EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Machine tool production rising

The VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) is expecting production in the machine tool industry to grow by 9% this year, to a volume of €15.5bn. In nominal terms, this is only 10% below the record result of 2018. At its annual press conference in Frankfurt, Franz-Xaver Bernhard, VDW chairman, said: “We have largely overcome the effects of the pandemic. The industry has entered the current year with a significant backlog of orders.”

He continued:“Even though the gap between orders and sales is currently closing, the German Federal Statistical Office is still reporting a 12-month backlog of orders for the machine tool industry. This means that companies are well placed to weather any dip in orders in the first half of 2023, as suggested by the most recent figures.”
For further information www.vdw.de/en

CMF sets out net zero roadmap

A leading voice for the foundry industry has released a five-point blueprint that will help the castings sector deliver a £10bn boost to the economy.Published by the Cast Metals Federation (CMF), the Net Zero roadmap is urging government to create a stable policy environment that focuses on reforming energy markets and providing clean energy. It must also offer incentives for capital investment in zero-carbon furnaces and production equipment, and ensure UK trade policies support customer demand for low-carbon products from global markets.

The ‘asks’ also call for Whitehall to encourage and enable the release of land for modern, zero-carbon foundries and associated zero-carbon energy generation facilities.Adam Vicary, CEO of Castings PLC and chairman of the CMF Net Zero Advisory Panel, says: “This blueprint sets out how UK casting manufacturers can lead globally, growing the industry, decarbonising our components, providing strategic resilience to UK supply chains, creating jobs and wealth, and making the components required for a modern economy.”
For further informationwww.castmetalsfederation.com

Cutting time-to-market

The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult is launching a landmark £950,000 project to cut development costs and time-to-market for new products, by accelerating the UK’s capabilities in certification by analysis. ‘Towards Product Certification by Analysis’ is a collaborative project, led by the HVM Catapult, with support from the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, the National Composites Centre, National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and the Manufacturing Technology Centre. It aims to identify and take critical early steps to accelerating these capabilities in the UK.
For further information https://hvm.catapult.org.uk

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