Welcome to the Friday Brief for 9 May 2014.
This week’s Friday Brief leads with yesterday’s visit by David Cameron MP to MTA member Renishaw Plc. The Prime Minister was visiting the Company as part of his tour of the South West ahead of this month’s European and Local Elections.
Economic news this week shows strong growth in manufacturing output at 1.4% higher than in the previous quarter and 3.6% up on the same period a year ago. This growth seems to be spreading across the whole engineering based manufacturing sector with all 4 major industrial groupings central to manufacturing technologies in positive territory. Capital goods as a sector is roughly in line with manufacturing as a whole, although a little behind on the 12-month trend. There is also a reminder this week to submit entries by 13th May for the latest MTA Business Survey.
There is a reminder that the closing date for submitting entries for the MTA’s 2014 Technology Design & Innovation (TDI) Challenge is Friday 23 May. All members should make sure that their contacts in schools and colleges are aware of the Challenge. Students are not required to do any additional work, but merely to submit the project work that they will already have worked on over the past year. Shortlisted students will be invited along with their teachers and parents to an assessment at Yamazaki Mazak’s European Manufacturing Headquarters in Worcester later in the summer. As part of the day the students will have a tour of the state of the art facility and be given lunch. Links to enter are in the Friday Brief story.
We have news of the MTA’s participation in this year’s Farnborough International Air Show. The biennial trade show takes place this year between 14 – 18 July and is one of the two leading aerospace exhibitions in the World. Nearly every significant civil and military aviation manufacturer will be exhibiting along with component and materials suppliers from across the aerospace supply chain.
In this week’s Brief we have a message from The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) informing us that the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) is most likely to open again to new applications in June after the European Elections. The Department has asked us if we are aware of any prospective bids that companies/consortia are working on in advance of the scheme opening for applications.
Also in this week’s Brief is an invitation from the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) which is encouraging businesses to explore growth opportunities in Thailand. The country is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia and is a gateway to not only the ASEAN but also the Asia-Pacific markets. The BOI is offering interested companies the chance to attend briefing seminars in the: West Midlands on 24th June, Leeds on 25th June, and Newcastle on 26th June. The seminars are free of charge and further details are in this week’s story.
Finally, we have our latest report on manufacturing in China available as a download from the Brief. The analysis focuses on the power generation, automotive and transport sectors of the Chinese economy.
Have a good weekend.