Tornos and Starrag merger remains on track

As announced by the Tornos Group in May, the executive board and board of directors have been examining a merger with the Starrag Group over the past few months. Based on the positive results of the review and negotiations, the two boards of directors recently signed a merger agreement. The boards of directors of Starrag Group Holding Ltd and Tornos Holding Ltd are now asking their respective shareholders to approve this merger agreement.

The two groups of companies and their offerings complement each other, and a merger to form the StarragTornos Group would further strengthen room for manoeuvre as a manufacturer of precision machine tools. Tornos says it is convinced that if the planned merger gains approval by the two general assemblies, it will be able to offer customers even better technology solutions, products and services.

Bundled resources and combined technical know-how will significantly strengthen the new company’s innovative power, further developing existing technologies and driving forward new solutions. Furthermore, by increasing geographical presence, the merged company will make its performance and expanded range of services available globally on an even more personal, better and faster level.

The Tornos brand of Swiss-type sliding-head lathes and the brands of the Starrag Group have a long tradition. They are rooted in Switzerland and enjoy a high level of customer trustworldwide. That is why the companies want to keep them unchanged, even after the planned merger. The existing production sites of Tornos and Starrag are also to continue, withno job cuts planned as a result of the proposed merger. It goes without saying that familiar contacts at the Tornos Group will also remain the same.
For further information www.tornos.com

Host of new Colchester products on show

Colchester Machine Tool Solutions recently staged its first open house in four years. Taking place at the company’s European Technology Centre in Elland, West Yorkshire, the company showcased a whole host of new products to existing and prospective customers. Across the two-day event, there were also live product demonstrations and talks on the latest product ranges, as well as refreshments and a special prize giveaway.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Tornado CNC turning centres, so Colchester Machine Tool Solutions has brought them back better than ever in new and modern configurations to give customers high rigidity and accuracy for any machining project.

Also on show was the Colchester Student centre lathe, which the company says is known throughout industry as the ultimate training and apprentice’s machine tool. This year, Colchester Machine Tool Solutions released the Student CNC lathe, a modern variant designed and engineered in the UK. The lathefeatures the latest FANUC controls, giving the user flexibility in programming, including ISO, conversational Manual Guide i or via CADCAM.

Completing the turning line-up, Colchester’s range of manual centre lathes and Alpha CNC/manual combination lathes also took the spotlight.

New from a milling perspective was the Storm vertical machining centre range, offering linear guideways, box ways and compact tool-room machine variants, all capable of heavy-duty and precise machining.

Also on display were new CNC and manual turret mills, providing extensive reliability, accuracy and versatility for small to medium size production runs. The company’s automation partner Olympus Technologies was present to demonstrate its bespoke automation solutions in tandem with Colchester’s Storm VMCs, which are automation and Industry 4.0 ready.
For further information www.colchester.co.uk

NCMT appoints sales manager for southeast

Luke Insleyis the new NCMTarea sales manager for southeast England. Insley is now responsible for sales of the company’s product portfolio, which includes Okuma machining centres, CNC lathes and grinders, Makino machining centres, and photo-activated adhesive work-holding systems manufactured by Blue Photon. Apprentice-trained with a HNC in mechanical engineering, his recent roles include applications and technical support engineer at a cutting tool company, assisting both end users and distributors, and sales engineer for a tooling supplier.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

In-Comm wins award

A company that supports more than 700 apprentices every year has been recognised as the ‘best’ in its field. In-Comm Training, which operates two Technical Academies in Aldridge and Telford, was named as the ‘Training Provider of the Year’ at the recent Ladder for the Black Country Awards.More than 250 people crammed into Walsall Football Club to celebrate the stars of vocational learning, with the family-run firm impressing the judges with its £10m investment strategy and its recent record-breaking 199 apprentice cohort intake.The launch of the UK’s first ever Precision Tooling Academy also won praise.
For further information www.in-comm.co.uk

Knowledge Hubs will be core theme at MACH

MACH 2024 (15-19 April, Birmingham NEC), will attempt to help reverse UK manufacturing’s poor record for adopting new technology. The show’s organiser, the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA),is ona mission to spearhead growth by using its flagship event to launch its new Knowledge Hubs initiative.The programme helps manufacturers learn more about the potential offered by the latest technologies, as well as when to adopt it and how to implement it to best effect.

The initiative received a major shot-in-the-arm with the recent announcement of £4.5bn of Government funding to support advanced manufacturing. The funding will directly benefit several of the exhibition’s key themes, especially energy efficiency, with the fund earmarking £960m for clean energy manufacturing through a Green Industries Growth Accelerator.
For further information www.machexhibition.com