THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Machine tool production rising

The VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) is expecting production in the machine tool industry to grow by 9% this year, to a volume of €15.5bn. In nominal terms, this is only 10% below the record result of 2018. At its annual press conference in Frankfurt, Franz-Xaver Bernhard, VDW chairman, said: “We have largely overcome the effects of the pandemic. The industry has entered the current year with a significant backlog of orders.”

He continued:“Even though the gap between orders and sales is currently closing, the German Federal Statistical Office is still reporting a 12-month backlog of orders for the machine tool industry. This means that companies are well placed to weather any dip in orders in the first half of 2023, as suggested by the most recent figures.”
For further information www.vdw.de/en

CMF sets out net zero roadmap

A leading voice for the foundry industry has released a five-point blueprint that will help the castings sector deliver a £10bn boost to the economy.Published by the Cast Metals Federation (CMF), the Net Zero roadmap is urging government to create a stable policy environment that focuses on reforming energy markets and providing clean energy. It must also offer incentives for capital investment in zero-carbon furnaces and production equipment, and ensure UK trade policies support customer demand for low-carbon products from global markets.

The ‘asks’ also call for Whitehall to encourage and enable the release of land for modern, zero-carbon foundries and associated zero-carbon energy generation facilities.Adam Vicary, CEO of Castings PLC and chairman of the CMF Net Zero Advisory Panel, says: “This blueprint sets out how UK casting manufacturers can lead globally, growing the industry, decarbonising our components, providing strategic resilience to UK supply chains, creating jobs and wealth, and making the components required for a modern economy.”
For further informationwww.castmetalsfederation.com

UR reports record revenue

Universal Robots, a Danish collaborative robot (cobot) company, has reported Q4 revenue of $85m, bringing 2022 annual revenue to $326m, up 5% on 2021. On a constant currency basis, growth over the year was 12%.The company’s CFO Kim Andreasen says: “We are proud to have continued to grow our business despite facing a difficult macro-economic environment in 2022. We focused on things we were able to control, overcoming supply chain challenges to report our highest annual revenue to date.” In 2022 UR also began construction on its new headquarters and exceeded 1000 employees worldwide.
For further information www.universal-robots.com

Seco buys Premier Machine Tools

Ireland-based PMT Premier Machine Tools, a supplier of machining solutions for the medical industry, has become part of the product and service offering from cutting tool specialist Seco. With this acquisition Seco will increase its presence in the medical segment by offering integrated manufacturing solutions.PMT will continue to operate as an independent company and sell its products and services under the PMT brand. PMT’s business consists of supplying cutting tools and providing expertise, alongside a thriving machine tool supply business.
For further information www.secotools.com

Airbus to recruit 13,000

Building on a 2022 recruitment drive that added over 13,000 new staff members, Airbus is launching another round of hiring for 13,000 more employees with the skills necessary to support the company’s long-term projects. Approximately 25% of the recruitment will focus on jobs in fields such as decarbonisation, digital transformation, software engineering and cyber technology. Airbus will allocate a third of the total recruitment to young graduates, from which it plans to evolve future senior function and business leaders through technical and leadership development, networking and exposure to top management.
For further information www.airbus.com/en/careers