Nissan has unveiled EV36Zero, a £1bn flagship electric vehicle (EV) Hub, creating a world-first EV manufacturing ecosystem at the company’s plant in Sunderland. The transformational project has been launched with an initial £1bn investment by Nissan and its partners Envision AESC, a global player in battery technology, and Sunderland City Council. The Nissan EV36Zero hub brings together three interconnected project initiatives: EVs, renewable energy and battery production.

In total, the projects represent 6200 jobs at Nissan and its UK suppliers, including more than 900 new Nissan jobs and 750 new Envision AESC jobs. Notably, Envision AESC, the battery arm of global green tech company Envision Group, will deploy integrated AIoT smart technology to monitor and optimise energy consumption, manufacturing and maintenance at its new gigafactory. The factory will be located on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) adjacent to Nissan’s Sunderland plant, from where it will provide batteries to power up to 100,000 Nissan EVs a year.

For further information www.nissan.co.uk 

After an enforced break from the domestic and international exhibition circuit due to the pandemic, MTI magazine is once again getting ready to promote the interests of its clients to a global base of machine tool buyers. MTI has always taken great pride in its worldwide presence at prominent machine tool and manufacturing shows, an activity that forms the backbone of the company. At each show, MTI’s friendly team of professionals distribute printed copies of the magazine to visitors, many of whom are planning new investments following a period of subdued activity resulting from Covid-19.
In the coming months (subject to local restrictions), MTI will be taking the magazine to the following exhibitions: UMEX (Mumbai, India, 3-5 September); Subcon (Birmingham, UK, 14-16 September); EMO (Milan, Italy, 4-9 October); Advanced Engineering (Birmingham, UK, 3-4 November); ADIPEC (Abu Dhabi, UAE, 15-18 November); SteelFab (Sharjah, UAE, 10-13 January); FITMA and MSC Expo (Mexico City, 18-20 January); and MACH (Birmingham, UK, 4-8 April). Any advertisers interested in promoting their machines to visitors at these shows should contact MTI without delay.

For further information
email Bob Sadat:
bob@machinerytradeinternational.com

Due to continued growth in the UK market, Colchester Machine Tool Solutions is appointing Keith Clowe as UK sales manager. The move is to support ongoing development of the company across the UK with regard to products such as CNC turning centres and lathes, vertical machining centres, and the company’s most recent introduction, TYKMA laser-marking machines.

Joining Colchester Machine Tool Solutions in 2017 as sales manager for the West Midlands and South Wales, Clowe has developed many key accounts across the region that he will continue to support on an ongoing basis. His background in engineering and project management allows Clowe to provide technical support and expertise to customers across a variety of applications.

For further information
www.colchester.co.uk

Pre-production of the new Lotus Emira is getting underway following over £100m of investment at the company’s UK facilities, which includes two new production halls at the iconic home of Lotus in Hethel, Norfolk. Furthermore, with the launch of Emira, Lotus is creating more than 200 new operations roles and recruitment is already underway.

Elsewhere, recent investment at Lotus Advanced Structures (LAS) in Norwich includes a new fabrication facility. Here, the chassis and front-end assembly line, including robot bonding agent application, is now operational, supplying components for Emira pre-production. Eight new CNC milling machines are being installed, with four more transported from Worcester. The commissioning of a new laser cutting machine is also taking place to manufacture fuel tanks, rear subframes and many of the steel and aluminium components used on the vehicle.

For further information www.lotuscars.com

Conditions in the manufacturing sector improved at an unprecedented rate in May, as output growth strengthened and new orders rose at their quickest pace in the near three-decade survey history. Looser pandemic restrictions and high levels of pent-up demand meant that the rapid revival in labour market conditions also continued, with staffing levels rising at a record pace.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 65.6 in May, up from 60.9 in April, above July 1994’s previous record high of 61.0. The PMI has now signalled improvement in each of the past 12 months. Manufacturing production also rose at one of the quickest rates in the series history. In fact, over 70% of companies forecast that production will be higher in one year’s time, compared with only 3% expecting a decline.

For further information
www.cips.org