EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Mazak names sales engineer for north of England

Yamazaki Mazak has further strengthened its UK sales team with the appointment of a new dedicated area sales engineer to support the company’s existing sales managers in the north of England.Liam Slack joins from Maydown International Tools with a remit to strengthen customer relationships, increase the frequency of customer visits and provide a high-quality service to a growing Mazak customer base. The new wide-ranging role will see Slack working alongside Mazak’s existing area sales managers in the north of England: Karl Hargreaves, Mark Ireland and Joe Trozzo.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Protolabs launches 3D printing DFM analysis

Protolabs has launched DFM (design for manufacture) analysis for 3D-printed parts, offering peace of mind to manufacturers across Europe.It is a significant advancement to the offer as it provides added assurance that a part is suitable for 3D printing before committing to production, all entirely online in a matter of seconds.Andrea Landoni, Protolabs EMEA’s 3D-printing product manager, says: “The system will instantly highlight all the issues to the user, whether they are critical, such as parts that are too large, or non-critical, like dimensions that are close to certain thresholds like wall thickness and may not form completely.”
For further information www.protolabs.co.uk

DMC achieves certifications

The Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC) has received a key aerospace certification that demonstrates its commitment to production quality and traceability. Working alongside the Midlands Aerospace Alliance and the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the DMC has been awarded AS9100 Rev D and ISO 9001.It makes DMC one of the few commercial additive manufacturing businesses in the UK to receive AS9100. In meeting the requirements for this quality management system, the DMC has ensured that it is well-placed to meet the current and future needs of the aerospace industry.
For further information www.digitalmanufacturingcentre.com

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