1. Company Overview
VSN Steels is based in Aston and is trades as an SME. It’s a family business which was established in 1961, and they have been occupied their current site since 1969.
VSN (Steels) Ltd is an industry-leading steel profiler and surface grinder.
2. Challenge or Opportunity
The company approached Dudley College of Technology’s Innovate Champions with the challenge to retrofit its 1950s industrial grinding machines with modern digital monitoring systems.
Skills Gap or Workforce Issue
The company needed additional digital expertise for the project that lay outside of its day-to-day operations.
3. Collaboration with Further Education
Dudley College of Technology and the Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology: Innovate Champions
Type of Engagement:
Using Raspberry Pi and other low-cost, commercially available components, Innovate Consultants: Andrew Homer and Catherine Jones developed a solution that enables real-time condition monitoring and energy efficiency tracking.
4. Outcomes and Impact
This innovation is expected to significantly boost productivity and reduce downtime.
6. Testimonial
Adrian Walker, Works Manager, at VSN Steels
“We’re incredibly impressed with the outcome. It’s a game-changer for us—bringing digital intelligence to our legacy equipment without the need for expensive replacements. The Work Catherine and Andrew have done for us to enable us to monitor our pre-digital age grinding machines will make a big difference to our productivity and enable us to use energy more efficiently.”
Please contact Andrew Homer at Dudley College to find out more.
andrew.homer@dudleycol.ac.uk.
