INTERNATIONAL NEWS

GE Aerospace to invest €110m across European sites

GE Aerospace plans to invest more than €110m across its European manufacturing sites this year as the company seeks to expand production capacity, accelerate advanced manufacturing and strengthen delivery for customers. The move includes plans to hire more than 1000 new workers across Europe in 2026.Investments will be made across five European countries, including the UK, which will receive €10m to upgrade test and manufacturing equipment, expand component manufacturing capabilities, and modernise building and infrastructure across multiple sites.

More information www.geaerospace.com

German machine tool industry reports leveling off

After two years of noticeable reluctance to invest, the German machine tool industry is showing its first signs of stabilising, reports national association, VDW. Overall, however, incoming orders for 2025 remained slightly below that of the previous year. Orders declined 3%, with demand from the domestic market, in particular, still subdued.A slight recovery was recorded by the end of the year, however:in the fourth quarter of 2025, the total number of new orders was up 4% on the previous year’s figure. Experts at VDW are expecting further gains in the second half of 2026.

More information www.vdw.de

Sodick will demonstrate complete solutions

Sodick Europe (stand 20-350) will showcase some of its latest die-sink EDM, wire EDM and
advanced machining centre technology at MACH. A total of six machines providing live
demonstrations will include the new AD55L, which Sodick says delivers premium technology
in an entry-level platform. At the core of the AD55L is Sodick’s linear-motor technology
across all three axes that have travel of 600 x 400 x 400 mm, with 0.0001mm step
resolution. The drive system, combined with linear scales and Sodick motion controller,
ensures exceptional accuracy, reports the company.
More information www.sodick.eu

Four-Axis Chip Breaking for Next-Level Efficiency

MACH 2026 will be the first major UK exhibition at which patented LFV (low frequency
vibration) chip breaking from Citizen Machinery (stand 20-260) will be demonstrated with
four-axis simultaneous capability. Integrated into the operating system of the control driving
the axis motions of Citizen Cincom sliding-head lathes, and more recently selected Miyano
fixed-head models, LFV breaks stringy swarf into manageable chips.
Now, the technology has been developed to start and stop in four separate axes at the same
time, namely the X and Z movements of both the main and sub spindles. Four-axis LFV is a
major step forward, as it greatly enhances flexibility, reduces cycle times and eliminates
operational bottlenecks, since there is no need to stop the machine to remove tangled
swarf, however complex the program.
More information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

FANUC to showcase next-generation automation

Industrial automation expert FANUC will host a live demonstration of an automated drilling
cell developed by Airbus and incorporating FANUC robot technology. Visitors to stand 18-
449 can also see first-hand a new generation of CNC, the FANUC FS500i-A, which enables
complex manufacturing environments to meet high precision and adaptability demands. In
addition, FANUC will showcase its in-house robot system building capabilities.
The centrepiece of the UK stand will be the robotic drilling system, which employs a FANUC
M-800iA/60 six-axis robot, as well as a drilling effector controlled by a FANUC CNC and a
mobile platform, both designed and built by Airbus. Designed for aerospace components, it
has improved drilling accuracy and increased productivity for the aerospace giant, while
releasing operatives to work on more creative and value-added tasks.
More information www.fanuc.eu