Editor’s Pick

£100,000 robotics investment at Wallwork

In a £100,000 investment, Wallwork Group has introduced a UR collaborative robot (cobot)  to its vacuum brazing line in Cambridge. The move will make high-volume brazed components a commercially viable option for many manufacturers. With its 12.5 kg payload and  1300 mm reach, the cobot has the ability to learn as it goes along via a continuous improvement process.

“Cost-effective, high-volume vacuum-brazed components have been out of reach until now, largely due to the amount of assembly and labour time required,” explains group director Simeon Collins. “This investment brings the advantages of vacuum brazing to components that were previously uneconomic to process. It also means we can develop the quality of customer products.”

More information www.bit.ly/46RE7vU

GEWEFA UK Adds Tool-Holder Range for Turning Centres

Under a sole agency agreement, GEWEFA UK has been appointed to sell and service in Britain and Ireland the driven and static tool holders, both standard and special, manufactured in Germany by Wendel Tools.

It means that the UK subsidiary of GEWEFA, also a German manufacturer of tool-holding and allied products, now probably offers the most comprehensive range of such equipment. The company arrives at this understanding because it also sells the products of six other partner firms, all but one being German: EWS (driven and static turning tool holders); Fahrion (chucks and collets); Nann (standard and special collets); Ott-Jakob (tool clamping systems); Pibomulti (a Swiss manufacturer of angle heads, speeders and multi-spindle heads); and Rineck (heat-shrink tool holders and machines).

Nicole Lloyd-Foxe, managing director of GEWEFA UK, says: “We regularly receive enquiries from manufacturers seeking bespoke driven and static tooling for very specific production applications on turning centres. However, our parent company and other principals either do not include them in their portfolios, or are unable to supply them quickly enough and at reasonable cost.”

She continues: “This is exactly where Wendel scores highly. Following my visit to their stand at the AMB machine tool show in Stuttgart last September, where we discussed adding their products to our portfolio, we have now been appointed to represent them exclusively in the UK and Irish markets.”

Lloyd-Foxe adds that the manufacturer’s products are known to be of high quality and robust, while the ‘specials’ in particular benefit from a knowledgeable and experienced design team in Germany.

More information www.gewefa.co.uk

Subcontract Market Up 61% in Q2

The UK subcontract manufacturing market leapt ahead in the second quarter of 2025 as large buyers returned to the market with new projects. The signs are that there are more to come. The latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) shows that the subcontract market was up 61% on Q1 20205, which was itself 50% up on Q4 2024.

Commenting on the figures, Qimtek owner Karl Wigart says: “It’s good to see the market up on the previous quarter; it finally seems to be getting up some momentum and shrugging off potential adverse factors. We’re hearing that there are more projects to come, but buyers are not sure when that will be. Hopefully this growth will continue in the next quarter.”

More information www.qimtek.co.uk

Biggest Finals Day Yet for TDI Challenge

The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) held its biggest finals day yet for the Technology, Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge 2025. This year’s event has grown larger than ever, featuring over 20 finalists presenting their innovative projects to an esteemed panel of nine judges.

This year’s TDI Challenge was, once again, hosted by Yamazaki Mazak in Worcester and sponsored by the Gene Haas Foundation, Vision West Nottinghamshire College and Imagineering. Participants (students aged 14-19) were invited to submit a design and a 2-minute demonstration video. The Key Stage 4 winner was Nia Wood for her ‘Signal Cycle’ project, while Pacha Pritchard was named Key Stage 5 winner for his project ‘Time & Tide’.

More information www.thetdichallenge.co.uk

XYZ Tackles Europe’s Skills Shortage

XYZ Machine Tools extends its help in tackling the skills shortage far beyond UK shores. A good example is the Czech Republic, home of Rexim spol, an XYZ distributor for 15 years. Many of Rexim’s machine installations have been into training and technical schools. Indeed, two recent installations have been for large numbers of machines to provide a foundation for skills training within the Czech Republic.

To help modernise the secondary technical school and business academy in Uhersky Brod, Rexim supplied six XYZ SLV manual mills and four 1550 VS manual lathes. Another regional Vocational School benefitting from XYZ machines is SOS Frydek Mistek following the purchase of 12 XYZ 2000 manual mills, 12 1330 Trainer lathes, six RMX 2500 CNC bed mills, six RLX 1630 CNC lathes, a 660 HD Vertical machining centre and a CT65 turning centre.

More information www.xyzmachinetools.com