More X factor passion need in Manufacturing/Engineering

Over 10 million people voted or watched x factor and over 200 thousand auditioned for the singing talent show. Some had talent, others had passion and some had neither.
The ones that finally came through had both talent and passion and were the real pop stars in making.
If only we could all get a little more passion in our every day work, the garage mechanic, sales assistant, doctor, policeman, politician, road sweeper and so on. Wouldn't all our lives be improved and become more enjoyable.
I am most interested in Manufacturing and Engineering where there has always been a huge variety of talent but often lacking the passion. I know that over many years politicians and investors have created difficult times for us but if we had more passion and a little x factor maybe we could create new enthusiasm and a resurgence for a modern UK manufacturing and industrial base.

I believe that people with passion can positively influence others and could not only improve our economy but produce those desperately needed jobs for young people who are also entitled to feel real sense of worth and purpose.
Every job we do will impact on someone else, what we all need is a little x factor magic in all our working lives.

Sweden looses Volvo to China.

Many Swedes are concerned about the latest takeover of Volvo by China's Geely and so they should be. No doubt we will see Saab following close behind.
Geely only began producing cars 10 years ago. Now, almost overnight they will have gained technology and know-how that would have normally taken them decades to accumulate.
This is very sad day for Sweden and another blow to Europe and the Common Market.
We have recently seen the bailing out of the Banking world but manufacturing seems to have little or no importance. Car manufacturing is all about wealth creation not just moving money around by overpaid speculators.
My sincere commiserations to the Swedish people.

Exporting our Know- how at what cost?

Over the last decade we have witnessed the transfer of manufacturing jobs to places like China. This has been carried out in a deliberate and consistent way with huge losses to our once thriving industrial market.
I hear many people say that UK costs were too high and that cheaper goods can only benefit the consumer but I say at what cost?
I listen to others who say that we do not want low skilled manufacturing jobs anyway, when we can provide the innovation, design and technical know how. I have always found this difficult to follow. Its almost like saying to an artist "describe your ideas to a Chinese person and they can go away and produce the painting, this will provide more time to develop more ideas and bring down the costs". Maybe some people will think that this is a satisfactory arrangement, but I don't.
I believe that Manufacturing, Engineering, innovation are all part of the same process. Stripping one part away from the other can not be sustainable.
I foresee the time when the Chinese, Koreans or any others who make our products will soon develop their own innovative ideas, designs and products and without our help. To think that they will always need us for the clever bits is not only arrogant but dangerous.
The countries who lead the world in manufacturing are often the countries with the greatest wealth and influence and we ignore this at our peril.

We need Manufacturing and Engineering jobs

A few days ago as I was driving to one of my customers when a radio program caught my attention. The discussion was around the problems of the unemployed, especially young people. The panel consisted of Politicians,Economists and so called experts in this field. The overall concerns were that we were likely to loose a whole generation of people whom at best would never reach their potential and at worst never have a job.
The debate continued with politicians on all sides making claims and counter claims regarding what they were doing, how much they were spending and slagging off the other side for not doing enough. Other organisations were dreaming up all sorts of schemes and training programs.
Out of frustration I could have ripped the radio out of its bracket, why on earth could they not identify the real problem nor see the obvious solution. Why was it so difficult to see?
All we need to do is create more jobs, jobs, jobs!
Over the last 20/30 years our country has gradually but steadily killed off manufacturing and engineering and replaced this with financial services.
I have no need to retell the disasters of the last few years and what the financial industries have done to our country, but I know that most of my engineering colleagues saw this coming a very long time ago.
Manufacturing, Engineering, the skill of making things will provide work for men and women of all ages and abilities. From making tea, sweeping the floor to design engineers, managers and even those financial people who have fallen from our favour.
Over recent years the trend has been to source products from places like China under the miss conception that we are only outsourcing the none skilled labour and it is cheaper but we are not only exporting the jobs desperately needed by our own people we are also exporting our know-how, innovations and technologies(the family silver) that will likely change our standard of living, culture and freedoms that we so dearly value.
Countries with advanced technologies are powerful in many ways. They can provide good social welfare, education, high standards of living and a system of fairness and of course those desperately important jobs for our young people.
We need those in government and industry to have some passion about making things and embrace technology for good purposes. Making things that people really need, products to help us fight against global warming, technologies that save lives and help those in third world countries where clean water is a rare and precious resource. We are not starved of problems to resolve and things to make.
We still have time to save and rebuild our manufacturing industries all we need is the passion and commitment to do it.

Setting up hydraulic system on Meercat Workboat

I am setting up a new system on a Meercat Workboat. The pump is a load sensing piston pump attached to an engine. The load sensor maintains a constant flow regardless of the out put load. The pump maintains a 15Bar differential so if the load increases the pump swashplate will move and increase the flowrate thus maintaining this differnetial.
This system provides pressure and flow to a deck crane. The crane will move at a speed depending on the position of the hand levercontrol (moved by the operator) and will maintain this speed even if the load changes.

Hydraulic Power Pack Part 2

I found problems with the gear pump so I removed and stripped it to find that it had been over pressurised. I thank Williams Shipping for allowing me to make this video.

Hydraulic Power Pack Part 1

Working at Williams Shipping with Nick of Pirtek Southampton.
Quick release valves were fitted and I was asked to fit relief valves to protect the pump. I suspected that the pump had been over pressurised because aluminium swarf was found in the pressure filters.
The second part shows me replacing the pump.