EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Gripple celebrates billionth fastener milestone

Gripple, a Sheffield-based employee-owned manufacturer of wire joiners and tensioners for agriculture and suspension solutions for construction and the solar industry, is celebrating a notablemilestone: producing its one billionth fastener.A celebration event took place at Riverside, Sheffield, one of Gripple’s six manufacturing facilities in South Yorkshire to mark the achievement, which included current staff and retired employees who had been involved with the manufacture of the first generation of Gripple fasteners. In 2022, the company manufactured 70 million units across 100 variants.
For further information www.gripple.com

ASG Arrowsmith gains SC21 OE Silver award

Already a holder of major aerospace accreditations that include AS9100, NADCAP, ISO 14001, and Queens Award for International Trade, ASG Arrowsmith is now also an SC21 OE Silver award holder. Managing Director Jason Aldridge says: “We have set objectives to focus on the control of key measures, make ongoing improvements across the business, maintain KPIs while increasing turnover and expandour customer portfolio. To achieve this, we plan to push for SC21 Gold, continue our support for the SC21 community and drive further growth.”
For further information www.asg-group.co/arrowsmith

MSC becomes Renishaw Channel Partner

MSC Industrial Supply Co (MSC) has joined Renishaw’s Channel Partner Programme, marking the latest in a series of strategic partnerships to enhance its portfolio of metalworking and MRO industrial consumables. Launched in 2021, the Renishaw Channel Partner Programme aims to increase the level of local customer service and support. Renishaw selects partner companies based on their sector-specific expertise and range of metrology and manufacturing disciplines.

Under the partnership agreement, MSC will stock a broad portfolio of Renishaw machine tool probes and styli. The company will also install a series of Renishaw products at the newly built MSC Technology Centre in Wednesbury to further improve its technical engineering support offering for customers.
For further informationwww.mscdirect.co.uk

Kyocera buys BFT and GSB

Kyocera Unimerco (KUA), a German manufacturer of carbide cutting tools, BFT Hartmetall and a manufacturer of oscillation knife drives, GSB (located at the same site as BFT), have signed a share transfer agreement for KUA to acquire 100% of the shares of BFT and GSB.BFT produces high-precision carbide tools for oscillation machining, used widely in industries such as aerospace and automotive, while GSB produces oscillating knife drives for use with BFT tools. These products enable the cutting of various challenging materials, including composites.
For further information www.kyocera-unimerco.co.uk

Secoswitches to recyclable insert packages

With ambitious targets of being 90% circular by 2030 and carbon-neutral by 2050, Seco is making a major move towards sustainability by switching to product packaging made from recycled materials. “We believe that to be a sustainable business, we must act with economic, environmental and social responsibility, all while taking advantage of the opportunities that arise from the integration of sustainability in our value chain,” says Maria Blomqvist, head of sustainability & EHS at Seco.The new packaging will be made of 100% recycled material that mainly comes from discarded packaging plastic from households.
For further information www.secotools.com