EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Meeting Black Country manufacturing’s energy needs

A major UK energy management consultancy has signed a new commercial partnership with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce to help local manufacturers navigate the increasingly complex energy market. Greenfields Energy Group, which already works with 64 companies in the region, will provide members with a no-cost review of their existing and future electricity, gas and water contracts.

Greenfields’ 10-strong team of experts will identify opportunities for immediate and long-term cost savings, as well as security of supply to power businesses as they look to plan for future expansion. Certain services will be discounted to Black Country Chamber members, while a series of webinars on breaking energy trends and issues will be delivered free of charge throughout the year.

More information www.greenfieldsenergygroup.co.uk

Zebra makes investment in Apera AI

Zebra Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Zebra Technologies Corp, has made a strategic investment in Apera AI, a provider of 4D Vision for industrial robots. This venture investment reinforces Zebra’s focus on digitising and automating workflows to accelerate frontline operations for organisations in the manufacturing and logistics industries and beyond.

Apera AI’s 4D Vision system equips robots with real-time visual intelligence, enabling them to locate, identify and manipulate complex parts with speed, precision and reliability. Apera AI uses light-resilient stereo vision and AI models to function reliably in dynamic, real-world factory conditions, adapting to shifting bins, changing lighting conditions, worn grippers and complex part geometry.

More information www.zebra.com

New MD named for FANUC UK and Ireland

Factory automation specialist FANUC has named Andy Armstrong as the new managing director of FANUC UK and FANUC Ireland, effective immediately. With a long history in the automation sector and over 40 years of experience in engineering and sales, Armstrong has spent the past two years as vice MD for FANUC UK and FANUC Ireland. The appointment will see him continue positive steps taken by previous MD Tom Bouchier to support FANUC UK’s continued growth and alignment with the company’s broader European goals. Tom will now focus on his role as FANUC’s cluster co-ordinator for northern Europe.

More information www.fanuc.eu

UK Manufacturers Outpace Peers

New analysis from FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics produced for the recent National Productivity Week shows the UK manufacturing sector has achieved sustained growth in output and productivity over the past five years, despite a smaller workforce and historically high levels of inflation. FourJaw’s analysis of the world’s largest manufacturing economies found that UK output in 2025 was 6% above 2020 levels, after accounting for inflation.

This real-terms growth outpaced that of peers such as the US (+4%) and Japan (+2%), while Germany saw a 6% decline. Despite a 4% reduction in the UK factory workforce, output has continued to rise, suggesting increased adoption of automation, robotics and data analytics to drive efficiency. In 2025, only factories in the US (£449k per worker) and France (£339k per worker) produced more output per worker than in the UK (£253k per worker).

More information www.fourjaw.com

Renishaw names CFO

Renishaw has appointed John Shipsey as chief financial officer and executive director. He joins with significant board and executive leadership experience, having undertaken the role of CFO in various companies, including Dyson, Smiths Group and Featurespace. Shipsey also held finance and strategy roles at Diageo earlier in his career and served as a non-executive director of Dechra Pharmaceuticals. CEO Will Lee says: “John’s breadth of financial and executive leadership experience, combined with his deep understanding of the industrials sector, will be invaluable to us as we work towards our strategic targets.”

More information www.renishaw.com