There’s been a lot of talk in the Media about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this week as it’s finally been agreed upon between states after a 12 year negotiation. Though the TPP does not directly affect the UK there is a similar agreement in negotiation called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) which is between the US and various EU countries. These agreements are meant to encourage Free Trade and are being sold as ‘good for everyone.’ It’s very obvious that this is almost never the case in the world of business.
9
Oct
2015
30
May
2014
The organisers of Subcon 2014 are hoping for another bumper year. Last year, Subcon 2013 experienced a 64 per cent increase in the number of visitors through the door. More than 4000 people turned up and it’s hoped that even more will flock to the NEC, Birmingham, for Subcon 2014.
What’s at Subcon 2014
The UK’s only show of its kind, Subcon 2014 will once more run alongside the new Advanced Manufacturing Show and The Engineer Conference. The show is aimed at showcasing the latest technology and the finest manufacturing services in the world dedicated to contract and subcontract manufacturing.
30
Apr
2014
In January of last year the deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg led the formal unveiling of a £2.5m campaign encouraging UK motorists to adopt Ultra Low Emission Vehicles – or ULEVs, for short. The Government’s aim is for these environmentally friendly vehicles to account for every new vehicle on the road by 2040. The campaign was labelled ‘Go Ultra Low’ with BMW, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall all acting as joint partners.
27
Feb
2014
The world of engineering is constantly on the move with advances in the manufacturing industry amongst the most innovative in the business world. If you want to see the latest developments to come from the manufacturing technologies’ sector, under one roof, the MACH Exhibition is the place to be.
Staged over five days, between April 7-11, at the NEC in Birmingham, MACH is the outstanding showcase for advances in the industry brought to you by the Manufacturing Technologies’ Association (MTA).
Who are the MTA? Read about the organisers here
20
Feb
2014
British industry still suffers from a lack of engineers. Such is the concern that business secretary Vince Cable believes the shortage provides a serious threat to recovery. In particular, Cable highlighted the lack of women currently working or actively seeking employment in the British engineering industry.
Only 8% of British engineers are women, which is the lowest proportion in Europe. Compare that with Germany (15%), Sweden (25%) and top-performing Latvia (30%) and it’s easy to see why there is such deep-seated concern.
Research suggests the problem starts long before young people choose a career with many youngsters ditching maths and science as soon as they can. It’s a trend especially marked for girls.
A recent article in the Sheffield Star highlighted the concern. The newspaper reported that only 14 per cent of students at the new University Technical College, are girls. At the newly opened training centre at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, just four of the 160 engineering apprentices are female.
29
Jan
2014
When it comes to the economy, there have been tales of woe for six or seven years. A double dip recession, unemployment issues and precious little sign of recovery. Thankfully, there are better times ahead for the UK;s manufacturing industry with the IMF having upgraded its UK growth forecast from 1.9% to 2.4% for this year.
Recent predictions suggest the new forecast puts Britain well ahead of Germany, which the IMF expects to grow by 1.6%, and France, which is forecast to grow by 0.9%.
Good news indeed. The facts make for positive reading. And here are those facts. New manufacturing orders grew at the strongest rate in almost three years in the three months to January, with the CBI revealing that 34% of manufacturers reported an increase in new orders over the period.
29
May
2013
We might have spent the past 18 months in the midst of a double dip recession and the future if you listen closely enough, is far from bright. Still, according to the CBI’s recent monthly Industrial Trends survey, manufacturers expect strong growth in the coming months.
Although recent output has flat-lined, the outlook is much brighter for the next quarter with output volumes expected to rise strongly. Twelve of the 16 sub-sectors anticipate a pick-up, with the food, drink and tobacco, and mechanical engineering sectors being the key contributors to growth.
13
Apr
2013
5 Axis Milling technology takes the chequered flag as Formula 1 Team Lotus install 5 new HPU 450U machines at their workshop in Enstone, Oxfordshire. Team Lotus are one of the latest companies to give in to the promise and potential that the 5 axis milling process holds; a process that leading high precision machining specialists PRV-Engineering were quick to recognize the advantages of.They wre one of the first companies in the UK to invest in this latest state of the art engineering discipline.
One Machine Replaces Many
5
Apr
2013
Metal Fabrication and its Importance in our Lives
The word “fabrication” means to make something from raw material. In the case of metal fabrication, that raw material is, unsurprisingly, metal. The material used in metal fabrication will however have already been processed from its true raw state into a usable raw material format such as metal sheet, rod, or bar.
Fabrication differs from assembling. Rather than using a processed raw material, the assembly process uses parts or components specifically made for the purpose. Assembly is however an operation that is included in the art of fabrication.
12
Feb
2013
New milling technology, that advances the traditional milling capability, has recently been announced. It comes courtesy of a new advancement from Vero UK in their Edgecam software range, and has been christened “Waveform Roughing Strategy”.
The New Milling Technology Deserves a few Plaudits
It’s a rare event when something new comes along in the engineering world, so this new milling technology deserves a few plaudits. Edgecam software is cutting edge stuff, if you’ll excuse the play on words. These software programs are specifically targeted at the high precision machining sector within the engineering industry. It’s state of the art CAM/CAD application which takes advanced tool-path engineering and seamlessly melds it with CAD output. The growing library of Edgecam software packages is intent on improving productivity through the manufacturing cycle.
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