Machine orders up in Germany

Orders received by the German machine tool industry in the third quarter of 2022 were 9% up on the previous year’s figure. Orders from Germany rose by 3%, whereas those from abroad were up by 12%. Demand rose by 26% in the first nine months of 2022. Domestic and foreign orders contributed in equal measure to this figure, accounting for growth of 25 and 26% respectively. Orders received by the German metal-forming technology sector in the third quarter of 2022 were also up, by a total of 7% up on the previous year. Orders from Germany fell by 1% whereas those from abroad were up by 10%.
For further information www.vdw.de/en

Training is out of this world

MTC Training – the training arm of the Manufacturing Technology Centre – is launching a new apprenticeship and training courses to support the UK’s rapidly growing space sector.
The education suite will include a new Level 4 space technician apprenticeship, a graduate development programme and a series of courses to upskill space engineers.

These new programmes will boost the UK’s skills and capabilities in the space sector, which forecasts predict will be worth £450bn by 2030. The new 48-month space technician apprenticeship launches in September 2023, delivered from the Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) training centre in Abingdon. Similarly, the graduate development space programme, also delivered at OAS, will support engineering graduates who are new to the space industry or are considering a move into the space sector.
For further information www.the-amtc.co.uk/training

Very large piling frame

Among the UK’s leading structural engineering and metal fabrication companies, Tranent-based Had Fab has built one of the company’s largest constructions to date. The 16.5 m long, 3.5 m wide and 4 m high piling frame will form part of the high-profile redevelopment of Stornoway Deep Water Terminal. Working to a tight deadline, Had Fab fully refurbished and converted the frame (from H-pile to tubular pile configuration) so as to successfully install 1220 diameter piles, up to 44 m long on the Stornoway Deep Water Terminal. The structure is now fully operational.
For further information www.hadfab.co.uk

Record-breaking open house for Citizen

A total of 176 people visited Citizen Machinery’s recent three-day open house at its Brierley Hill facility, up 28% compared with the previous year’s event. Owing to the seniority of the attendees and others who had expressed interest but could not attend, the tally of 25 new machine orders placed by 18 companies during October was a company record for a single month. The event also staged a Formula One car simulator competition. The person clocking the fastest lap won a bottle of champagne, an accolade that went to Raphael Poulequin of Renthal, Stockport, a producer of accessories for motorcycles and mountain bikes.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Nakamura from ETG is 80% more productive

The disruption of the pandemic for the aerospace supply chain has been catastrophic for some businesses, and for those that remain the challenge is to ramp up production to meet returning demand. Coventry-based Harris RCS Precision Engineering is one business that has successfully navigated this period and is now looking to take full advantage of the upturn with the recent installation of a Nakamura-Tome WT100F from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

Managing Director Graham Harris says: “Primarily working in the aerospace industry, we were inevitably impacted by the pandemic, and we’ve had to ramp up our production with less staff. This has given us the impetus to invest in new technology and automation to meet the rapid upturn in demand. With several twin-spindle, single-turret machines and a twin-spindle, twin-turret machine on the shop floor, we needed to accelerate productivity further and reduce shop-floor operations by completing more jobs in one hit. The Nakamura-Tome WT100F was the perfect solution.”

Commissioned at the start of the year, the WT100F has rapidly made an impact on the machining of aerospace components such as valves, unions and fixtures for wings, fuel control systems and undercarriage. Machining everything from aluminium, stainless steel, Inconel, nickel alloys and other aerospace-grade materials, the Nakamura has increased productivity by upward of 80%.

“We have one operator running two machines in many instances, but with the twin-spindle, twin-turret configuration on the WT100F, it’s like having one operator running four machines as the Nakamura undertakes simultaneous machining on the main and sub-spindle to slash our cycle times,” says Harris. “What’s equally important is that we have significantly reduced our secondary operations.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com