Steel mill gets a share of a £10million package which will bring smart technology to Hartlepool

Steel pipes sit on rollers at Liberty Steel's mill in Hartlepool. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg.

The Liberty Steel Group is bringing sensor technology to its Hartlepool plant in a two-year programme.

Engineering firm Shiftec is behind the technology and is planning to test its Aquila system at both Hartlepool and Stocksbridge in Sheffield.

The system, similar to GPS, tracks the precise position of people, equipment and vehicles around factories in real time. It reduces workplace accidents, enhances the efficiency of movement and can allow for remote control operation of equipment.

The £10million program is being funded by Innovate UK through its Manufacturing Made Smarter Challenge, which is part of the government’s larger Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Anthony Blackwell, Chief Technology Officer, Liberty Engineering and Managing Director of Shiftec, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to further test the potential of technology developed at Liberty which could make a real difference across many different workplaces.

“This system can allow for a wireless method of controlling heavy equipment and vehicles. It can intervene automatically to prevent imminent accidents, and it can identify small ways to make processes more efficient which, over time, add up to a great deal.”

At Hartlepool, the system will improve the measurement of pipe shape during forming. Liberty Steel’s UK Technical Director, Dr Simon Pike said the project was a ‘significant step forward’ for both sites.

These are exciting times for Liberty Steel in Hartlepool.

In April, the town mill secured a contract for more than 290 miles of steel pipes and provided the business with its strongest backlog of orders for more than six years.

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