Gerald Mies has joined the management team at FFG Europe & Americas, taking over as president for the milling technology and factory automation business unit. He will be responsible for the MAG and HüllerHille product brands, as well as the industrial automation activities within the group. Mies has more than 25 years of experience in the industrial engineering business. His positions to date have included managing director at Fanuc Germany, and managing director at robot specialist Cloos. He takes over from Dr Heiner Lang, who has left the group to take on a new career opportunity.
For further information www.ffg-werke.com

LVD has opened its new ‘Experience Centre’ (XP Centre) at the company’s corporate headquarters in Gullegem. The 2500 sq m facility is designed to help advance sheet metalworking by connecting visitors to technology, solutions and expertise in an environment that promotes learning and collaboration. It is a complete renovation and expansion of LVD’s demonstration facility. Visitors are invited to bring their sheet-metalworking challenges, discover possibilities for their applications, train on the latest products, and cultivate relationships with LVD experts. The
grand opening is planned for mid-April.
For further information www.lvdgroup.com

The UK Prime Minister Theresa May and the Turkish Prime Minister BenaliYildirim recently announced a landmark defence industry collaboration between the two countries. BAE Systems and TAI (Turkish Aerospace Industries) signed a ‘Heads of Agreement’ that will establish a partnership for the continued development of the Turkish Fighter Programme (TF-X). Worth more than £100m, this first contract has the potential to facilitate multi-billion pound contracts between Team UK and Turkish firms over the life-time of the project, strengthening the links between both nations.
For further information
www.tai.com.tr

The Turkish Machinery Group organised a successful buyer mission programme at the WIN Automation fair which was held last month in Istanbul. The WIN EURASIA Automation fair hosted Electrotech EURASIA, Hydraulic & Pneumatic EURASIA and the CeMAT EURASIA fairs at the same time. Some 60 company representatives
from Bulgaria, Russia, Czech Republic, Bosnia Herzegovina, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Jordan, Algeria and France attended the buyer mission programme.
Established in 2007, the Turkish Machinery Group strives to improve the sales of Turkish machinery and accessories all over the world. It carries out activities to increase export sales in target countries by either improving the image of Turkish machinery in international markets or conducting promotion
and R&D initiatives. In addition, the group has a
goal to implement domestic marketing policies
aimed at strengthening the product image of
Turkish machinery at a national level.
For further information www.makinetanitimgrubu.com.tr