A real-time status board display system for the shop floor is the latest acquisition by Sheldon Precision Engineering for its PSL Datatrack production control software system.

This fast-growing Barnstaple-based company provides specialist subcontract engineering and turned-parts manufacturing services which have been managed using PSL Datatrack since the business started. PSL’s status boards provide real-time visual information on any aspect of production, including the current work-to list, all jobs requiring work that day, and updates – such as material and component
stock levels.
For further information www.psldatatrack.com

A one-day seminar and open house on the manufacturing of gears will be held at NCMT’s Coventry technical centre and showroom on 9 July 2019.

Various production methods will be demonstrated on Japanese-built Makino and Okuma machining centres, as well as on one of the latter manufacturer’s multi-tasking turn-mill machines.
Methods covered will include hobbing, power skiving and ‘InvoMilling’, which is capable of producing different gears using the same standard machine platform. Gear grinding will also feature, involving the use of NCMT’s proprietary EasyGear grinding software. Makino wire-cut and die-sink EDM production solutions will be among further presentations at the event.
To register email florencejones@ncmt.co.uk

Around £250,000 of investment looks set to deliver a record-breaking year for a Black Country foundry.

Midland Pressure Diecasting (MPD), which employs 65 people across two sites in Willenhall, has purchased a CNC vertical machining centre and a spark eroder to help with growing demand from clients looking to re-shore due to quality issues from overseas suppliers. The company says that over £1m of orders are in the pipeline, and the recent investment will ensure MPD has the capacity to complete in excess of £5m in sales by January 2020; its best-ever year since formation in 2000.
For further information
http://midlandpressurediecasting.co.uk/

OGP UK and Verus Metrology Partners have shaken hands on a formal partnership designed to help customers improve their production processes.

The deal will see all bespoke jigs and fixtures for OGP UK supplied by Verus Metrology Partners, alongside an agreement for OGP UK to supply V-FIX – the modular metrology fixture product from Verus – for non-bespoke fixture solutions. Verus owns and operates 13 OGP SmartScope machines from the CNC and ZIP ranges, using them to provide customers with metrology fixture and programme packages, and helping to accelerate new product introductions.
For further information www.ogpuk.com

The company behind the self-adhesive cable clip has been acquired by one of Birmingham’s longest-established manufacturers.

Brandauer, which is a specialist in metal pressings and stampings, has purchased CB Cable Clips in an undisclosed deal that will safeguard three jobs, create two new positions and see all customers, IP, stock and assets transferred over.
Under new ownership, it is expected that the business has the potential to double its £110,000 annual sales over the first 12 months and will complement Brandauer’s own product range, which currently includes turnkey precision tooling, motor laminations and Elopin press-fit connectors. The deal is the first acquisition that Brandauer has ever completed in its 157-year history, and is part of an ambitious growth plan that will see it achieve £10m turnover by the end of 2020.
“We have been manufacturing the CB Cable Clip range under a subcontract agreement for more than 40 years, so are synonymous with the innovation and the production process,” says Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer. “When the possibility of selling was sounded out, it seemed the logical decision to incorporate the business into Brandauer. We knew the quality and customer service expected, we knew the delivery patterns and, most significantly, it was another product we could add to our growing range.
“We are already looking to double the size of the team and believe there is an opportunity to access new markets and customers,” he adds.
Brandauer will manufacture and supply the CB Cable Clip range of self-adhesive aluminium cable clips. Since the invention came to market in 1972, over 566 million clips have been produced and used across the world.
For further information www.brandauer.co.uk