Show moves to avoid clash

Show move avoids clash

Southern Manufacturing & Electronics has confirmed that it will be moving from its February slot to April to cut overcrowding in the show calendar at the beginning of the year.

The show will now take place at Farnborough International next year on 20, 21 and 22 April 2021. The rescheduling allows it to avoid conflicting with other events postponed from 2020, nd to provide the greatest benefit to visitors and exhibitors as they bounce back from the effects of lockdown.

Show director, Phil Valentine said; “The first quarter of the exhibition calendar in 2021 is crowded with events postponed from their 2020 show dates and inevitably this means difficult decisions for exhibitors and visitors alike about how to maximise return on their time and

The Swiss high precision manufacturing trade show,

EPHJ, is back on track and will now take place from 15 to 18

September this year. The organisers say that it is essential that we now begin to prepare for the future.

The show was originally due to take place in June but has been postponed due to Covid-19. It is the largest annual trade fair for the watchmaking, jewellery, and investment over the challenging months ahead.

“Consequently, and in conjunction with Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre, we’ve taken the decision to move the event to April 2021. We believe this decision will allow the show to take place under much more favourable economic and social conditions while also enabling all concerned to plan more effectively towards micro and medical technologies sectors in Switzerland and is held at Palexpo in Geneva.

“We have held widespread discussions over the past few weeks with numerous exhibitors”, explains Alexandre Catton, Director of the EPHJ Trade Show.

“Some of them believe that the situation is difficult and that the market trend, the persistent

achieving a rewarding and successful event.”

The floorplan of Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2021 will remain unchanged. Unprecedented re-bookings following the record-breaking 2020 exhibition mean the show is already close to capacity. However, some space still remains for firms wishing to take part in one of the UK’s top engineering exhibitions.

EPHJ back on track for 2020

8 industrysouth.co.uk uncertainties and the potential fall in footfall mean that they should concentrate on other priorities. For others, the majority, the desire is a return to normality; for them, to be able to present their innovations and to meet clients and prospective customers at the Trade Show is a priority.” 8 ephj.ch/en

Rob Holmes

has Hardide Coatings as VP Aerospace. He joins from Nasmyth Group, where he spent ten years, and will be responsible for developing opportunities in the aerospace and defence sectors for Hardide’s nanostructured tungsten carbide and tungsten metal matrix composite coatings.

Glyn Jones

is the new Chair of the Made Smarter North West adoption pilot. Glyn was born in Cheshire, educated in Liverpool and worked at BAE Systems in Lancashire for 30 years, working on programmes including the F-35 Lightning II and Eurofighter Typhoon.

Andrew Bowyer

has been appointed by Close Brothers Asset Finance to lead the vendor development programme for the Finance for Industry team. He has 20 years’ experience in asset finance, with the last six spent at a major

French funder.

Nick Harrison

is a new partner at management consultancy Vendigital. With over 20 years’ consulting experience, latterly at KPMG, he will focus on enabling clients in the industrial products sector to address disruption by utilising emerging technologies and using data to drive performance.

Trade Leads from the EIA

The following FREE OF CHARGE trade leads for the UK engineering industry are currently appearing on the Trade Board pages of the Engineering Industries Association at www.eia.co.uk

Smart fuel cap

A Macedonian company has developed a smart fuel cap that records the fuel amount poured into the truck’s tank and provides fuel usage information and analytics. It is looking for partners for commercial agreement with technical assistance.

Reference: JV1415

Closing Date: 20/08/2020

Solar panel cleaning

An institute from Latvia has developed a technology for automatic cleaning of solar panels. Technology relates to electrical engineering, namely - to semiconductor devices formed as panels, that convert solar energy into electrical. Technology has been designed to increase the efficiency of work of solar cells. It is looking for commercial agreement with technical assistance.

Reference: JV1418

Closing Date: 05/09/2020

Wet and dry blasting

A Northern Ireland company that designs and assembles abrasive blasting equipment for multiple industrial and commercial markets is looking for distributors throughout Europe.

Reference: JV1421

Closing Date: 16/09/2020

For more information please email head.office@eia.co.uk quoting reference number. Please remember to use due diligence in responding to Trade Leads. Engineering Capacity provides you with the above information in good faith, but is unable to accept any responsibility or legal liability arising from any use of these leads.

Improved hardness accuracy

NMB Minebea UK, which manufactures a variety of cold formed parts for aerospace and military, including bearings and landing gear, has installed a new hardness testing machine.

Supplied by Bowers Group, the Innovatest Falcon 507 Vickers, Knoop & Brinell Hardness Tester has enabled NMB Minebea UK Ltd to increase its Proficiency Testing Program (PTP) testing results from Class 3 to Class 1, deliver a faster turnaround of samples, and dramatically increase the accuracy of the tests carried out.

Staff had previously used an old, manual Vickers hardness tester. Despite having performed well for many years, operators found that readings were beginning to drift and were gradually moving towards being outside of the accepted range. In addition, the old hardness tester made testing a fairly slow process; it was awkward to use and difficult to train people on.

Jason Woodhouse, Laboratory Manager at NMB Minebea UK said: “Since investing in the Falcon, the accuracy of our hardness testing has improved by 60%. It’s not just accurate, it’s really simple and easy to use too.”

NMB Minebea UK carries out a variety of performance tests in its dedicated metallurgical lab.

Precise and accurate hardness measurement is of the upmost importance to performance critical parts made using the cold form process. Hardness needs to be accurately measured to prevent fracture during the cold form process, which can result in components having to be scrapped, and also damage to the dies and tooling on machines.

Jason Woodhouse continued: “We chose the Falcon 507 because it offered us all the features we needed at the right price. It was the perfect balance for us. Most people in the metallurgy lab use the hardness tester anything from once a day, to several times, depending on the demands of the current project.”

Testing for aerospace companies and their supply chains must be carried out in accordance with a Proficiency Testing Program (PTP), which refer to a series of tests established by a number of aerospace firms including Airbus, Safran, GE, MTU, GKN, Airbus Helicopters and Rolls Royce in order to qualify laboratories around the world on the basis of ISO 13528:2015 standard.

NMB Minebea UK Ltd can now test to ASTM and British Standards on the hardness tester, validate paperwork, and export all results to Microsoft Windows. To ensure the hardness tester is as accurate as it can be it is calibrated by an external company every 6 months. As part of NMB Minebea UK Ltd’s Nadcap accreditation certain specifications must be met, and daily tests are undertaken to ensure the machine is functioning accurately.

NMB Minebea UK Ltd also have some dimensional metrology equipment from Bowers Group including 3 point gauges used for bore measurements, stick micrometers and thread micrometers.

NMB Minebea UK Ltd is Nadcap Accredited and works to AS/EN 9100 Series (Aerospace), ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management). 8 nmb-minebea.co.uk

Kaman UK has now delivered 80,000 rear fuselage packers to BAE Systems for its F-35 manufacturing programme. These parts along with 1,000 plenum ducts have been used in the manufacture of over 500 aircraft.

The supply started in 2003 and is part of a long-term partnership between the companies for the manufacture and supply for multiple aircraft platforms, such as Typhoon, Hawk, Tornado and Harrier AV-8B, of a wide range of metallics, composites and ground support equipment. These include plenum ducts, chemical treatments, landing gear doors, rudders, over-wing panels, ailerons, blanking plugs, Fuselage parts for 500 aircraft and today the Hawk and its variants, Typhoon and the F-35. Kaman manufactures and provides spare parts on these programmes via BAE Systems for air forces around the world. Gary Crank, BAE Systems Air, US Programmes Procurement canopy removal tools and various Executive said: “BAE Systems is other complex assemblies for recognised around the world for wing and fuselage. its leading-edge manufacturing

Kaman UK first began working processes and the ability to with BAE Systems in 1951 under innovate in defence and aerospace its predecessor company, English markets. To achieve this, we need Electric Company. This covers a suppliers that we can rely on in wide range of ongoing and legacy order to deliver against our programmes such as Javelin, commitments to our customers.” Buccaneer, Harrier and Tornado 8 kaman.com

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Targeted acquisition for AS.G

Aero Services Global Group, a £43million critical supplier to the aerospace sector has made its latest acquisition, as it looks to target new opportunities in the defence and medical sectors.

Manchester-based Aero Services Global Group (AS.G), which manufactures and subassembles detail airframe structural equipment and aero engine components for more than 20 leading primes and tier 1s, has added AMF Precision Engineering to its portfolio of companies.

The Wirral-based subcontract technology specialist joins six other manufacturing businesses in the group and provides additional clean room and longbed machining capabilities, as well as direct access to customers in medical, defence and a host of research centres across Europe.

It comes just a few weeks after AS.G secured a £31m funding package from Magnetar Capital and Close Brothers Invoice Finance to support ambitious three-year growth plans.

“AMF Precision Engineering is a market leader in its field and fits perfectly with our commitment to offer our global customers world class expertise, niche capabilities and outstanding customer service,” explained Simon Weston, who joined as AS.G Group Managing Director in 2017.

“The long machining bed means we will be able to deliver specific work packages previously out of our reach in aerospace, not to mention giving us an immediate footprint in medical, life sciences and defence…three areas that could benefit from technology perfected in aerospace.”

He continued: “Whilst Covid-19 has created a number of unexpected challenges, we are still confident that our agility and single source expertise in tooling and manufacturing of critical components can deliver an increase in sales.

“The management team has been working hard over the last three years to strategically enhance our customer base and identify companies that will give us access to the best talent and technologies.

“Recent investment by Magnetar Capital and Close Brothers Invoice Finance gives us the funding boost we need to realise these plans.”

AS.G was founded in 2015 with the aim of developing a highly specialist group, which could help a global customer base to

consolidate their supply chains through innovation, efficiencies and excellent value for money.

It started operations with the acquisition of Phoenix Ltd in December that year and now boasts seven subsidiary companies, including Queen’s Award-winning Arrowsmith Engineering, B&H Precision Tooling, Datum, Ludolph, TGM and AMF Precision Engineering.

The group, which employs nearly 380 people, is split into two core divisions focusing on aerospace and tooling, providing a wide range of products from simple brushes, complex mill turned components and small, medium and large 5-axis milled parts to tooling, transportation media and fixtures for existing and next generation aircraft fuselages and wings.

These parts are delivered all over the world to customers, including Aeronova, Airbus, GKN, ITP, Meggitt, Rolls-Royce and Spirit Aero Systems. 8 aeroservicesglobal.com

Machine tending cells

_flexible and compact: the ideal solution for small and medium machine shops

Machine tending cells are compact and, easy to install. They can be moved from one machine to another and are easily reconfigured. Their ability to run autonomously for many hours means that they provide a very quick return on investment. A robotic machine-tending process can be repeated continually, as raw parts are continually delivered to the robot, minimizing cycle times and optimising operational processes by removing parts from the machine’s working area.

Image courtsey of: DesignPro Automation

Advanced Chemical Etching (ACE) is hoping to achieve Gold Supplier status after being selected to take ACE aims for Gold

part in a supplier development programme by Collins Aerospace.

It is working with Collins, a world leader in aerospace and defence technologies, on a host of continuous improvement and training activities to help it strengthen its ability to supply group factories across the globe.

ACE is now setting its sights on securing ‘Gold Supplier’ status, which could be achieved over the next six months if it continues to meet 100% delivery on-time-infull and stronger collaboration on making sure every member of our Collins Aerospace’s worldwide root cause analysis. 65-strong workforce is on board, portal as its preferred etching

It marks what has been a rapid understand what is required and company. This will be massive for period of growth for ACE in the how they can play a role in helping ACE, as it means we could be used aerospace sector, with sales into us achieve the performance by any international division across this industry now accounting for requirements in terms of cost, the group, not to mention the 25% of annual sales. quality and delivery.” profile it will give us amongst the

Ian Whateley, Managing Director, He continued: “The support we rest of industry.” commented: “This is a very have received to help us on this Richard Jones, Supplier demanding supplier development journey has been world class and Development Manager at Collins programme and very difficult to get it has been a real team approach Aerospace, has been working on to, so this in itself is testament from both companies to identify hand-in-hand with Advanced to the relationship we currently areas to work on and new Chemical Etching. have with Collins Aerospace. opportunities to pursue. “It all starts with The Quality

“We have taken a top-down “When we achieve Gold Clinic, which provides an insight approach to our involvement, Supplier, we will then appear on into investigation, detection, root cause analysis and the implementation of preventative Aerospace Automotive Industrial & actions to ensure we are delivering Oil & Gas Nuclear Defence Electronics Hi Fi High Volume Machining the highest standards to our internal and external customers.

PRECISION ENGINEERING “Ian and his team are fully engaged with the training I’ve helped provide and this has www.thomas-brown-engineering.co.uk ensured the right culture is in place, where a ‘Quality First’ mentality is embraced and driven Tel: 01484 548903 by every single member of staff.” 8 ace-uk.net

The Coronavirus crisis has fundamentally changed the way that we work and will continue to have a huge impact for the foreseeable future. One of the key learnings has been the positive impact that digital tools and platforms have had on supply chain operations during this crisis.

According to Industry Week, Digitalisation has become a major source of competitive advantage as supply chains decouple and manufacturers look for ways to quickly ensure continuity and introduce flexibility.

In an environment of remote or split team working, digital platforms have kept scattered workforces connected and productive by enabling them to access and share information from any device or location. From online communication tools like Zoom and Slack to quoting platforms like SteelScout, digital platforms have enabled teams to run efficiently with little downtime.

Safeguarding Your Metal Supplies For businesses where sourcing metal is an essential part of the production process, ensuring continuity of supply is vital in times of rapid change. SteelScout’s digital service can help to safeguard metal supplies and make procurement more efficient and cost effective for companies as they transition their teams back to the workplace.

As businesses begin to reopen, there will be broad variations in the timescales for returning to productivity while

How digital suppliers can help manufacturers navigate the ‘new normal’

some suppliers will remain closed. This will lead to regional variations in supply leading to further uncertainty for manufacturers.

SteelScout’s UK-wide supplier network can help buyers ensure continuity of supply by being able to rapidly switch suppliers and ensure that they can still access the materials they need at the best value. And by working with one online metal supplier, buyers can save their procurement teams the hassle of setting up multiple accounts with new suppliers and benefit from one credit account with access to over 90 suppliers across the UK.

As a digital platform, SteelScout enables your procurement process to be up and running immediately and from any location and device. Your team will be able to source quotes, agree and manage their orders 24/7 without the need of any additional IT or software, meaning your team can manage their metal supplies from the office, workshop or on the go.

And being an online service means that buyers can store all of their order and test documentation in one secure account reducing the need for multiple document storage.

Manufacturing’s New Normal After COVID-19 There’s no doubt that digitalisation has already played a significant part in maintaining productivity, and in the ‘new normal’, companies will need to assess how to continue to harness digital technologies to remain agile and drive output.

There are a number of digital platforms to support manufacturers during this time and for those businesses that require metal for their production process, SteelScout can help safeguard metal supplies and deliver efficiency and value in the process. 8 www.SteelScout.com

Pam Murrell FICME,CEO of the Cast Metals Federation, CMF, describes the challenges that smaller, niche industry sectors face when trying to develop the specialist training programmes that they need. The casting industry tackled the problem through the industry bodies taking a lead role.

The skills challenge faced by many industry sectors is well known and the castings industry is no different. Colleges and training providers offer a range of engineering/manufacturing programmes, including apprenticeships, but these are often, and necessarily, more generic, to appeal to a wide range of sectors in order to achieve a critical mass of learner numbers. They aim to provide broad underpinning engineering and manufacturing skills. These programmes are not able to offer employers from the more niche and specialist sectors the specific skills required.

For the casting & foundry industry, some of these specific skills areas include moulding & coremaking (to understand binder chemistry and how to create

Rebuilding training for the casting sector

complex core assemblies), toolmaking and die design, methoding (to design the way in which the metal will enter the mould cavity), metallurgy (melt preparation & alloying) and foundry patternmaking. These need specialist equipment and specific expertise to teach them.

Yet the need for such training programmes exists as Adam Vicary, CEO of Castings plc explains. “Why should the industry not have access to relevant funded programmes using the levy, rather than making do with programmes

8 Apprentices carry out one of the

first pours at the National Foundry Training Foundry

that do not actually meet our skills needs? Companies such as mine need to be able to offer a proper apprenticeship to attract new recruits, and we need the skills in-house to meet the needs of the market”

So how to achieve this for the smaller niche sectors? The Department for Education, through the Skills Funding Agency and the Institute for Apprenticeships, are rightly keen for apprenticeships to be ‘employer-led’ but for a sector dominated by SMEs, how realistic is this?

The casting and foundry industry set about writing its own trailblazer standard at level 3 as soon as this was a possibility, to ensure that there was a relevant standard for our employers to

8 The main foundry area with sand

plant and furnaces