UK NEWS

Engine assembly plant planned

Cox Powertrain has signed a lease to take over a 28,000 sq ft production facility near Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport.

The building, currently undergoing renovation, will be the assembly plant for the company’s CXO300 diesel engine, which goes into production in the second quarter of 2019. Cox Powertrain currently employs 70 staff and plans to grow its workforce to meet demand for its new diesel outboard engine, aiming to recruit an additional 78 staff before 2020. Work has started to fit out the new premises and Cox Powertrain expects the facility to be operational later this year.
For further information www.coxmarine.com

Collaboration leads to investment

The Welsh Automotive Forum (WAF), which was founded in 2001 to develop a common approach in achieving sustainable continuous improvement for the automotive industry in Wales, recently hosted an annual Autolink conference.

This event proved to be the catalyst for a successful collaboration between the Welsh Government, WAF, automotive manufacturer Caerbont Automotive Instruments and TLM Laser. In turn, this collaboration led to a series of laser-marking trials and the subsequent purchase by Caerbont of a Foba M2000-B laser marking system from TLM Laser.
For further information www.tlm-laser.com

Conference backs CBI agenda

Yamazaki Mazak has backed the CBI’s Innovation agenda with the hosting of a special Business Insights Conference.

The conference, held at Mazak’s European Technology Centre in Worcester, was attended by nearly 100 delegates from senior positions across business and industry in the West Midlands. Included at the one-day conference were talks from a host of speakers, including Aon Affinity, Innovation Birmingham, Freeths law firm, LEVC, Kimal PLC and Strategenic.
The conference agenda started with a presentation by Marcus Burton, non-executive director at Yamazaki Mazak, on innovation in manufacturing systems and the new opportunities available through digitalisation: “If UK business is to continue thriving it must harness the power of innovation and, specifically, digitalisation,” he said.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Awards recognise future engineers

Three schools from Wales and Warwickshire were the main winners at the first ever ‘Design and Make Challenge’ organised by the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN).

Alcester Grammar, Southam College and Ysgol Bro Dinefwr beat off competition from other rivals to take the Manufacturing, Innovation and Efficiency titles respectively, impressing judges with their teamwork, creativity and ability to meet the project brief.
In total, 28 students swapped their daily lessons for the chance to test out their engineering and design skills by using basic materials and tools to make a device capable of lifting a 13 kg block of stainless steel using friction grip alone. The event, which was hosted by WMG, is the first in a number of activities being created by MAN in order to help it bridge the skills gap and start developing a pipeline of future engineers.
For further information www.man-group.co.uk

Record-breaking day at showroom opening

XYZ Machine Tools officially opened its new showroom at Slough earlier this month, an event that resulted in a record-breaking day for machine sales.

“This is the best one-day open house that we have ever seen, with over 50 companies taking the time to visit XYZ and see what was on offer,” says managing director Nigel Atherton. “By lunchtime we had already taken orders for 15 machines, with the afternoon proving just as popular when a further eight machine orders were taken. The total value of sales was just shy of £800,000.”
The new showroom is located just off the M4 motorway and is available for customer demonstrations and training, being a relatively short drive for customers from across the southeast and central England regions. “Visitor numbers at this opening event shows that we have selected a good location,” says Atherton. “This will allow more customers the opportunity to see demonstrations of XYZ machines, as well as receive training once they have made a purchase.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com