Stand and deliver: New industrial strategy must put the fizz back in UK manufacturing.
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2024 was a mixed year, with some stellar announcements like Tata Group’s gigafactory investment offset by the cancellation of Phase 2 of HS2 and a budget black hole to pay for, but an Industrial Strategy may give the industry the long-term stability it needs. This article is by Will Stirling The Chancellor Rachel Reeves received a boost a week before her Autumn Budget when the IMF revised its forecast for UK growth this year to 1.1% (up from 0.7% in July) and 1.5% in 2025 – the biggest upward revision for any advanced country. It’s a sign of better things to come, and 2024 was not...
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Spark of Innovation.
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Anotronic Ltd is a well-recognised subcontract machining business and manufacturer of high-quality EDM fast-hole drilling and EDM die-sinking machine tools. Founded in 1982, the Leighton Buzzard business started in ECM, ECD and EDM tooling and machining, evolving to the production and growth of its own ECM and ECD technology brand. Along this journey, the company has worked with Sodi-Tech UK and the Sodick brand of machines. Martin White, Managing Director of Anotronic Ltd, says: “My father started the business in 1982, and I joined the company in 1985. We tend to machine a lot of...
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Six of the best
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With 75% of its turning centres bought from Dugard Machine Tools, it's safe to say that C&K Precision Engineers Ltd is reaping the rewards of working with the South Coast machine tool specialist. The Stoke-on-Trent manufacturer is a subcontract machining, assembly and fabrication business serving the medical, aerospace, surveillance and general manufacturing sectors. Working in these high-end segments, C&K Precision demands machine tools capable of delivering high-quality, tight-tolerance workpieces from the most challenging material grades. Matthew Kelsall from C&K...
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Research highlights impact of rising business costs
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Recent research commissioned by Close Brothers Asset Finance has revealed the significant impact of rising costs on businesses across the UK, with a majority of respondents reporting adverse effects on their operations and financial health. According to the research, 71% of businesses have been affected by the rising cost of doing business, while 25% reported no impact, and 5% were unsure. Among those experiencing increased costs, 56% indicated that it has negatively impacted their cash flow. Conversely, 27% reported no negative impact on cash flow, and 15% did not notice an increase in...
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Quick holemaking
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The design concept of assembled drills with exchangeable solid carbide cutting heads, adopted by ISCAR at the turn of the century, significantly altered the company’s holemaking product program. As part of this concept, a precise carbide head is mounted in a steel holder using the ‘self-clamping’ principle, which relies on the holder’s elastic deformation without any mechanical clamping means. This approach is characteristic of various successful ISCAR products, such as the SELF-GRIP and MULTI-MASTER tool lines. These have substantially improved machining performance and...
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Prima Additive and Comau respond to Euro 7 standards.
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Prima Additive and Comau, two Italian companies and global leaders in their respective sectors have joined forces to showcase the advantages of dual-layer laser cladding. This results from developing a high-speed, fully automated brake disc coating system for Stellantis. The first in a series of robotic-driven Rapid Coating Process cells was presented during the Stellantis Factory Booster Day, held in Turin on September 18th. By hard coating the raw brake discs with resilient steel and composite materials, the solution will enable Stellantis to significantly increase brake disc...
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Powerful lathe enables stainless broaching.
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Architectural ironmongery manufacturer Instinct Hardware has recently invested in a host of equipment that includes an Italian-built Biglia bar-fed, twin-spindle lathe with a ± 45 mm Y-axis turret having and 15 driven tools. Installed in the Stirchley factory where premium quality door knobs and handles, door stops, and accessories are manufactured, the latest turning centre was sourced in May 2024 from the Whitehouse Machine Tools. The company supplied the machine as a turnkey package with a bar feeding unit and a gantry-type system for unloading components onto a conveyor. This...
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Hexagon and SEAT S.A. partner in digital transformation.
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Hexagon, a world leader in digital reality solutions that combine sensors, software and autonomous technologies, has expanded its collaboration with the automotive manufacturer SEAT S.A. The deal builds upon a 25-year partnership working with Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. The companies have signed a strategic agreement that aims to deepen the digital transformation of SEAT S.A, focusing on the digitalisation of vehicle components, the management of digitised information and advanced process simulation. This agreement will enable SEAT S.A. to optimise production and...
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CERATIZIT delivers success that is ‘Made in Sheffield’
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The term ‘one-stop-shop’ is often banded around the subcontract manufacturing industry. It’s not until you find a company like Woodbrook Precision Ltd that you can truly understand what a single source solution provider looks like. The Lancashire manufacturer ventures beyond rivals’ services and continually invests in the latest machine tools fully supported by advanced cutting tool solutions from CERATIZIT UK. The company is located in Ashton-Under-Lyne on the Northeast edge of Greater Manchester. It's plant list includes a complete array of manual and CNC 3 to 5-axis...
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Automotive subby speeds-up productivity with Filtermist
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One of the biggest challenges for any machine shop is workshop air quality and the impact coolant mist has on staff. To stop coolant mist from impacting air quality in the workplace, Tooling 2000 Limited installed on-machine mist extraction systems from Filtermist. In addition to COSHH compliant clean air, the Birmingham subcontract manufacturer is also benefitting in other less obvious ways…. Founded back in 1996, Tooling 2000 offers everything from prototyping and development to 5-axis laser cutting, CNC machining, precision tooling and presswork for marquee customers like Rolls-Royce,...
info_outlineAs a leading name in the design, production and fabrication of engineered solutions, Manufax in Stockport manufactures jigs, fixtures and components primarily for the aerospace, defence, automotive and nuclear industries. Now in the third generation of the Rhodes family, Manufax has just invested in a large horizontal borer from Leader CNC Technologies.
The investment in a Fermat machine from Nuneaton-based Leader CNC is part of an ongoing diversification strategy. As David Baines, Group Production Director for Manufax Engineering says: “Up to and during Covid, we were heavily into the aerospace industry with around 90% of our work in the aerospace sector. We suffered hugely during the pandemic, so we needed to diversify and we now do a third of our business in the aerospace market with another third in defence and the remaining third in the nuclear sector. With this diversity, we have seen the need to invest heavily in new technology for the future.”
Looking at the company’s plans for diversification, David adds: “The criteria we were looking for was a good horizontal borer and I found that the Fermat machine was a very good replacement machine with modern capabilities such as the rotary table that we have built into the machine. The quality of this machine builder is excellent.”
Vince Heffernan, Leader CNC Technologies Technical Manager says: “The Fermat WFT 13 is the machine that has been supplied to Manufax. Fermat is a brand that has been around for over a hundred years and it now makes over 100 machines a year. As a machine builder, Fermat will cater to the specific needs of the customer, providing fully modular machines with up to 90 tools on the ATC or a robot loading system that can load an infinite number of tools. The Fermat WFT 13 has the option of different heads, so customers can have a 5-axis head.”
The machine has a 2.6 by 1.8m table with 4 by 2.5 by 1.5m of travel in X, Y and Z axes with an additional W-axis that expands by 600mm. “The advantage of the W-axis is that customers can do some deep hole boring. The machine also has a large capacity where you can fit anything on the machine. You can always do a small part on a big machine but you can’t always do a big part on a small machine,” continues Vince.
David from Manufax adds: “The relationship with Leader CNC has been fantastic and they have helped us with the implementation of the machine and getting Fermat engineers over here to install and commission the machine.”
Adding to this, James Leet from Leader CNC Technologies says: “We work closely with Manufax as the company trusts Leader CNC Technologies as a business that they can consult with on quite a complex issue. If we were positioned to sell hundreds of machines a year, we couldn’t consult and support our customers - we are not positioned to do that. We are positioned to help companies like Manufax. The word ‘partnerships’ is used a lot in this industry, but you cannot make installations like this happen without a partnership approach.”
Concluding on the installation, David says: “This is our first machine from Leader CNC Technologies and it’s very exciting for us to be collaborating with them - and we are looking forward to the future with Leader CNC.”