EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

ASG Group director appointed to NMC

ASG Group reports that Mandy Ridyard, director of ASG Produmax, has been appointed to the National Manufacturing Commission (NMC) as part of its newly launched inquiry into how the Government’s Industrial Strategy can best support UK SME manufacturers. The NMC, the research arm of the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, plays a vital role in shaping policy recommendations that strengthen UK manufacturing.

She says: “SMEs are the lifeblood of UK manufacturing and play a crucial role in creating innovation, resilience and jobs across our regions. I’m honoured to join the NMC at such a pivotal time, ensuring the voice of SME manufacturers is heard loud and clear as the Industrial Strategy takes shape.”

More information www.asg-group.co

Iscar to sponsor E&D Zone at MACH

Global tooling specialist Iscar Tools will give its support to the Education and Development (E&D) Zone at the MACH 2026 exhibition (Birmingham NEC, 202-4 April) by taking on the role of headline sponsor. The move demonstrates the company’s commitment to attracting the next generation of engineers into the advanced manufacturing sector. The E&D Zone is the educational hub at MACH 2026 for students keen to explore what manufacturing can offer them as a future career and help them find their ‘pathway to engineering’. A lynchpin of the E&D Zone is the guided tours of the exhibition by apprentices.

More information www.machexhibition.com

End-of-Year Open House at Hurco

Hurco’s annual end-of-year open house exhibition will be held this year at its High Wycombe showroom on 2 and 3 December 2025, from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Lunch will be provided, as well as refreshments throughout the event. In addition to a showroom full of new Hurco CNC machine tools under power and cutting metal, there is the added attraction of up to 19 primary Hurco suppliers in attendance.

Taking centre stage this year will be four different five-axis machining centre configurations, allowing visitors to compare the benefits and limitations of each option: a three-axis VMX60Ti  with Kitagawa TT182 rotary-tilt table; the cantilever-design VC500i; the swivel-head VMX42SRTi; and a VMX30Ui trunnion machine fully automated with a Hurco ProCobot ProFeeder-X, 10-drawer, heavy-duty system.

Register at www.hurco.com

Sheffield Forgemasters Opens Training Facility

Sheffield Forgemasters has formally opened a 6700 sq ft training and development facility
to upskill its apprentices for the next generation of nuclear-grade engineering. The facility
was formally opened by company chair, Admiral Sir Tim Fraser, who unveiled no less than
18 new machine tools on site, including a state-of-the-art five-axis mill-turn machine.
Sheffield Forgemasters has partnered with the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre
to deliver a four-year engineering training contract, which will see the placement of a
permanent engineering skills coach at the facility. Jay Shaw, head of machine shops at
Sheffield Forgemasters, says: “We’re now able to prepare trainees for the next generation
of machines and digital operating systems at our new 30,000 sq m machining hall.”
More information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

PTG Holroyd Expands Rotor Plant

PTG Holroyd Precision Rotors, the specialist helical component, screw and rotor
manufacturing division of Precision Technologies Group (PTG), has increased the capacity of
the company’s positive-displacement blower screw production line at its facility in
Spartanburg, South Carolina. Initially opened in 2018, the Spartanburg site was the result of
significant investment by PTG.
This latest expansion at Spartanburg comes in response to a 30% increase in blower screw
sales year on year. Running alongside the conventional helical rotor and component
manufacturing line, the company’s blower line is equipped to precision-mill components as
small as 125 mm in diameter and 300 mm in length, right up to 300 mm in diameter and
1000 mm in length.
More information www.holroyd.com