EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Young engineers march at Lord Mayor’s Show

Apprentices from the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre were among the thousands marching through the streets of London on 9 November for the Lord Mayor’s Show. They not only represented Sheffield’s manufacturing legacy, but also took the opportunity to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire.

More than 30 apprentices and staff members from the AMRC Training Centre joined the three-mile long procession to mark the 400th anniversary of the Cutlers’ Hall as ‘the voice of manufacturing in Sheffield and South Yorkshire’. To date, the AMRC Training Centre has nurtured more than 2000 apprentices for a wide range of businesses.More information www.amrctraining.co.uk

Mazak names laser representative in Spain

Yamazaki Mazak has appointed IP Grupo as its exclusive representative for laser processing machines in Spain. Spain is seen as a key market for Mazak, which already has a long-standing CNC machine tool (milling/turning) representative, Intermaher. With the region’s burgeoning automotive and architectural furniture industries providing growth opportunities, Mazak has selected Madrid-based IP Grupo as its strategic partner to develop its laser business across the country. The partnership has started strongly, with IP Grupo already delivering a sale of an FG-400 NEO to a manufacturer in Zaragoza.

More information www.mazakeu.com/laser

MACH 2026 space filling up fast

The ballots for MACH 2026 have concluded and the floor plan is filling up rapidly. With strong on-site sales, MACH 2026 is already well over 50% occupied. The organiser is now encouraging further potential exhibitors to book early to secure a prime location on the floorplan and spread the cost over several months with flexible payment options.

At the last show in 2024, exhibitors reported a £200m in sales directly attributable to the event. With over 26,000 attendees at MACH 2024, exhibitors tapped into an audience eager to discover the latest advancements. In fact, 93% of exhibitors generated significant leads, highlighting the potential for 2026 participants to forge lasting connections and increase their reach.

More information www.machexhibition.com

AI cobots

Universal Robots, a Danish collaborative robot (cobot) company, has unveiled its AI Accelerator, a ready-to-use hardware and software toolkit created to enable the further development of AI-powered cobot applications. Designed for commercial and research applications, UR’s AI Accelerator provides developers with an extendable platform to build applications, accelerate research and reduce time-to-market for AI products. The toolkit brings AI acceleration to UR’s next-generation software platform PolyScope X and is powered by NVIDIA Isaac accelerated libraries and AI models.

More information www.universal-robots.com

Skills partnership 

Engineering apprenticeship training provider MTC Training has signed a partnership agreement with Next Gen Makers in a move that will help engineering firms to future-proof skills. MTC Training – with training centres in Coventry, Liverpool and Culham’s OAS – has now become an ‘Educational Partner’ of Next Gen Makers. Its mission is to create the next generation of engineering talent while upskilling and reskilling existing workforces, ensuring UK manufacturing businesses have the skilled employees they need to continue making the country’s manufacturing industry globally competitive.

More information www.nextgenmakers.co.uk