Further to an already extensive list of licensed machine manufacturers, eight more have recently signed up to utilise Big-Plus spindle and tooling systems from Big Kaiser on their machine tools. Big-Plus spindles, which are available in the UK from ITC, are now licensed to circa 170 machine tool manufacturers.

Said to be the only system that provides simultaneous taper and flange contact in a 7/24 cone interface, the Big-Plus dual-contact connection between the machine and tool is robust, reliable and accurate. Despite the fact that Big-Plus was developed over 25 years ago in Japan by Big Kaiser’s parent company, Big Daishowa, the adoption of the spindles is still seeing solid growth across industry.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Set to return for 2019, the Technology, Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge is now open for entries.

This flagship competition for schools (organised by the MTA) encourages students to submit their coursework projects, which go towards either their GCSE, A-Level or BTEC qualifications. There are four prize categories to be judged, two in each age group, 14-16 and 17-19. The closing date for 2019 entries is 15 May, and only one application per student or group will be accepted, although schools are permitted to enter multiple students. Finalists will be notified by 7 June.
For further information www.mta.org.uk/tdi

At its open house in Coventry on 19-21 March, Bystronic UK will repeat its Swiss parent company’s presentation on world-class manufacturing entitled ‘The Networked World of Sheet Metal Processing’, which featured at last year’s EuroBlech exhibition. Visitors will learn where integrated automation and new software solutions are heading in the fields of laser cutting and bending.

Dan Thombs, managing director of the UK subsidiary, says: “Bystronic accompanies its customers step-by-step on the path to the smart factory. This is what we will be emphasising during our open house.”
For further information www.bystronic.co.uk

High-end precision fabrication specialist LTi Metaltech is already building on its growth success in 2018 with the addition of a new Ridder waterjet cutting machine, which has just been installed at the company’s Abingdon factory.

The waterjet provides crucial extra capacity to serve newer growth areas of LTi’s business, in addition to its ongoing cryogenic work for long-time client, Siemens (for its MRI machines). With its twin-head cutting capability, larger cutting area of 8 x 4 m and, most crucially, high-pressure water pump with increased capacity of 75 kW, the waterjet will allow LTi to ramp up its production going forward.
For further information http://lti-metaltech.com/

On 28 February the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) staged its annual dinner at the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster.

The event was attended by over 500 guests from across the MTA’s membership, the wider manufacturing community and beyond. MTA president and director of Yamazaki Mazak Marcus Burton said in his keynote speech: “With the opportunities of the 4th industrial revolution we can leapfrog the past and invest in the future. Digitalisation is going to dominate the future of our industry – in fact manufacturing is already being recast as a digital industry. We in this room have everything that is needed to move productivity forward.”
For further information www.mta.org.uk