of Siemens and Electrium, Crabtree, one of the UK’s leading electrical accessory manufacturers, has now developed a collection of KNX switches as part of their existing stylish and functional Platinum range, available in any of the standard Platinum finishes for complete decorative coordination.

EIB/ KNX caters for all the intelligent requirements of a modern home including heating, cooling, lighting, enhanced security and remote access. The new Crabtree switches and sockets blend together seamlessly with any other wiring devices used in the home, whether part of the KNX bus or stand alone.

Jim Currie, Marketing Director of Electrium, commented: “The Crabtree Platinum KNX range of products allows consumers to continue to enjoy the aesthetics of having matching quality Platinum accessories within their homes, while also benefiting from sophisticated Siemens smart home technology. The fact that KNX technology has now made this range accessible to such a demanding market is very good news.”

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The AMTECH Office Domestic software suite has been recognised as Electrical Software Product of the Year at the Electrical Industry Awards 2007.

The judges commented: “We felt Office Domestic would provide excellent functionality and offered both design and certification potential. The fact that the software can be carried on a number of hardware systems was also a great plus in our eyes.”

Developed specifically for electrical contractors specialising in domestic work, AMTECH Office Domestic provides everything they need in one powerful yet affordable package, including electrical design, cable sizing and Test & Inspection certification.

“Rather than expecting domestic contractors to pay for features that they’ll never use, we developed this suite to address their day to day requirements at a very competitive price,” explained AMTECH Sales Director James Cooper. “As well as helping them use the latest technologies to keep up with the growing legislative burden, we believe this software encourages safer designs, accurate calculations and effective reporting – all contributing to improved safety in the home,” he added.

Using AMTECH Office Domestic, single phase installations consisting of up to 3 boards to BS 7671 can be designed quickly using a series of simple tabbed input screens. Cables and protective devices can be selected from a large database contained in the program. The Quick results view makes diagnosing problems in the design easy and changes to the design can be made at the click of a mouse. A range of reports including: circuit charts, cable calculations, consumer unit schedules etc are included.

After the work has been completed the software will produce Test & Inspection certificates that meet the requirements of Part P. These are suitable for use with all major accreditation bodies. In addition to producing professional looking certificates, all the test information and customer information is held in a database for future reference. A mobile version for use on a Pocket PC is included to enable contractors to produce certificates on site.

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Coltman Precast Concrete is maintaining its commitment to improving health and safety levels by taking part in construction industry technical seminars around the UK, and introducing a new Health & Safety Bulletin.

The company's Health & Safety Manager, Mick Thurman, gave presentations at seminars staged by the Precast Flooring Federation (PFF), entitled 'Concrete Floors By Design', held at Wembley Stadium and Birmingham City FC towards the end of 2008.

Mr Thurman, who is Chairman of the PFF's Health & Safety Committee, informed delegates about the Federation's new Code Of Practice For The Safe Erection Of Precast Flooring, and the new National Precast Flooring Training Scheme.

In December, he spoke to the Construction Health & Safety Group, whose members represent the major construction companies in the London area, at a seminar held at the Group's headquarters in Chertsey. His presentation covered the protection of operatives from falls while working on trailers.

Coltman has also issued a Health & Safety Bulletin. This contains items on the company's planning, design and installation services, outlines the qualifications of its site installation teams, and gives details of the company's numerous safety, quality and environmental accreditations.

Mr Thurman said: “As a company we are recognised for our strong commitment to the safety of all our personnel and also to the improvement of health and safety standards throughout the industry in general. This is why we have been asked to give presentations on safety issues at major industry events. Publishing our new Health & Safety Bulletin is another way we can help get the safety message across.”

Last year Coltman received a supply chain health & safety award from Mansell Construction Services, a member of the Balfour Beatty Group Ltd. The award recognised Coltman's consistent excellence in health and safety processes and practices.

The company was also one of the first in its sector to introduce the Airtek TruckMat inflatable safety system. The inflatable mattress system is used when unloading products from delivery vehicles on site and provides a safe landing area around the vehicle for employees should they fall.

Established in 1972, Coltman is one of the UK's largest independent manufacturers of structural precast concrete products,

Its product range includes prestressed hollowcore wide slab and solid prestressed wide slab for flooring and roofing. Bespoke staircases, landings, balconies, terracing and wall units are also available.

Coltman produces in excess of 250,000 square metres of prestressed hollowcore flooring and 4,000 cubic metres of bespoke concrete products each year at its centrally located West Midlands site.

Customers include some of the leading names in architecture, construction, civil engineering, house building and property development.

Coltman provides a complete supply and fix service, from initial design through to installation by its own CITB trained site teams, fully compliant with all the appropriate regulations, including CDM, and utilising the very latest safety equipment and procedures.

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A new software development from Vixensoft is helping property maintenance contractors transform their planned and responsive repairs services and reduce costs.

Avixsys is a work scheduling and mobile solution designed for electrical and gas maintenance providers of all sizes. The solution’s industry-specific functionality sets it apart from other service management products.

Nathan Hawker of AP Chant, West Dorset’s biggest privately-owned plumbing, heating and electrical specialist, comments, “Avixsys has made a real difference to the way we work. It’s helped us modernise and improve our operation and made our entire service more attractive – the web access option in particular has been a major bonus for our clients”.

Avixsys utilises the latest mobile technology to speed communication, doing away with phone calls. The solution displays engineer locations and job progress in real-time, allowing work to be allocated with ultimate efficiency and fuel wastage to be minimised.

Social Housing clients can log jobs directly and receive KPI reports, including No Access and SLA data, while engineers receive full job details, helping to improve first fix rates. On site, electronic forms required for Part P and Part L can be completed on a PDA and instantly returned signed to the office, along with the completed job details.

Functionality can be extended to include e-Van Stocks to automate the restocking of vans; e- Timesheets to record and post on and off site times for payroll and job costing and Remote Purchase Order Requisitions for on-site purchase ordering via PDA.

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An independent assessment has found that the environmental award-winning building products manufacturer, Hambleside Danelaw, slashed its carbon footprint by over 20% during 2007.

The highly respected consultancy, dcarbon8, measured the carbon footprint of the company’s two factories at Daventry and Inverness which manufacture roofing and ventilation products and it calculated that the total footprint for both sites had fallen from 887 to 698 tonnes CO2e. Total carbon footprint per employee, which takes into account commuting to and from work, also decreased.

By far the largest sources of emissions were energy for the factories and travel, although the assessment report acknowledges that the location of one of Hambleside’s factories in the Scottish Highlands offers a real challenge in terms of securing fewer emissions in relation to transportation. To tackle energy-associated emissions which fell at both facilities, the company has switched its electricity supplier to the Inverness factory to one that uses renewable energy sources.

Regarded as a sector market leader in recycling, Hambleside Danelaw has made significant progress in reducing waste from its manufacturing processes. Emissions associated with waste were a relatively small 22 tonnes CO2e in 2007.

The Group is working closely with dcarbon8’s experts to constantly source further improvements in sustainability performance. As a result of its efforts, it has gained Planet Positive certification which signifies that a business is making annual reductions to its carbon footprint and is offsetting the remainder by 110%.

Commenting on the assessment’s findings, Hambleside’s vice-chairman Robin Jeffery said: “It is very encouraging to show specifiers and clients independent evidence that our environmental initiatives are paying off. As a continuation of our efforts, we are currently making great progress on recycling waste GRP and we expect to make further announcements in the run-up to our exhibiting at Ecobuild next March.”

Hambleside products selected for Sustainable Building Centre

Hambleside Danelaw is proud to announce that its underfloor ventilator and airbricks range have been used at the £3.2 million Wolseley Sustainable Building Centre at Leamington Spa, the UK’s first commercial showcase for sustainable products and construction methods.

The Group has also extended its warmest congratulations to dcarbon8 as the winner of Best Micro-Organization, one of the three ‘grand prix’ awards for the UK Green Business Awards. dcarbon8 also received a special commendation in the Best Business Services Company category.

The expert judge panel paid particular credit to dcarbon8’s expertise in the built environment. As a specialist in this emerging field, dcarbon8 has recently been commissioned to carry out carbon management for Masdar City, Ebbsfleet Valley of the Thames Gateway with Land Securities, and a series of key developments in the Victoria Harbour area of Sydney, Australia with Lend Lease.

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The Weatherite Group of Companies has worked together on a major contract to replace the heating/ventilation system at Waitrose, Frimley which is part of the supermarket division of the John Lewis Partnership. Weatherite’s complete solution included new features that have met all the design criteria to improve customer comfort and the working environment of partners.

The contract is part of a national programme of Waitrose store upgrades by the John Lewis Partnership. Weatherite won the contract following a recent Weatherite Building Services contract for the JLP R22 replacement programme and the success of Weatherite Manufacturing in supplying high energy efficient Air Handling Units to Waitrose.

Weatherite designed the system in conjunction with PSH Consulting Ltd, the JLP’s nominated consultant. The work included the supply and installation of two new air handling units made by Weatherite Manufacturing, together with ducting, fan units, wiring and a new control and electrical power panel. In a separate contract, Weatherite also provided and fitted steel support frames for the AHUs.

The project incorporated a number of beneficial design features that are new for JLP and Waitrose. A return air system has been fitted above the dry goods zone to induce air movement across the store, improve comfort conditions and increase the energy efficiency of the operating plant. The existing ceiling void fan heater units were relocated and new temperature sensors installed to give better temperature control across the dry goods zone. Weatherite also replaced entrance door heaters with new high efficiency models to reduce any draughts in the checkout area.

Weatherite also overcame a number of challenges as all the work had to be carried out after store operating hours from 8pm to 6am.

“WEATHERITE GROUP-THE ONE STOP FOR AIR HANDLING EXPERTISE”

Weatherite Manufacturing Ltd is one of the UK’s leading air conditioning and air handling equipment manufacturers.

Weatherite Building Services Ltd has expertise in all aspects of building services including heating, ventilation, boiler house refurbishment, water, control systems and electrics as well as all aspects of commercial air conditioning systems, offering a single source choice to its customers which includes full project management, design, installation and commissioning capabilities.

Weatherite Service & Maintenance Ltd specialise in the service and maintenance of all aspects of heating, ventilation, refrigeration and air conditioning.

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