Editor’s Pick

Ambitious sustainability strategy from Ceratizit

Cutting tool specialist Ceratizit presented its ambitious sustainability strategy at the AMB 2022 exhibition in Stuttgart last month. The aim of this strategy is to make the company the leader in sustainability for the hard metal and cutting tool industry by 2025. In order to reduce its own carbon footprint quickly, Ceratizit is focusing on three major levers: an increase in the use of secondary raw materials to over 95%; switching all sites to green electricity from wind, solar and hydropower in the next few years; and switching to the use of blue hydrogen for production, which is produced from water by electrolysis with green electricity.

The first milestone in the implementation of the new strategy is 2025, by which time Ceratizit plans to be CO2 neutral, entailing a reduction in actual emissions of 35% compared with the reference year 2020. The second stage, 2030, envisages a reduction of 60% in comparison with 2020, while the most ambitious goal is to achieve net zero by 2040.
For further information www.bit.ly/3SejLmh

New XYZ showroom draws the crowds

XYZ Machine Tools was pleasantly surprised by the number of people attending the opening of its latest showroom. Located just off the M62 near Huddersfield, the 5000 sq ft showroom contains an extensive selection of XYZ machines, all under power and available for customer demonstrations and training. Thanks to its proximity to the motorway network, visitors travelled from across the north of England for the open day, with orders received for six machines and many requests for quotes.

Nigel Atherton, managing director at XYZ Machine Tools, says: “Due to its location we expected a good response from customers, but even we underestimated the turnout. In total we had 94 people from 55 companies attend the day, about 50% more than we anticipated. Our 40-space car park was overflowing at times. Overall it was very encouraging and indicates that there’s still lots of positive sentiment in the manufacturing sector.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Maktek Eurasia opens this week

Maktek Eurasia 2022 opens its doors this week (26 September to 1 October), delivering the 7th edition of this biennial international trade fair for machine tools, cutting tools, metrology solutions and CADCAM software. Taking place at the Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center in Istanbul, the last show in 2018 (cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic) attracted 56,526 visitors from 89 countries.

This year’s exhibition will showcase technologies for manufacturing industries that include machine building, automotive, mould and die, defence, aerospace, metals and domestic appliance. The show will take place across 14 halls covering 120,000 sq m of exhibition space. Around 1000 exhibitors from 30 countries will be in attendance.
For further information https://maktekfuari.com/en/

JCB creates over 150 jobs

JCB has created more than 150 new jobs for apprentices and graduates with an £8m investment in its early careers program. The new recruits started their jobs last week as JCB focuses on training the next generation of manufacturers, engineers and business specialists.

JCB Group HR director Max Jeffery says: “Competition for places on the JCB apprenticeship and graduate schemes is always fierce and this year we had more 2000 applications. We set the bar very high when we recruit people, and many JCB apprentices in recent years have gone on to win national awards, which is testament to the quality of the schemes we run. Our new intake of apprentices and graduates will play a fundamental role in shaping this business in the future.”
For further information, www.jcb.com

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II – 1926 – 2022

The whole team at MTI was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. She was a great supporter of industry throughout her reign. Indeed, Her Majesty inaugurated many UK engineering projects, including the Channel Tunnel and the Dartford Crossing, which bears her name: The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. She was fond of technology, famously using online video calls to meet people during the pandemic. She will be greatly missed by the UK manufacturing and engineering community, and everyone at MTI extends their heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family on their profound loss.
For further information www.royal.uk