EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Lantek reports 24.9% growth in turnover

Lantek, a multinational specialist in sheet metal manufacturing software with more than 32,000 registered customers supported through 21 offices in 15 countries,achieved a 24.9% surge in salesduring the 2022/23 financial year, resulting in a turnover exceeding €35.3m.Notably, the company recently expanded its global market vision by creating Lantek Australia, serving customers in both Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, as part of a strategic commitment to digitalising the industrial metals sector, the company has made significant progress in its growth plan to employ nearly 400 professionals globally.
For further information www.lantek.com

Free access to heat recovery system details

Engineers from Igus, a manufacturer of technical products from high-performance plastics, are now using a simple, in-house technology for heat recovery. It uses the waste heat from machinery to heat factories and industrial units, saving energy costs and CO2 emissions. The company is making the details of the technology available online, for free. If all injection moulders worldwide were to use this technology, Igus calculates it could save over 1 million tons of CO2 and more than 548 million m3 of gas.According to the company’s calculations, the saving corresponds to the annual gas consumption of 238,434 four-person households.
For further information www.bit.ly/3quUMmn

MTC Training to launch skills bootcamp

MTC Training, the training wing of the Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre, has secured funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority to deliver a new training course that will improve the efficiency of manufacturing businesses across the region.
The ‘Skills Bootcamp Manufacturing Efficiency’ programme aims to help managers and leaders looking to upskill and optimise their organisation’s processes and output through a combination of face-to-face training, self-study and online and remote learning.

During the 16-week programme, delegates will build their skill-sets in management, leadership and analytics across eight areas: costs; process improvement; health and safety; workplace organisation; visual management; standard work and process monitoring; problem solving; and continuous improvement and innovation. As part of MTC Training’s partnership with Lloyds Bank, the first four cohorts are free for any SME delegates.Limited spaces are available.
For further information www.bit.ly/3KMDmrY

$1bn investment castings contract

Doncasters, a global manufacturer of high-precision components, has won a multi-year contract with Siemens Energy for the supply of complex precision investment castings that will find use on gas turbine platforms. With an anticipated value exceeding $1bn, the contract will seeDoncasters leverage its vertically integrated alloy manufacturing and casting capabilities in both the UK and Germany.

Mike Quinn, CEO at Doncasters, says: “This renewal of Doncasters’ contract with Siemens Energy reflects the hard work of all our employees and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to cement our relationship with one of our oldest and largest customers.This agreement forms the backbone to the significant capital investments in capacity and capability currently underway or planned to support growth in our airfoil casting plants.”
For further information www.doncasters.com

Export boost for UK manufacturers

Demand for help in exploring export markets has put a southwest trade specialist on course for a record year. International Trade Matters, founded by Linda Middleton-Jones in 2017, helps around 40 companies every month through a mixture of strategic advice and tactical training.This has placed her business on target to increase sales by 25% to align with the national rollout of its Global Trade Blueprint (GTB). GTB is a short training course thatacts a readiness tool for business recovery, growth and internationalisation. It gives companies the opportunity to explore and unlock potential by accessing market intelligence.
For further information www.internationaltradematters.com