EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Babcock and Additure begin partnership

Babcock International has signed a framework agreement with Additure to enhance the digital manufacturing capability within its Land business.With a focus on increasing customers’ platform availability, this collaboration will develop new digital solutions, such as additive manufacturing, to better manage complex, critical, low-volume parts. The new approach will also utilise effective and sustainable technological methods, while moving production closer to the point of need.Part of Kingsbury Machine Tools, Additure is the Additive Manufacturing division created last year to support customer R&D and low-volume production with additive technologies.
For further information www.additure.co.uk

Sales manager appointment

Machine tool supplier TW Ward CNC Machinery (Ward CNC) has appointed Kasra Mehraky as its sales manager for the Midlands and southwest regions.With over 12 years of experience in the CNC machine tool industry, Mehraky brings with him a proven track record in a variety of market sectors, including automotive, aerospace, energy and medical. He started his career with CNC machine design and manufacturing and, over the years, has moved towards consultancy and sales. He will now promote Ward CNC’s wide portfolio of machines,including the Hyundai-Wia, Hartford, Soraluce, Takisawa and Hankook brands.
For further information www.wardcnc.com

Alstom opens national training academy

Alstomhas opened its national apprentice Training Academy in Derby. Following investment of £250,000 over the past two years, the new Training Academy was officially opened by Derby MP, Dame Margaret Beckett, accompanied by Nick Crossfield, managing director of Alstom UK & Ireland.Alstom is committed to helping its apprentices develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career in the rail industry and help develop a talented workforce that is equipped with skills for the future. Some 120 new apprentices and graduates will join Alstom this year.

The new Training Academy, featuring 17 permanent teaching staff, is in a central location on Alstom’s Derby site and offers 1600 sq m of practical learning space. The facility also features a training hall containing a carriage and cab from the AVENTRA programme – the UK’s largest train manufacturing programme in a generation currently on the lines at Derby – where apprentices can gain practical experience working on carriages before joining a live manufacturing team.
For further information www.alstom.com/careers

Grob sets dates for open house event

Machine tool manufacturer Grob is staging an open house at its Mindelheim, Germany headquarters on 21-24 March. The company will have over 30 machines on show – including four-axis and five-axis machining centres –running live cutting demonstrations. Grob’s liquid-metal additive manufacturing systems will also be in the spotlight, providing economical production of near-net-shape aluminium components. Technical partners at the event will includeSeco, Guhring, Schunk, Open Mind, Haimer, Blum, Heidenhain, Siemens, Lang and Hexagon among others.
For further information https://event.grobgroup.com/en/

Another civil nuclear MOU

Sheffield Forgemasters has signed an MOU to collaborate with Holtec Britain on the development of components for its SMR-160 reactor.Following similar agreements signed with three other nuclear power companies, the MOU with Holtec will see Sheffield Forgemasters develop the design of Holtec’s SMR-160 components to identify the best routes to manufacture.The company says that the latest MOU positions it at the apex of the UK’s manufacturing supply chain for the small modular reactor (SMR) market and builds on its long history of supplying components into civil nuclear projects across the globe.
For further information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com