The sensors and measurement industry has many regulatory and technical issues that need to be addressed and understood. GAMBICA, the national organisation representing the interests of companies in the instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology sectors in the UK, helps UK based businesses address these issues and acts on their behalf.

Here, Ian Clasper, GAMBICA’s senior executive with responsibility for the process sector, helps explain why the organisation is so important.

GAMBICA is the trade association for instrumentation and measurement in the UK, which, of course, includes sensors. The association is involved with sensors in every sector from the process industry, including energy, and industrial automation to laboratories and safety and environmental monitoring. The membership includes most of the multinationals of the industry as well as many smaller, more specialised companies.

There is a valid argument that everyone in industry will find themselves at the door of a GAMBICA member at some point. It’s not overstating the case to say that these companies provide the enabling technology that allows everything from energy generation and distribution to intelligent manufacturing solutions to function. It also facilitates the protection of the environment and the health and safety of people.

Member companies also benefit from a range of services through the Association; market data and economic forecasts, technical help on standards and EU Directives, and access to specialist services providing professional advice on taxation, employment and legal issues.

The association also provides value to its members in a number of other ways. It represents the industry to UK Government and other agencies and, at a European level, works in association with Orgalime to influence the European Commission and European Parliament.   Orgalime (the European Engineering Industries Association), which represents 160,000 electronic, electrical and mechanical engineering manufacturers who employ nearly 11 million people, provides GAMBICA with a key mechanism to keep member companies aware of developments in Europe and to influence those issues which directly affect the industry.

ORGALIME provides GAMBICA with a key mechanism to keep member companies aware of developments in Europe and to influence those issues which affect the industry, in particular technical harmonisation, environmental policy, public procurement and trade policy.

Another key role for the association is in the formation and development of European and international standards, where GAMBICA works through its own technical committees and nominates representatives to relevant BSI (British Standards Institution) committees.

GAMBICA also provides input to its members regarding developing market opportunities. For instance, at present we are briefing our members on smart grids for the power sector, where there are major initiatives in Europe and globally. Renewable generation will increasingly affect electric networks. In particular, large wind farms will be connected to transmission networks and many dispersed generation units, mainly fed by renewable energy sources (photovoltaic, small wind, biomasses and CHP) will be hosted by distribution networks, both at MV and LV levels. This will have a major impact on the electricity networks, with a need for monitoring and control to maintain the quality of supply; providing opportunities across industry, notably for sensor suppliers.
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Examples of other issues currently affecting companies in the sensors sector are:

•    Implementation of the new Machinery Directive, resulting in some sensor instruments now being classified as machinery instead of low voltage products

•    The development in ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission) JTC/1 of a standard for sensor networks, which may overlap / conflict with the numerous sensor standards that already exist, particularly in the process sector, and may introduce risks to safety and security

•    The development of the Environment Agency’s MCERTS standards for water into European standards. Association members were actively involved in developing the MCERTS documents and would like to see them developed as international standards, but will closely monitor their development in Europe

The aim of the Association in all of these activities is to provide added value to its members by representing their interests to those organisations that influence the market, by providing advice and information on technical, regulatory and marketing issues and by providing opportunities for networking across the industry.

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