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Comment & Analysis
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International emerging markets: Turkey
14 Nov 2007
Turkey's move from an agri-based economy to a fast-growing industrial and commercial one provides an excellent opportunity for UK mechanical engineering manufacturing companies to find export trade to Turkey where there are currently few restrictions to trade, says Dr John L Collins, business development manager, The Manufacturing Technologies Association.
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Proposed merger offers hope of decreased Health & Safety red tape burden
01 Nov 2007
A proposal to merge the Health & Safety Commission and Health & Safety Executive must aim to improve the governance and scrutiny of legislation and regulators, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has warned.
Fabrication
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Investments include the fastest punching machine in the world
30 Jul 2008
The commissioning of a new £700,000 machine at precision sheet metal producers, Fife Fabrications Ltd, is the latest step in the company’s £2.5 million pound redevelopment plan which has seen the company grow into one of the top technological market leaders in Europe.
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Fabricator's ‘Taylormade’ machining service launched
14 Nov 2007
Fabricating engineers A.Taylor & Son of Leeds has announced the launch of its subcontract machining facility. The machine shop, which has predominantly served the company's in-house needs for over 15 years, has been expanded to offer subcontract services to the engineering sector as a whole.
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Men of Letters
07 Nov 2007
Team Valley-based Responsive Engineering Group has used its laser cutting expertise to produce 3m x 3m prototype acoustic panels for the House of Letters and Arts, a new €50 million cultural centre in Athens.
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Finance helps A1 Stainless break into new markets
06 Nov 2007
From a background in supplying the food and pharmaceutical sectors with precision fabrications, A1 Stainless of Dudley is now taking its expertise into the rail, defence, construction and aviation markets.
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Sheetmetal firm completes £1m modernisation
05 Oct 2007
Hastings based sub-contract sheet metal engineering and fabrication company Stevens Rowsell & Co Ltd have completed their 1,000 sq ft factory extension and have installed the latest fully automated Trumpf 4kW Trulaser, which is the largest sub contract laser cutting cell of its kind in the UK
Industry News
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Hi-Finish puts the 'B' in Bentley
26 Nov 2007
Birmingham pressure die casting specialist, Hi-Finish Casting Ltd, has won the contract to supply Bentley with the ‘Flying B’ assemblies for its iconic radiator grilles. Support from Accelerate, the West Midlands automotive supply chain body, helped Hi-Finish secure the business.
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UK manufacturers take to online sourcing
26 Nov 2007
British companies are increasingly using the internet to find suppliers, says research from MFG.com, the global marketplace for the manufacturing community. 78% of companies surveyed currently outsourced some proportion of their engineering parts manufacture, and 85% of these say that they are currently using the internet as a sourcing tool.
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BJF's lasers are fit for purpose
26 Nov 2007
A £1.3 million investment in new machines and apparatus has allowed BJF Profiling to strengthen its position in the ever growing shopfitting market.
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Knowledge Transfer helps Morgan motor ahead
25 Nov 2007
One of world’s most traditional marques is making the most of the latest technology to improve efficiency and move into new international markets. The Morgan Motor Company, which currently manufacturers around 550 cars every year, is making the most of a series of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) with University of Central England’s ‘Technology Innovation Centre’ to add over £3m of new sales and boosting the development of future models.
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SSC invests in better bending
23 Nov 2007
SSC Laser Cutting has invested more than £100,000 in a Beyeler hydraulic press brake that will dramatically increase its capacity for bending and folding laser cut components.
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Aquajet raises its profile
22 Nov 2007
A contract cutting company in Coventry has invested £405,000 in new state-of-the-art machinery and larger premises. AquaJet Profiles Ltd has moved to a new 10,000 sq ft site in Charter Avenue, Canley, and unveiled a £240,000 water jet machining centre that can cut anything from rock to 10” thick titanium plate.
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ThyssenKrupp Services purchases Apollo Metals Group
22 Nov 2007
Duesseldorf-based ThyssenKrupp Services AG is expanding its aerospace materials services activities by acquiring a 100 percent stake in the UK-based company Apollo Metals Group, which includes Aviation Metals, for an undisclosed fee from Murray International Holdings, UK.
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CBI says demand is still steady
20 Nov 2007
Demand for manufactured goods has remained steady but prices are set to rise in the next three months, even as output growth is expected to slacken, say the CBI.
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Recycling machine contract is a smashing opportunity for Ladbrook
19 Nov 2007
East Anglian engineering company Ladbrook has won a contract to manufacture glass recycling machines for London company Smash and Grab Recycling Ltd.
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Holden accelerates to double success
18 Nov 2007
A Hereford and Worcester automotive supplier has landed two of the industry’s leading regional honours.
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Automated process choice will make toolmakers more competitive
18 Nov 2007
A three-year EU-sponsored research programme aims to make European toolmakers more competitive by helping them automatically select the best process for producing specific features.
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DavyMarkham engineers movement into new Gloucester lift bridge
16 Nov 2007
A Sheffield heavy engineering company has won a £750,000 contract for the mechanical, electrical and hydraulic elements for the new St Ann Way lifting bridge in Gloucester.
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Forgemasters show Minister the way on apprenticeships
10 Nov 2007
Skills Minister David Lammy saw at first hand how Sheffield engineering company Forgemasters is taking a lead on training and apprenticeships.
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Healthy growth in manufacturing orders
08 Nov 2007
Over the past three months, manufacturing has seen positive growth in new orders across most UK regions, despite the impact of the global credit squeeze on confidence, according to the latest quarterly Regional Trends Survey, published by the CBI and Experian.
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Shearline apprentice's achievements rewarded
07 Nov 2007
Michelle Spraggon, an employee at Cambridgeshire-based Shearline, has become the company’s latest apprentice to pick up an award for her achievements at the annual West Anglian Training Association (WATA) Apprentice of the Year Awards.
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New ETB board members
07 Nov 2007
The Engineering and Technology Board, an independent organisation that promotes the essential role of science, engineering and technology in society, has appointed six new members to its Board of Trustees.
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Welsh out in force at Manufacturing Technology Ireland
07 Nov 2007
With its manufacturing exports flourishing, Wales has proved its might yet again in the global manufacturing industry at Manufacturing Technology Ireland. International Business Wales, the overseas trade and investment arm of the Welsh Assembly Government, supported five exhibiting companies at the show.
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Subcon 2008 complemented by key manufacturing shows
07 Nov 2007
Subcon, the annual exhibition for buyers of subcontract manufacturing, returns to the NEC, Birmingham, from 22 to 24 April 2008.
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Accelerate chief steps down with a final rallying call
01 Nov 2007
David Malpass, is stepping down as senior operations manager for Accelerate, the automotive supply chain initiative in the West Midlands. During his highly successful ten-year reign, David helped to safeguard and create in excess of 60,000 jobs in the region, not to mention laying the foundations for a number of innovative manufacturing programmes.
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K Final Report 2007
01 Nov 2007
K 2007 International Trade Fair Plastics & Rubber has closed its doors, and the dates of the next K are: K2010 27th October to 3rd November 2010, Düsseldorf. As the shop window of a growing and dynamic industry, it is perhaps no surprise that this year's optimistic expectations of K were topped.
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MAS can’t afford to rest on its laurels says Minister
31 Oct 2007
Government initiatives such as MAS and the manufacturing industry as a whole can’t afford to rest on their laurels, says Stephen Timms, Minister for Competitiveness.
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Autolink highlights automotive excellence
30 Oct 2007
Autolink, the UKs premier automotive collaboration event is to be held again in Birmingham on the 10th April 2008. A number of Tier 1s have already agreed to participate, Kriss Akabusi has agreed to speak, and MAS and Accelerate have agreed to be sponsors.
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CRDM expands into new premises
04 Oct 2007
CRDM, one of the UK’s leading rapid prototyping companies, has moved into new premises to allow it to fulfil plans for expansion.
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Midest turns spotlight on subcontractors in North Africa
01 Oct 2007
Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria will be countries of the year at the 37th Midest show, 13-16 November 2007, in Paris. The four day event will be the largest international gathering of subcontracting technical expertise and services for the processing of metals, plastics, electronics and electricity.
Precision
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Dawson Shanahan combines precision turning with cold forming
12 Nov 2007
From a background in the 1990s when it was predominantly focused on copper components for the semi-conductor industry, Dawson Shanahan has developed an impressively wide customer base.
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Design change cuts cost of gauge components
10 Nov 2007
Hertford-based Qualiturn has been able to reduce the cost of components for car dial gauges by 15% by making minor design changes. This allowed the five brass components that go into the gauge to be machined in one hit on a CNC sliding head lathe.
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Single hit solutions boost sales for Impact
06 Nov 2007
A continuous rise in orders from power generation, aerospace, oil and gas and autosport sectors has seen Mansfield-based Impact Precision increase its subcontract production sales to £2 million, an increase of 30 per cent compared to 12 months ago.
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Ottaway puts heavy threading in a whirl
01 Nov 2007
Eastleigh-based Ottaway Engineering is using a heavy duty thread whirling method to produce deep threads in one pass on components such as bone screws and surgical implants.
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More complexity drives investment at Caragh
30 Oct 2007
A steady increase in subcontract work for the medical industry coupled with the trend towards greater component complexity has prompted Caragh Tool & Die to invest in a fifth Hurco machining centre with 5-axis capability.
Rapid Prototyping & Product Development
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£11.4m treasure chest of product design and development software opened
08 Oct 2007
Birmingham City University’s Technology Innovation Centre (TIC) has gained a significant new educational role in product design and development. The university’s agreement to become the sole UK-based academy for PTC (Parametric Technologies Corp) Inc sees TIC appointed to introduce world-leading product design programmes to the UK.
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Restructure keeps RPD firm on course
08 Oct 2007
Nuneaton-based NPL Technologies Ltd, which was the subject of a management buy-in a decade ago, has announced a number of board level changes in preparation for managing director Tony Lowe’s departure to pursue personal interests at the end of October.
Surface Treatments & Finishing
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Deburring Centre takes service award for 5th year
22 Nov 2007
Deburring Centre Ltd, the Poole based thermal deburring specialist, has been awarded the prestigious 'Premier Supplier' status for the 5th year running by ITW Finishing Ltd, the international manufacturers of the DeVilbiss, Binks, Ransburg and ITW Gema range of spray finishing equipment.
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Flame Hardeners offers surface alternative
18 Nov 2007
In the past year Flame Hardeners Ltd of Sheffield has seen an upsurge in the use of surface hardening on automotive press tools for components such as body parts and petrol tanks.
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The key is in the finish
16 Nov 2007
Drawing on its experience in the giftware industry – and in particular manufacturing split ring key rings – Berkeley and Co has developed a subcontract service that can give customers the same high levels of surface finish it uses on its own products.
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Thermal size increase at Deburring Centre
16 Nov 2007
Responding to customer demand, thermal deburring
specialist, Deburring Centre Ltd, now has the ability to process even larger components. -
Welding approvals win cladding contract
01 Nov 2007
Following Arc Energy’s successful audit by Oxford Engineering, the weld overlay cladding specialist was awarded an initial contract to clad a number of valve bodies destined for sub-sea Christmas trees. Due to their complex shape, cladding of the alloy steel bodies with a 3mm coating of Inconel 625 was considered a difficult project and had caused problems for other suppliers.
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Supercar selects zirconia-based coating
01 Nov 2007
Niche, performance car manufacturer Koenigsegg has selected Zircotec ceramic exhaust coating to reduce underbonnet temperatures on the CCX (Competition Coupe X) to safeguard electrical components and the composite bodywork.
