The MTC, which has its headquarters in Coventry, is to open a manufacturing technology centre in Liverpool to support growth and innovation in the region. Housing a staff of more than 60, the facility at Liverpool Science Park (LSP), which sits within Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool), will be one of the biggest lettings on the site in more than five years.

Associate director for strategic development at the MTC, Dr Charlie Whitford, says: “We’re excited to be expanding our footprint in Liverpool, and broadening our services and support for the wider northwest by supporting skills, productivity and growth in the region. We are looking forward to continuing our work with Liverpool John Moores, as well as working with the University of Liverpool and other regional stakeholders to help manufacturers in the area stay competitive. We can also help manufacturers improve product development, tap into new technologies and translate academic research into innovative solutions for industry.”
For further information www.the-mtc.org

After the grand success of last year’s show, the 14th edition of UMEX is set to get underway at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India on 20-22 September.

Some 468 exhibitors participated at UMEX 2018 and its co-located events, attracting some 11,346 focused business visitors from 16 countries. As always, the show is organised in co-operation with MTI magazine.
UMEX is thought to be the only event of its kind in Asia which focuses specifically on pre-owned industrial machinery, and this year will be co-located with five other exhibitions centring on different industry segments, helping to draw even more visitors to the venue. Metalworking and metal-forming machine tools, automation and associated equipment will be particularly prominent at show. At UMEX,
MTI’s friendly team will be busy handing out copies of its show issue, highlighting the industry’s best way of buying and selling machine tools.
For further information www.umexonline.com

Metallic Elephant, based near Colchester, developed its own range of hot-foil presses around five years ago, a move that led to the company fulfilling demand to many household brands around the globe, including Samsonite, Next, Harrods, Burberry, Hackett, Prada and Tiffany.

Demand is such that Metallic Elephant typically builds and delivers 350 presses along with associated dies and letter sets every year. Key to Metallic Elephant’s success is its speed of response to customer orders for both machines and dies. However, with 25% year-on-year growth over the past four years, the company was drawn to the prospect of bringing machining in-house.
“Delays caused by quality were beginning to impact on our ability to maintain deliveries, so we had to make changes,” says Wayne Mason, Metallic Elephant’s manufacturing manager. “The first step was our turning capacity, so we replaced an old manual machine with an XYZ SLX ProtoTRAK-controlled lathe. This addition made us realise
the potential of CNC
as the ProtoTRAK control was so straightforward and it certainly influenced our next purchase,
an XYZ 1000 LR vertical machining centre.
“The arrival of these two machines has given us control over manufacturing as we are now machining around 30% of our parts in-house, a figure that is sure to increase,” he adds. “As a result, we’re also making things better and more efficiently, which in turn makes us more cost effective and able to compete globally.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Robo-Tend, the mobile machine-tool automation system from XYZ Machine Tools, will have its official customer launch at two events this month.

The first will be at the company’s headquarters in Burlescombe, Devon on 10 September, and be followed by a similar event at XYZ’s Nuneaton facility on 12 September. Key to Robot-Tend is said to be its ease of use and affordability. Robo-Tend can be used with any of XYZ’s Siemens controlled machining centres or turning centres, and can be relocated within the factory to wherever needed. The cost of Robo-Tend is calculated from just £2 per hour
Both events commence at 09:00 with coffee and bacon rolls, followed by an introduction to Robo-Tend from Nigel Atherton, managing director of XYZ Machine Tools, and Paul Stout, managing director of Adelphi Automation. A demonstration of Robo-Tend and a Q&A session will also take place. Space is limited at both events, so it is recommended to
book a place in advance.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Work-holding specialist Hainbuch UK, which is based in Cannock, has taken on its first ever apprentice: Jacob Machin from South Staffs College.

Following completion of his BTECH Level 3 90-credit Diploma in Engineering, Machin joins Hainbuch UK as an apprentice technical sales engineer.
“Similar to many companies in the engineering sector we recognised a need for succession planning in our workforce,” says Hainbuch UK’s managing director Nick Peter. “Our technical sales engineers are required to have a comprehensive understanding of a wide range of technical information in order to suggest the right product and application to customers, as well as solve complex problems. As a result, we required a young person who already had a grounding in the general principles of engineering in whom we could invest our time and energy into developing the required knowledge and skills for a long-term successful career with the company.”
For further information www.hainbuch.com