Europe

Car maker BMW is to invest £500 million in its UK production network, it has been announced.

The company has said it will invest £500 million in UK manufacturing operations over the next three years and has also confirmed that the UK will be a production location for its next generation MINI models.

This takes the company’s investment across all its UK operations to more than £1.5 billion since 2000.

Greek company Raycap has announced the completion of its new photovoltaic power generation facility in Drama, north-eastern Greece.

The new plant, one of the largest solar power plants in northern Greece, is equipped with 18,200 high-efficiency thin-film solar panels, while two 800kW central inverters ensure efficient and reliable power distribution to the grid. The plant is expected to generate two million KWh per annum.

Thomas R. Cutler investigates the role of automated guided vehicles and the need for independent experts to facilitate their implementation in food and consumer packaged goods.

Suppliers of end-of-line automation and material handling in the food sector have a distinct scope of technology to consider, including various types of palletizing robots, stretch wrapping equipment, labeling systems, pallet control systems, and laser-guided automatic vehicles.

John Shook, Chairman and CEO of the Lean Enterprise Institute, says we need to rethink the way we manage our supply chains after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Henry Ford could get the customer any type of Model T as long as it was black, but the Ford Motor Company now finds itself in the strange position of being able to supply vehicles in any color except (metallic) black as a result of the catastrophe in Japan.

There must be fifty ways, we suppose, but George F. Brown, Jr. and David G. Hartman tell us in detail about the five essential factors for being successful in China.

Netherlands-based Doedijns Group has announced the opening of its new premises in Dubai, UAE.

The company, which specializes in hydraulics, instrumentation, pneumatics and controls, carries out customer-specific system engineering, manufacture, procurement, installation, commissioning and maintenance to clients in the energy, petrochemical, and maritime and dredging sectors.

UK-based drinks giant Diageo has agreed to purchase a 20 per cent share in Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) from SABMiller, through its subsidiary East African Breweries Limited (EABL).

The sale, announced today, is subject to KBL agreeing to terminate a brewing and distribution agreement with SABMiller, which will also see it ceasing to distribute SABMiller's brands in Kenya after a short transitional period.

UK-based Cairn Energy has commenced drilling operations on two wells offshore West Greenland, it was announced today.

Operations will commence on the AT-7 well in the Atammik Block and the LF-7 well in the Lady Franklin Block, approximately 160 and 300 kilometres offshore Nuuk respectively.

The AT-7 prospect lies at a depth of 905 metres and the LF-7 prospect at 989 metres.

Drilling will be carried out by a fifth generation semi-submersible, the Leiv Eiriksson, and the Ocean Rig Corcovado, a sixth generation drillship.

Building supplies specialist Wolseley has reported a jump in trading profits on the back of healthy growth in the US, it has been announced.

The UK-based company’s trading profits for the three months ending 30 April rose to £131 million, up 30 per cent from a year earlier. Revenue also rose, by one per cent to £3.27 billion.

Growth of 10 per cent in like-for-like revenue in the US helped to offset weaker growth in the UK, due to a slowdown in the construction industry.

Desire Petroleum has announced that new data on its acreage offshore the Falklands has pointed to potential new prospects for oil.

The London-based company, which is wholly focused on the North Falkland Basin, said that initial indications for two new prospects—Beverley and Shona—were encouraging, based on preliminary raw data.

Desire said that the Shona lead is at the same stratigraphic level as the Sea Lion discovery made in May last year by rival exploration company Rockhopper, which was the first oil discovery in the North Falkland Basin.