EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Q1 growth for subcontract market

Qimtek’s latest Contract Manufacturing Index shows that the UK subcontract market continued to grow in the first quarter. The index was up 4.5% in the first three months of 2024, building on the strong upswing at the end of 2023.Projects and budgets that had been on hold continue to be unlocked as manufacturers place orders and suppliers are busy quoting for work. February was the strongest month since March 2023.

The baseline for the index is 100, which represents the average size of the subcontract manufacturing market between 2014 and 2018.The CMI for Q1 2024 was 82, compared with 78.5 for the previous quarter.Machining accounted for 48% of the market, up 35% on the previous quarter, while fabrication represented 49%, down 5% on the previous quarter.

For further information www.qimtek.co.uk

WMG provides £450m boost

WMG at the University of Warwick says it has boosted the West Midlands economy by £450m: for every £1 invested into WMG’s SME programmes, around £22 returns to the local economy. In 20 years, WMG has delivered manufacturing expertise to 15,000 SMEs in the Midlands. It has also supported the creation of more than 13,000 jobs, 350 new businesses and 355 internships. Dr Mark Swift, director of SME Engagement at WMG, says: “Our work over the past 20 years has shown that targeted high-value support can help manufacturers accelerate growth, improve productivity and create jobs.”

For further information www.bit.ly/4d7HWOb

New titanium manufacturing process

A new hybrid manufacturing method that aims to boost capability in the UK and increase manufacturing efficiency for key aerospace components, could see future use at global manufacturers in the production of aircraft. Shropshire-based SME, SDE Technology, is leading the initiative to develop a new superplastic forming process, enabling it to expand into the aerospace market. The project forms part of the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) and has support from the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

For further information www.nmis.scot

Winning trophy design revealed

Arron Wilcock, a reliability maintenance engineering apprentice at Amazon, who is part of a Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) Training apprenticeship programme, is the winner of this year’s Enginuity Skills Awards Trophy Design Competition. Industrial automation specialist FANUC will now manufacture the trophy ready for presentation at the Enginuity Skills Awards 2024. Over 150 engineering apprentices on MTC Training apprenticeship programmes submitted designs for the trophy. Entrants were asked to design a CAD model, 3D-print a prototype and present a business case for their design.

For further information www.bit.ly/445VjdN

UR names Distributor of the Year

UK-based automation company RARUK Automation has been named Distributor of the Year by its principal, Universal Robots. The award recognises the distributor which has achieved the largest growth and sales globally over the past year. Danish robotics manufacturer Universal Robots has a network of over 300 distributors worldwide. RARUK Automation has also been awarded Platinum Plus status.

“Universal Robots is delighted to honour RARUK Automation with our Distributor of the Year award,” says Mark Gray, UK & Ireland Country Manager for Universal Robots. “This award marks all of the hard work carried out for the previous year and the continued investment in growth from one of our key partners. RARUK Automation has shown the dedication and vision to bring collaborative automation to businesses of all sizes and offer training to the next generation of engineers.”

For further information www.rarukautomation.com