Ricardo, English company with 100 years of engineering experience, and Wuzheng Group, Chinese agricultural and commercial top player vehicle industry, have recently entered into a co-operation agreement to develop electrification product solutions for tractors and agricultural machinery.
Leveraging their combined and complementary capabilities, the strategic co-operation agreement will enable the companies to carry out in-depth electrification research and development: investigating new technologies, intelligent solutions and cleaner, more efficient powertrains to enable the Wuzheng Group to transform its agricultural machinery equipment product range.
Ricardo’s global network of expert automotive engineers and energy transition specialists will support the Wuzheng Group’s development of intelligent tractors and hybrid extended range tractors, and provide technical consultancy on the integration of intelligent power shift transmissions and the development of hybrid extended range transmission systems and power take-off mechanisms.
Marellihas been awarded a significant contract from a major global carmaker to supply the Battery Thermal Plate (BTP) for future Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). The solution, a key technology for thermal energy management in electric vehicles, has been developed and will be produced in-house by Marelli. The supply started in 2024, reaching approximately 5 million units over the contract period. The agreement involves various vehicle platforms and segments for the Chinese, North American and European markets.
New worldwide contract for Marelli
“Through our solid experience and comprehensive portfolio, we support OEMs in achieving the most efficient solutions for electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles, adapting to their specific needs to co-create with our customers their vehicles of tomorrow.”, said Shuji Kobayashi, President of Marelli’s Green Technology Solutions business. Marelli’s Battery Thermal Plate uses the ‘Dot Dimples’ design, which guarantees an optimized heat exchange. Thanks to specific paths of the thermal flows, this solution stabilizes the temperature of the battery cells and provides excellent temperature uniformity. Marelli’s in-house testing laboratories and simulation capabilities allow to quickly adapt the dimple design technology to the needs of each customer, for different types of batteries and geometries. The solution is therefore highly customizable, going from small to extra-large size.
The three companies Boliden, Epiroc and ABBhave implemented the first fully battery-electric powered mine trolley system on a test track in a mine in Sweden with a length of 800 meters and a 13 percent gradient. The achievement represents a key moment for the mining industry, which is being called upon to respond to growing pressures to balance increased production of key minerals and metals with reduced carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption. Demand for minerals essential to society’s evolution toward clean energy is projected to increase 1.5 to 7 times by 2030.
Another step toward the electric mine of the future
Electrification of mining also promises to improve the health and safety of workers in an environment without emissions, noise and vibration while reducing the total cost per ton. “Over the past three years, we have been working closely with ABB and Epiroc teams to take another step toward the electric mine of the future. The most important thing for us, of course, is that the technology works in our own facilities, but we also see added value in the fact that we, together with our partners, can drive the development of the technology so that the system can be used in other mines,” said Peter Bergman, General Manager Boliden Area, Boliden. Each partner provided a unique package of expertise for the development process. Epiroc added dynamic charging to its proven Minetruck MT42 SG battery-electric truck, equipping the solution with ABB’s DC converter, HES880 inverters, and AMXE motorsto increase power.
In Bologna from 5 to 7 March 2025, the 23rd edition of MECSPE will offer a revamped program focusing on sustainability, innovation and, above all, the theme of training young talents with new 5.0 skills, in order to reduce the critical mismatch between demand and supply of skilled workers.
In March 2024, the employment rate in Italy hit 62.1 percent, marking the highest figure in the past 20 years [1]. This is an encouraging indicator for the domestic market, but it continues to highlight major industry challenges due to a mismatch between supply and demand for trained personnel in Italian manufacturing.
Manufacturing is facing a shortage of human resources, particularly in the mechanical, textile, and metallurgical sectors. In fact, as many as 65% of the specialized workers sought by companies are difficult to find[2]. This is not an insignificant figure when one considers that from April to June 2024, the industry sector expects the entry of 393,840 resources, 250,830 of which are in manufacturing alone.
It is precisely with the aim of creating a bridge between companies and talent that MECSPE, the benchmark exhibition for the manufacturing industry organized by Senaf, returns to Bologna March 5-7, 2025, building on the success of the last edition.
Training, along with innovation and sustainability, is one of the fair’s focal points, and in the next edition, it will have even more space to suit the demands of firms looking for a far larger workforce than the market now provides.
The crucial role of the ITS Academy
Thanks to the direct participation of the ITS Academy, specialized post-diploma higher education schools with 349 study courses[3], MECSPE will highlight the pivotal role these institutions can play in preparing trained resources ready to enter the market.
The most popular course is New Technologies of Made in Italy, where the largest number of enrollments is for the Mechanical System course (41.6 percent), followed by Agribusiness System (22.9 percent), Fashion System (18.1 percent), Business Services (13.2 percent), and Home System (4.2 percent).
As a testament to the value of the training received, the INDIRE 2024 monitoring shows that as many as 87 percent of ITS graduates find work within a year of graduation and, for most of them, in a field consistent with their specialization.
More and more companies are forming relationships with ITSs: according to the MECSPE Observatory[4], more than half of the companies surveyed are already collaborating with them, a good figure that, however, needs to be nurtured, especially for those 5 out of 10 entrepreneurs who have identified precisely the difficulty of finding human resources as their greatest criticality in the previous year.
And if we count that nearly a quarter of companies want to grow in size in the next two years, expanding the workforce with specialized people takes on even greater importance.
«Training specialized professionals is crucial to the growth of Italian manufacturing, and ITSs play a key role in preparing young talent with advanced technical skills.» comments Maruska Sabato, MECSPE project manager. «Many entrepreneurs already use partnerships with these institutes or universities to find the necessary resources, but it is crucial that the number of companies involved continues to grow. We want to accelerate this process, bringing more and more companies closer to the highest level of training that Italy offers. MECSPE, in this sense, is the ideal context for facilitating the meeting of supply and demand for skilled labor and is an innovation accelerator where professionals of the future can touch upon technological innovations, aligning themselves with the ongoing digital and ecological transition.»
New skills 5.0 and synergy between ITS, universities and companies
Also important is the role of universities in preparing talent with new 5.0 skills; again, the MECSPE Observatory, in fact, reports that nearly 6 out of 10 companies in the surveyed sample already collaborate with ITS and/or universities, while nearly 3 out of 10 companies plan to do so.
As a demonstration of this, MECSPE 2024 saw the presentation of the DEMU project, a contest promoted among students in the Design degree course organized in Vicenza by the IUAV University of Venice to enhance the potential of advanced injection molding through the design of a small object made of polymers from renewable sources.
«Starting with a publication by professors at IUAV in Venice, named “Good Plastic“, we started a real production process to create a new product, the result of a design competition carried out by students in the Design degree program. We combined the synergies of the university and several companies to find solutions of a different nature by thinking about sustainability and innovation, topics that are much talked about but still too little shown as real industrial production» Sergio Monteverde, Ewikon‘s Italy sales manager, said.
Through special initiatives and networking areas aimed at bringing students and young professionals closer to the world of industry, MECSPE will serve as a stage to show how the manufacturing sector is transforming itself to shape the future of the Italian economy by integrating sustainability and digitizing its processes.
The industry is ready to embrace the new Transition 5.0 Plan incentives under the NRRP, which will unlock funds of up to €6.3 billion for the digital and green transition of businesses.
The 23rd edition of MECSPE will focus precisely on supporting companies in transforming their business models and updating them on all the latest developments in industry and technology.
The upcoming edition follows a particularly successful year for the fair, which saw nearly 7 out of 10[5] exhibitors say that attending MECSPE is important to them, a figure that has been growing steadily since 2019.
Facts and figures of MECSPE BOLOGNA 2024
[1] ISTAT – employed and unemployed, March 2024. [2] Unioncamere – Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Excelsior Information System. [3] There are 349 monitored and evaluated study courses completed between January 1 and December 31, 2022, activated by 98 ITS Academies. Source: Indire. [4] MECSPE Observatory on the Manufacturing Industry, III quarter 2023.
Innovative strides have been made by Theionin battery technology through revolutionary anode chemistry. As part of lithium-sulfide battery research, the company has developed a lightweight polymeric host with special coatings to replace more modern chemical anodes such as graphite, silicon-rich graphite or lithium metal foils. Why is a lightweight and durable anode a key factor for lithium-sulfide batteries? Energy density is three times that of current conventional lithium-ion batteries at one-third the cost, requiring significantly less energy to produce. Scientifically validated results achieved tell of more than 2,000 charge and discharge cycles. “Our innovation in lightweight, fast-charging battery chemistry makes lithium-sulfur batteries ideal for aviation electric thrusters, such as eVTOLs and conventional propulsion aircraft,” said Marek Slavik, co-founder of Theion.
CEO, Ulrich Ehmes, added, “Our new anode design is an important milestone. With our host anode chemistry, optimized and tested over several thousand cycles, we have solved the problem of dendrite and fast charging of lithium metal foils. This is a key component for our high-performance lithium-sulfur cell.”
Syensqo, a materials company formerly part of the Solvay Group, has expanded its Ajedium™ Films product line for slot coatings in electric motors. The new range includes polyphenylenesulfone (PPSU)-based products designed to replace traditional paper liners in motors up to 400 V. The new Ajedium™ PPSU slot liner films solve problems commonly associated with paper and paper laminate slot liners in medium- to low-voltage electric motors, such as high sensitivity to moisture, requiring additional moisture management, and the need for a secondary step to remove excess scrap after insertion. PPSU slot liner films offer robust mechanical performance, including high stiffness to prevent breakage during assembly. “The challenge with many paper and paper laminate slot liners in medium to low-voltage e-motors is two-fold. High moisture sensitivity requires additional humidity management, and quite often they must be deducted in a secondary step after insertion to remove excess scrap. Our new Ajedium™ PPSU slot liner films eliminate both of these issues, while also offering durable mechanical performance, including high stiffness to prevent breakage during assembly”, said Brian Baleno, Head Of Automotive Marketing At Syensqo Material. Compared with existing NKN laminates, Ajedium™ PPSU films can help manufacturers reduce the thickness of crack coatings by more than 42 percent, thus maximizing the potential for copper crack filling. In addition, PPSU crack coatings require less energy throughout the manufacturing process. Their carbon footprint can be further reduced with optional grades using circular raw materials certified by the ISCC Plus mass balance.
From the left: Gabriele Guidi and Federico Penzo, respectively CEO FAET and CEO Politubes.
FAET Srl, a company specialized in the transformation of insulating materials for the production of electric motors,transformers, and components for electric vehicles (EV), with over 50 years of history and production sites in Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, has announced the acquisition of a 30% stake in Politubes Srl. Politubes is a Lombard company strongly oriented towards global exports, specializing in the design and production of spiral tubes and insulating caps for the electromechanical and automotive (EV & HEV) sectors.
A new partnership for mutual benefits
This strategic move will allow FAET to expand its product range with a new series of innovative products suitable for both traditional markets and those experiencing strong growth, such as the EV market.
From the left: Gabriele Guidi and Federico Penzo, respectively CEO FAET and CEO Politubes
In turn, Politubes will benefit from a synergistic industrial partner for product penetration and research and development of new solutions. The evident economies of scale generated throughout the supply chain will enable the two companies to jointly establish the European hub for electrical insulation, positioning themselves as leaders in the industry.
In a joint statement, the CEOs of both FAET and Politubes,Gabriele Guidi and Federico Penzo respectively, expressed extreme satisfaction with this agreement. They emphasized their longstanding collaboration and expressed confidence that this union will further enhance their already dominant market share in Europe.
The partnership between Koelliker, which offers sustainable and smart mobility solutions, and Barchelettriche, a company that has been committed to eco-sustainable boating for years, was created to offer advanced electric mobility solutions on road and water. The collaboration aims to provide Marinas, Resorts, Glamping and accommodation facilities with vehicles and boats that can give their customers a unique and sustainable experience with 100% electric company vehicles and workboats on the other.
“In recent years there has been an evolution on the different forms of mobility for both vehicles and boats. Today mobility is starting to be perceived as a service and will be more and more so for the future. And we are starting to see this need in boating as well, where there will be fewer owned boats and more boats for tourists and citizens to share,” said Michele Solari, chief marketing officer of Barchelettriche Srl. Luciano Iengo, chief marketing officer of Koelliker, on the other hand, explained, “This collaboration allows us to be at the side of hospitality facilities with our company vehicles and to propose two micro-mobility solutions for their guests, such as Microlino, the 100% electric and made in Italy microcar, and the Koelliker e-scooter, which are well suited to be protagonists of an increasingly green and smart mobility.”
Developed by the French L’Aquaphile, Pedayak Solar is equipped with a double muscular and electric propulsion and offers a notable range due to its 400-watt photovoltaic panels. The motor power corresponds to 300 Watt / 24 Volt and the lithium battery is 15 Ah. This technology has been developed to allow fatigue-free boating to users while exploiting green energy. The possible backward and forward manoeuvring, combined with the precision of the helm controlled by a joystick, assures a smooth boating experience that can be adapted to the different sea conditions. Available in four different models, it reaches a maximum declared speed of 9 km/h and a buoyancy of 429 dm³, it can transport a maximum load of 170 kg. The sit-on-top hull in self-sinking polyethylene and rotationally moulded has a size of 360 x 73 cm and a weight of 55 kg. The sale price starts from 5,580 Euros VAT included.
ABBhas improved its range of High Dynamic Performance (HDP) induction motors, creating new opportunities for machine builders looking for motor and drive solutions with excellent dynamic response and high power density. Typical applications for these motors include plastic and rubber extrusion, injection moulding, winding systems, elevators, conveyors, test benchesand machine tools. The improved range allows output powers of up to 2 MW and alternative versions such as high-speed and water-cooled motors. The motors are designed for use with a frequency converter, and ABB can provide the matching motor-drive package for the full range of frame sizes. The high power density offers advantages for both retrofit and new-build machines, and thanks to their low inertia and high overload capacity, the HDP motors enable fast motion control and high manoeuvring accuracy. “For ABB, ease of installation is a priority and is an integral element of the HDP motor concept. Consequently, a replacement HDP motor is easy to install in a machine already in use without excessive engineering work,” the company explains.
