EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

UK plants deliver £49bn productivity boost

The UK manufacturing sector achieved productivity improvements worth £48.5bn in 2023, an 8.6% increase on 2022, according to analysis of ONS data by FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics. Chris Iveson, CEO at FourJaw, says: “Manufacturers have realised that production excellence is the only viable strategy for combatting supply chain uncertainty, high energy costs and skills shortages. UK manufacturers know they’re only earning when their machine spindles are turning, sothey are adopting technology to see what’s happening in their factories and using data to optimise processes and decisionmaking.”

For further information www.fourjaw.com

Apprenticeship in composites launches

The University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre will become the first training provider in South Yorkshire to deliver a new composites apprenticeship in a move to sustain the longevity of the capability within manufacturing.Together with McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive, the AMRC Training Centre will deliver a new advanced level composites technician apprenticeship, in addition to the metallic machining apprenticeship the centre is already delivering with McLaren. 

Alongside McLaren, Wirral-based Teledyne CML Composites, which specialises in the manufacture of composites parts and assemblies on some of the world’s most advanced aircraft platforms, is also supporting the new apprenticeship – with the aim that more companies will come on board in the future. 

For further information www.amrctraining.co.uk

Helping jobless into advanced manufacturing

In-Comm Training has joined forces with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to help unemployed people into advanced manufacturing jobs.The independent training provider, which operates two technical academies in Aldridge and Telford, has created a fast-track course that aims to create up to 65 new CNC machinists and electro-mechanical fitters for RTX’s Collins Aerospace factory in Wolverhampton.

A pilot scheme for the first cohort of 10 people started in January, with each participant receiving a mix of theoretical and practical technical training that will see them learn turning, milling, hand fitting, CADCAM and three- and five-axis CNC machining. Backed by over £200,000 of funding by the WMCA, the course will take six months to complete.

For further information www.in-comm.co.uk

ROSA names new UK and Ireland agent

Midlands-based Master Abrasives is now the authorised agent in the UK and Ireland forgrinding machines made in Italy by ROSA Ermando SpA. Mutual agreement has been reached with ROSA’s current distributor to ensure gradual handover. For several years, ROSA has been represented in the UK by NL Machine Tool Consulting, whose managing director Norman Loughton is now considering slowing down as he heads towards retirement. Following a three-way discussion, it was mutually agreed that Master would represent ROSA moving forward, working closely with Loughton in a seamless handover. 

For further information www.master-abrasives.co.uk

Helleris 130 years old

130 years ago, Hermann Heller opened a trading and manufacturing company for patented products and watchmaking tools in Nürtingen, Germany. With the business selling tools of all kinds, the engineer laid the foundations for the long-term success of the company, which entered the mechanical engineering sector in 1898 with the production of cold circular saws, blade skiving machines and thread cutting machines. In 1900, Hermann Heller’s brother Ernst, a trained tradesman, joined the company, marking the birth of ‘Gebr. Heller Werkzeug- und Maschinenfabrik’ (Heller).

Manufacturing state-of-the-art CNC machine tools, Heller today maintains the spirit of a family-run business with a strong sense of tradition. Since 2016, all shares in the group have been wholly owned by the family. Dr Thorsten Schmidt (CEO), Andreas Müßigmann (CFO), Dieter Drechsler (COO) and Peter Weber (CSO) currently manage the group.

For further information www.heller.biz