EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Best-ever MACH for Citizen

Citizen Machinery UK says its stand at the recent MACH exhibition in Birmingham was busy over all five days of the show, with 538 manufacturing companies making enquiries. The level of visitor interest was especially high as Citizen had decided to defer a 5% price increase on its Cincom sliding-head and Miyano fixed-head lathes until after the show. Some 29 orders valued at very close to £5m were placed either during the event or shortly afterwards. Among subcontractors placing orders were Northern Ireland based Rosco Engineering (Cincom L20-XIIB5LFV) and Southfields Engineering of Billericay (L20-VIIILFV).

More information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

GROB opens sixth plant in India

With the opening of its sixth production plant in India, machine tool builder GROB is strengthening its presence in the local market. The€8m, 5000 sq m plant in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) is another important milestone in the GROB Group’s efforts to secure the growth of the company and thus the jobs of employees at all facilities.Core business at the factory will be the manufacture of machining centres and automation, employing 130 people at peak output.

GROB recognised the potential of this rapidly growing market early on after the opening of the Indian automotive market to foreign car manufacturers at the end of the 1990s. The company established its first sales and service branch on the South Asian subcontinent as part of the first delivery of a flexible production system in 2007.

More information www.grobgroup.com

Subsea demand drives growth

Global demand in subsea markets for oil and gas continues to help drive growth at manufacturing, assembly and testing specialist Express Engineering, which is investing in capital equipment and its workforce. TheGateshead-based international business has been enjoying buoyant growth during the past 12-18 months. The current order book stands at around £70m, with the group receiving an intake of £10m in new orders in the past month.

Chris Thompson, chair of Express Engineering Group, says: “I’m delighted to say our orderbook has reached record levels, the highest in our 50-year history, and it’s only expected to increase further across the remainder of 2024.With demand for product high, we hope to invest further in our capability this year, which will include a new CMM machine and a horizontal borer.”

More information www.express-engineering.co.uk

Apprentices raise £1300 for MAAC

Apprentices from Yamazaki Mazak have raised more than £1300 for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC) thanks to a bank holiday car wash. Mazak apprentices washed just shy of 100 cars outside the company’s European headquarters in Worcester, with the manufacturer matching the total raised to double up the donations for the charity.MAAC provides support to residents across six Midlands counties from three different air bases, including Strensham on the Worcestershire-Gloucestershire border, and has responded to more than 75,000 missions since its inception in 1991.

More information www.mazakeu.co.uk 

Factory of the Future build begins

Construction has started on a state-of-the-art Factory of the Future at Global Point in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.Led by Queen’s University Belfast, the project is key to an exciting future for advanced manufacturing in Northern Ireland.US Special Envoy to NI for Economic Affairs Joe Kennedy III joined Queen’s University vice-chancellor Sir Ian Greer and Mayor of Antrim Neil Kelly on a site visit along with key representatives from industry, government and academia.

They marked a major milestone for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) through a £100m investment, expected to create up to 1500 jobs across Northern Ireland, contribute £1bn to the economy and train 300 apprentices by 2050.Due to open in 2026, the 10,000 sq m manufacturing and engineering innovation centre with capacity for 150 staff, will provide open access to the latest digital, automation and robotics technology.

More information www.qub.ac.uk/Business/AMIC