EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

GE Aerospace to invest €110m across European sites

GE Aerospace plans to invest more than €110m across its European manufacturing sites this year as the company seeks to expand production capacity, accelerate advanced manufacturing and strengthen delivery for customers. The move includes plans to hire more than 1000 new workers across Europe in 2026.Investments will be made across five European countries, including the UK, which will receive €10m to upgrade test and manufacturing equipment, expand component manufacturing capabilities, and modernise building and infrastructure across multiple sites.

More information www.geaerospace.com

Success for ‘Breaking into Defence’ event

More than 60 ambitious manufacturers from the West Midlands gathered recently for a special event designed to accelerate SME participation in international defence markets and strengthen the UK’s sovereign defence capability. ‘Breaking into Defence: Enter Overseas Markets with the MoD’, was delivered by Oxford Innovation Advice to address key priorities championed by Make UK Defence.

These priorities include supporting smaller manufacturers to become export-ready, building resilient domestic supply chains and ensuring UK innovation is embedded within global defence programmes. Backed by business support programmes across the West Midlands (including the Investment Readiness Programme), the event provided SMEs with direct access to MoD export specialists, global primes and regional growth advisers.

More information www.oxfordinnovationadvice.co.uk

AWI secures major nuclear quality accreditation

Successful accreditation to a prestigious quality standard is set to create £2m of global opportunities for Alloy Wire International (AWI).This UK manufacturer of precision drawn, flat and profile wire has taken just nine months to gain ISO 19443, the international benchmark for supplying critical components and material to the nuclear sector.

AWI recorded zero non-conformities during the assessment, with the business praised for its strong quality management systems, employee culture and enhanced communications strategy that was integral to the successful application.The firm’s 62-strong range of exotic alloys is in growing demand from the sector, with sales to this market increasing to 10% of the firm’s annual £16.5m turnover.

More informationwww.alloywire.com

German machine tool industry reports leveling off

After two years of noticeable reluctance to invest, the German machine tool industry is showing its first signs of stabilising, reports national association, VDW. Overall, however, incoming orders for 2025 remained slightly below that of the previous year. Orders declined 3%, with demand from the domestic market, in particular, still subdued.A slight recovery was recorded by the end of the year, however:in the fourth quarter of 2025, the total number of new orders was up 4% on the previous year’s figure. Experts at VDW are expecting further gains in the second half of 2026.

More information www.vdw.de

Unlocking untapped factory capacity worth £129bn

A new report from FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics reveals that UK manufacturers could collectively unlock hidden production capacity worth up to £129 billion in additional annual output without significant investment in new equipment or staff.The report, Return on Information, reveals that large manufacturers using best-practice production data approaches, such as real-time monitoring across the factory floor, typically achieve a 16% increase in output, while SME producers usually attain 30%. It estimates that industry-wide adoption could unlock up to £67bn per year for large UK plants and £62bn for SMEs.

More information www.bit.ly/41C6ydi