EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

German Machine Tool Orders See 15% Rise in Q1

Following three difficult years, the German machine tool industry can breathe a first sigh of relief: incoming orders increased by 15% in Q1 2026. Nevertheless, the situation remains challenging. Production, exports and employment continue to fall, while the conflict in the Middle East is leading to greater uncertainty and higher costs. “The situation appears to have bottomed out, although we’re nowhere near to reversing the trend,” states Bernhard Geis, head of economics and statistics at the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association). “The coming months will show whether the recovery is more permanent.”

More information www.vdw.de

£2.5m EU opportunity

A major UK metal stamping company is targeting £2.5m of new EU opportunities after appointing a new European technical specialist. Brandauer, which provides precision components for more than 15 high-value sectors, has brought in multilingual industry expert Jürgen Wollbold to increase its presence on the ground in France, Germany and Spain. Wollbold says: “We’ve identified £5m of new opportunities across the EU and I feel it’s more than reasonable to believe we can convert at least half of these, especially those that involve precision stamping, in-house tooling, laminations and press-fit applications.”

More information www.brandauer.co.uk

5G Trial

A collaborative project at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s (NMIS) Digital Process Manufacturing Centre (DPMC) in Irvine has shown how private 5G mobile networks could support demand for secure, high-capacity connectivity in manufacturing. The project simulated a manufacturing use case and trialled network performance in a factory-like setting. The system was tested under progressively increasing loads, reaching an average data throughput of more than 97 Mbps, with peaks above 100 Mbps. The results suggest the system could support hundreds of simulated industrial environments simultaneously.

More information www.nmis.scot

£30m Push Into Aerospace, Defence And Anergy

Securing more than £30m of new orders in defence, energy and aerospace is helping one of Bridgnorth’s largest employers bounce back from a tough trading period. Grainger & Worrall is utilising is technical expertise and production capability in complex aluminium sand casting to win work with customers manufacturing light aircraft engines, specialist vehicle transmissions and datacentre applications.

The senior management team is looking to capitalise on this recent upturn by signing off a £1m investment programme and completing a recruitment drive for 30 new employees across its manufacturing, maintenance and quality departments. Grainger & Worrall has been delivering full-process precision casting solutions for more than 70 years. Employing over 450 people, the company serves global clients across five continents.

More information www.gwcast.com

MTT Becomes Latest Renishaw Channel Partner

Renishaw has appointed Machine Tool Technologies (MTT) as an official Channel Partner. The move marks an important milestone in a relationship that spans more than 25 years, built on a shared commitment to precision, technical excellence and customer support for CNC machine tools. In fact, the appointment sees MTT become a Platinum Partner, providing access to the portfolio of Renishaw encoder products.

MTT has built extensive capability across Renishaw’s machine tool metrology portfolio, including laser calibration systems and machine tool products, consistently delivering high standards of service and application support. As a Channel Partner, MTT will play a key role in supporting customers with Renishaw’s FORTiS enclosed linear encoder. Renishaw says the FORTiS enclosed encoder meets the demands of modern, high‑performance machine tools.

More information www.renishaw.com