Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
First up the MTA and Lloyds Banking Group this week released a report in to productivity in the UK. The so-called ‘productivity puzzle’ alludes to the fact that productivity in the UK has not grown as fast after the last recession as it has done after previous ones. The report suggested that manufacturing risks being left in the productivity slow lane if action is not taken. Read all about the findings in the below story.
The MTA will have a stand at the Imagineering Fair, which takes place at the RICOH Arena in Coventry this weekend (19-20 November). Open to children and their families, please visit this page for more information. You can book tickets here. The Imagineering Foundation is a charity that introduces 8-16 year olds to the fascinating world of engineering and technology through fun, hands-on activities.
The Department for International Trade have launched a new website – www.GREAT.gov.uk which aims to match supply and demand putting power in the hands of businesses to start exporting or attract investors, and to make doing business abroad as attractive as it is to do business at home.
On the 15th November, MTA staff members attended the Manufacturing Technologies Centre in Coventry event on Digitising Manufacturing 2016.
The Technopolis Group has been commissioned by the European Commission (EC) to undertake an evaluation of the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC). If you require more information on this please contact the MTA’s Technical Manager Joshua Dugdale on JDugdale@mta.org.uk.
With the release of the latest figures (for September) by Eurostat, industrial production in Europe continued its recent see-saw monthly trend; although the month-on-month trend was down, the annualised figures showed an increase compared to September 2015. As usual, the capital goods industry is even more volatile, but the overall trend is similar. On a more general note, the first release of GDP figures for the 3rd quarter showed all of the EU countries (data was published for 21 Member States) in growth mode, both on the quarter-on-quarter trend and the annualised rate. Despite a strong showing for machine tool orders in September as a result of IMTS, the year to date trend in that market remains negative, as does the US cutting tool market which did not seem to share in the stimulus from the exhibition.
That is all for this week, we’ll be back next Friday with more industry news, until then have a great weekend from everyone at the MTA.
