Process innovators win Queen’s Awards for breakthroughs and exports
17 Sep 2019
Three process industry firms are celebrating this week being among 200 companies to receive a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
They include multiple winners Buhler and Leverton Clarke, plus Gateshead firm RTR GmbH & Co
Seven times winner Bühler received its award for innovation for its optical sorting technology. Its development of a unique camera technology used in sorting machines, capable of recognising the subtlest of colour and shading contrasts in materials and foods, is credited with significantly increasing detection rates for foreign materials, potential choke hazards, or contaminated foods.
The Queen’s Award cites excellence in the fields of international trade, sustainable development or innovation.
One of the criteria for the latter is that innovations must be scalable, commercially viable and have resulted in a material improvement to a commercial process.
Food producers in Europe and the United States reported an increase in detection rates of foreign materials by 10%, from 85% to 95% claims the company, with a single optical sorter controlling up to 150,000 single grains or 15,000 peas per second with a capacity of 12 tons per hour.
Johannes Wick, Bühler Group’s CEO for Grains & Food, said: “This breakthrough technology will make the difference for us in the market for years to come. What is now in reach are applications to grade raw materials for composition and to remove invisible contaminations. This will be a major contribution to provide healthy and safe nutrition around the world.”
The Bühler camera technology is also being used to detect lower-grade or discoloured polymers to ensure the highest grade recyclate can be achieved by plastic recyclers.
Leverton Clarke Ltd has received its second Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The Basingstoke-based speciality chemical manufacturing company, focusing on lithium chemicals Leverton Clarke Ltd previously won a Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2014.
Since then, it has seen overseas sales grow by 293% over the last three year application period and the proportion of sales exported increased to 90% of total sales.
Since then, it has seen overseas sales grow by 293% over the last three year application period and the proportion of sales exported increased to 90% of total sales.
Meanwhile, specialist steel pipe, tube and fitting supplier RTR GmbH & Co, whose exports leapt from almost zero to almost 80 per cent of total sales in just three years won its award for its foreign sales.
Joint MD and co-owner of RTR, Philip Ross said: "With changes in our domestic market over recent years it was essential we developed overseas customers. We are delighted with the response we have received from these territories and we see export as a fundamental part of our growth strategy.
Research suggests nearly three out of four past international trade winners attribute the Queen's Awards to aiding increased international sales said the firm.
