Grace's Guide
British Industrial History
Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 146,692 pages of information and 232,163 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.
GEC-FAST
From Graces Guide
GEC-FAST, of Rugby
The Factory Automation Systems division of GEC specialising in automation systems.
1981 Division established; it included:
1982 Alan Davies was director and general manager; Clem Jansen was head of the division[1]
1982 GEC secured a plan to collaborate with Japanese firm Hitachi to start production of Japanese robots in 1984 at Rugby.[2]
1983 GEC had been moving into the sectors of microprocessor controls and process instruments, through GEC Industrial Controls and the Factory Automation Division. The previous foray into this area, a share of Fisher International, was sold to Monsanto[3]
1988 Supplied Advanced Guided Vehicle to Oxford University for a research project[4]
1989 GEC acquired a stake of 24.5 percent in CGEE Alsthom of France in exchange for its electrical projects and industrial controls businesses, as well as GEC's 60 percent share in the GEC Power Instrumentation and Control venture[5]