As a part of the national effort to provide much needed PPE in the fight against COVID-19, Ricardo has turned to the production of face shields that will be used by frontline NHS healthcare staff, as well as key workers in the care sector.

To ensure that these essential PPE items can get to NHS employees who need them as quickly as possible, facilities at Ricardo’s Technical Centres in Shoreham and Leamington Spa are being repurposed as assembly lines and logistics centres for face shields. Ricardo used its manufacturing supply chain expertise to engage with an injection moulding partner, to create a tool capable of high-volume manufacture.
For further information https://ricardo.com/

Rockwood Composites and Leonardo have marked the 10th anniversary of their partnership with delivery of the 10,000th blade for the towed decoy on the Eurofighter Typhoon.

All parts are fully CNC machined and supplied paint-ready on a just-in-time basis. Rockwood has also supplied Leonardo with connector plates for the wing. Holly Jones, senior subcontract buyer at Leonardo in the UK, says: “Our 10-year partnership with Rockwood is testament to their ability to deliver quality composite components, consistently, when we need them.”
For further information www.rockwoodcomposites.com

In an open letter, business and industry secretary Alok Sharma MP (pictured) has stressed the importance of manufacturers remaining open during the current COVID-19 pandemic (while observing safe working practices).

“Our country needs your support to keep supply chains moving and key workers mobile, as well as to protect the economy as much as possible,” he stated. “Manufacturing is a critical part of our economy and I would like to be clear that there is no restriction on manufacturing continuing under the current rules. Guidelines from Public Health England provide best practice advice on how this can be done safely.”
He added: “I, my fellow ministers and department officials, are in regular contact with industry leaders and trade associations to monitor the effect of COVID-19 on manufacturing and its workforce, and this will carry on. I’m fully committed to continue engaging through the coming days, weeks and beyond to ensure that we can support our manufacturing sector. I realise this will be challenging, but you are contributing to the resilience of our nation and I am grateful for the enormous efforts you are making in order to support the UK at this testing time.”
For further information www.gov.uk

The restructuring of the sales division at machine-tool specialist Dugard is now complete, with the company adding six new employees over the past 18 months.

The latest phase in this restructuring programme has seen the company add two more area sales managers. In the southwest and Wales region, Dugard has employed Peter Tilsed, who joins the company alongside Kevin Searl, who will offer sales support to the East Anglia and Home Counties region.
Says managing director Eric Dugard: “We’ve added world-class brands to our portfolio and the sales of these high-quality machines will rest firmly upon the shoulders of our new team. The management team at Dugard are confident that our new sales engineers have the right blend of industry expertise and local market insight to really drive the advantages of the Dugard brand into manufacturing facilities the length and breadth of the UK.”
For further information www.dugard.com

Wire manufactured in the West Midlands is helping support the UK’s unprecedented drive to build more ventilators.

Alloy Wire International has been commissioned to supply more than 5 km of material that will be used to produce crucial parts for life-saving equipment deployed by the new Nightingale Hospital in London. The company, which holds more than 200 tonnes of EU/DFARS compliant stock at any one time, put its ‘Emergency Manufacturing Service’ (EMS) into action to meet the urgent requirements of a spring maker that, as part of the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium, is assisting in the ramp-up of Smiths and Penlon ‘Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator Systems’.
For further information www.alloywire.com