EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Strong year for Mazak UK

The continued resilience of the UK’s manufacturing base has delivered a strong sales year for machine tool producer Yamazaki Mazak.Despite challenging conditions, the company has reported strong sales in key markets and machine categories as UK manufacturers continued to invest in new technologies.

Alan Mucklow, managing director UK, Eire and national distributors, says: “The post-Covid upturn that started in 2021 continued into 2022 and we delivered a record month for production in late autumn. Our new machine sales figures are proof that UK manufacturing is willing to invest in new technology to remain productive and competitive.Our customers are telling us that they remain very busy,order books are full and they are confident about the future.”
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

UR reports record revenue

Universal Robots, a Danish collaborative robot (cobot) company, has reported Q4 revenue of $85m, bringing 2022 annual revenue to $326m, up 5% on 2021. On a constant currency basis, growth over the year was 12%.The company’s CFO Kim Andreasen says: “We are proud to have continued to grow our business despite facing a difficult macro-economic environment in 2022. We focused on things we were able to control, overcoming supply chain challenges to report our highest annual revenue to date.” In 2022 UR also began construction on its new headquarters and exceeded 1000 employees worldwide.
For further information www.universal-robots.com

Oqton and Valk Welding team up

Oqton, a software provider helping manufacturers increase innovation and efficiency by intelligently automating production, and Valk Welding, a specialist in the field of flexible arc-welding robots, have entered a partnership designed to transform the welding industry. As a result, Oqton’s software will become part of Valk Welding’s Automatic Robotic Programming (ARP) solution for high-mix, low-volume production. The Valk Welding ARP powered by Oqton is said to enable 10 times faster programming than traditional offline programming solutions.
For further information www.oqton.com

CGTech celebrates 35th anniversary

CGTech, the developer of Vericut CNC machine simulation software, is celebrating 35 years of growth and innovation in CNC simulation and optimisation.“For 35 years, CGTech’s technology leadership and experienced team have helped Vericut evolve together with our customer base. CGTech’s solutions are deeply entrenched in the aerospace industry’s history, and adopted today across sectors ranging from oil and gas to Formula One. People are at the heart of CGTech’s success and have made it what it is today: an innovative software company driven by team spirit and customer care.”
For further information www.cgtech.co.uk

Seco buys Premier Machine Tools

Ireland-based PMT Premier Machine Tools, a supplier of machining solutions for the medical industry, has become part of the product and service offering from cutting tool specialist Seco. With this acquisition Seco will increase its presence in the medical segment by offering integrated manufacturing solutions.PMT will continue to operate as an independent company and sell its products and services under the PMT brand. PMT’s business consists of supplying cutting tools and providing expertise, alongside a thriving machine tool supply business.
For further information www.secotools.com