EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Trumpf UK director retires

After over 30 years of service, Gerry Jones, sales director at Trumpf UK, retired earlier this month. The company says his impact has been exceptional, from nurturing enduring customer partnerships to driving major global projects within the business, his leadership has been a cornerstone of success. His calm and approachable leadership has left a lasting mark on Trumpf UK and beyond. Looking ahead, Trumpf UK has named John Roche as head of sales for machine tools and Tom Chaffer as head of sales for laser technology, both reporting directly to managing director Lee Moakes.

More information www.trumpf.com

Hexagon Launches Future Skills Challenge

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has teamed up with Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing to launch ‘Telemetry Tested: The Hexagon x Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing Future Skills Challenge’, an interactive quiz that fuses esports performance with real-world engineering instincts. Hexagon wants to highlight the shared skills between sim racers and next-gen manufacturing engineers. In both environments, success hinges on the ability to interpret vast datasets, make fast decisions and collaborate across disciplines, whether on the virtual track or in the race to bring sustainable, high-performance products to market.  

More information www.bit.ly/46Rdlnd

Multi-million expansion at Doncasters

Precision castings specialist Doncasters has commissioned a new fully automated shell line at its Groton facility in Connecticut, USA, a key advancement in the company’s long-term manufacturing strategy. The $13m capital investment expands the Groton site’s operational footprint by 17,000 ft² and introduces next-generation automation and environmental control systems. Equipped with three high-precision six-axis robots and the IC-Crystal Shell Management System for process management, the new line significantly enhances production capacity, part quality and operational reliability.

More information www.doncasters.com

Prima Power Expands Italy Plant

Earlier this month, Prima Power inaugurated the expansion of its Cologna Veneta (VR) plant, a centre of excellence for sheet metal bending solutions. The facility offers over 50% more production capacity thanks to an additional 2500 m² and a 150 kW photovoltaic system, enabling sustainable growth.

Prima Power’s expanded VR plant has a new service building with an academy hall area for training, additional offices and renewed functional spaces, enhancing employee wellbeing.

Global production at the company also see a boost: the expansion completes the renewal project of Prima Power sites worldwide, making them more efficient, sustainable and fully integrated.

More information www.primapower.com

UK’s most automated 3D print facility

Midlands 3D has opened what it believes to be the most automated polymer 3D print production facility operating in the UK. Earlier this month, the company threw open the doors of its new HQ at an industry open day, showing how it has more than quadrupled its floor space and taken the opportunity to upgrade its fleet of HP MultiJet Fusion (MJF) Printers, adding a proprietary automation system to each.

The automation system enables machines to change their ‘build unit’ automatically once a build is complete, enabling another build to begin within minutes. Utilising these technologies enables the machines to run continuously, dramatically increasing overall efficiency, lowering operating costs and lead times for large print runs.

More information www.midlands3d.com