Toyota Auris to be built at Burnaston

Toyota says it will build the next generation of its Auris hatchback at the company’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire.

The Japanese carmaker also says its Deeside factory in North Wales will build most of the required engines. It comes after Toyota promised to invest £240m in upgrading Burnaston last March. According to the company, the move will secure more than 3000 jobs across its Burnaston and Deeside plants. The factory is being upgraded with new equipment, technologies and systems to enable manufacture of vehicles on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.
For further information www.toyota.co.uk

Smart machining event success

A machining solutions provider staged an ‘Irish’ first when it hosted its Smart Factory Machining event last week. The Engineering Technology Group (ETG) threw open the doors at its County Kildare showroom on 6-8 March to provide around 140 delegates with an insight into the latest CNC machine technology, turnkey solutions, automation and shop floor data systems.

Working in partnership with cutting tool partner Guhring, there was a host of live demonstrations on a Hardinge V710S three-axis mill, a Quaser MF400UH five-axis machining centre and a Nakamura WY150 twin-turret, twin-spindle lathe with Y-axis functionality on both turrets. Visitors also witnessed a Hyfore workholding and tooling display, and the Halter U20 LoadAssistant in action, unloading and loading billets to a simulated lathe with three-jaw chuck – the first time this technology has been showcased in Ireland.
For further information www.etgireland.ie

TDI Challenge 2018 – entries open

The MTA has launched the 2018 edition of its competition for design, technology and engineering students: the Technology Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge sponsored by Close Brothers. Previous winners and participants have used the TDI as a springboard into the industry, with last year’s winner in the 17-19 age category, Halimah Ershad of Forest School in London, receiving an undergraduate scholarship to the Dyson School of Engineering.

TDI 2017, Mazak, 5th July 2017, MTA

The TDI Challenge 2018 has four categories, and is open to anyone in the UK who has created an impressive design, technology or engineering project within school: individual student aged 14-16 (GCSE/KS4/BTEC L2); individual student aged 17-19 (A-Level/BTEC L3); student group (three to six members) aged 14-16 (GCSE/KS4/BTEC L2); student group (three to six members) aged 17-19 (A-Level/BTEC L3). The competition is free to enter, and students can win prizes including an iPad, GoPro, UE Boom Speaker, drone plus many more. Closing date for entries
is 11 May.
For further information www.mta.org.uk/tdi

RARUK teams up with TM Robotics

RARUK Automation has teamed up with TM Robotics to offer Toshiba SCARA, Cartesian and six-axis robots. The systems complement the company’s established product programme, which has been focussed on collaborative and mobile transport robots, automation systems and feeding solutions.

TM Robotics’ managing director Nigel Smith is certain he has found the perfect sales partner. “RARUK Automation has an extensive sales force and, importantly, this is backed-up with an in-house team of automation and robotics engineers.”
For further information www.rarukautomation.co.uk

Upbeat National Manufacturing Barometer

The latest National Manufacturing Barometer, a quarterly survey conducted by SWMAS (part of Exelin Group) in partnership with Economic Growth Solutions (EGS), has generated an upbeat response from its invited 320 manufacturing industry leaders. An overwhelming majority of respondents (72%) said they anticipate an increase in sales in the next six months – the highest figure recorded for nearly three years.

Encouragingly, more than half (56%) of manufacturers included in the Barometer indicated that they aimed to deliver against their growth targets by investing in machinery and premises, a rise of 13% on the last report. However, 48% of respondents to the latest survey said they planned to recruit new staff, which is only 2% higher than the same time last year. This suggests that improving productivity through the existing workforce and facilities remains the key focus.
For further information www.swmas.co.uk/barometer