Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
The MTA are delighted to be hosting a half day seminar in conjunction with Renishaw on additive manufacturing next Wednesday (11th October 2017) at Stone in Staffordshire. The seminar will be a great way to find out more about how this innovative technology can be made to work in industry, there are still spaces available via www.mta.org.uk/event/making-success-metal-additive-manufacturing. Places are free for members, so don’t miss out.
Still on the subject of additive manufacturing the 3DPRISM Project has developed a series of e-learning modules to train technicians and operators engaged in the use of 3D Printing technologies. These will be demonstrated at the AMRC Training Centre in Rotherham on Tuesday 24th October, find out more in the story below.
The MTA business survey for September is now live on the MTA website, we would encourage all members to get involved and spare a few minutes to complete it www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-sep17.
Mills CNC has announced that it will hold an Open House at the company’s Technology Campus facility in Leamington on the 18th and 19th of October 2017. Find out how you can attend and register for the event below.
The CBI, which the MTA is working closely on preparing for BREXIT, would like MTA members to take part in a survey. It will only take around 10 minutes to complete so please follow this link and get involved https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=150693684470.
The AMRC Training Centre announced a pioneering new education route to study degree level apprenticeships. The collaborative partnership between AMRC Training Centre and The University of Sheffield’s Management School (SUMS) will create a world leading advanced management learning offering for SMEs, world-leading organisations and their supply chains.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data published this week was almost universally positive; although the UK reading edged down, it remains significantly positive and the PMI for the Euro-zone region was at a 79-month high, led by Germany whose reading of 60.6 is exceptionally strong. Indeed, of the 25 countries and two regions that we track, all we above the crucial 50 level in September. Eurostat figures showed that the business investment rate in the Euro-zone was at its highest since the middle of 2008, providing more evidence of a strong economy across the Channel, although the profitability data was not quite as good. Back in the UK, we highlight some data that the ONS has published which would be useful if you are looking to assess where to target sales or support resources by region or industry.
That’s all for this week, we’ll be back next Friday, until then have a great weekend.