Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
We have a packed newsletter this week updating on all of the associations activities and opportunities that may be of interest to our members.
There is just two week’s left to secure your early bird rate for next year’s MTA Centenary Dinner at the Westminster Park Plaza. The dinner will take place on 28th February 2019 and will celebrate 100 years of the MTA.
We also have an update on the progress of MACH 2020, last Friday saw the draw of Ballot one, which saw stands over 200 m sq being added to the floor plans. Ballot 2 is now open for stands 199 m sq and below, so see the story below and find out how you can apply to be at the UK’s premier manufacturing technologies showcase.
In order to meet the increasing demand for machine tools of various types from user sectors in India, the Government of Karnataka with the support of Government of India is setting up a Machine Tool Park near Tumakuru, around 70 km from Bangalore, which is a strong machine tool producing centre in India. This Park is being developed exclusively for locating machine tool manufacturers, component and supply chain manufacturers and service providers to the machine tool industry. Find out how you can get involved in the story below.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a controversial subject at present, especially with China’s growing tendency towards strategic buyouts of European industry. Nevertheless, the EU’s proposal for an FDI Screening Mechanism will not address the issue adequately. CECIMO, in a new position paper, recommends a more precise scope for the regulation, while underlining the right of Member States to perform investment screening.
One of the world’s most successful manufacturing research centres is to launch a new capability to support the UK government’s vision for a ‘Great British Space Age’. Find out more within the Brief.
An overwhelming majority of UK industrial product manufacturers want continued regulatory alignment with the EU, a new industry survey by Euris has revealed. UK companies told the survey that their supply chains have already been disrupted by post-referendum currency changes and that EU27 companies have started to select non-UK suppliers amidst the ongoing uncertainty of post-Brexit arrangements. Find out more below.
MTA members Citizen Machinery UK’s Annual Open House event being staged at the UK headquarters in Bushey between 16 and 18 October. Their will be 16 machines on view and the launch of new machines as well, find out more details on what’s on show and how to attend in the story below.
The Association has been at IMTS in Chicago; the exhibition has been really busy breaking records both for space sold and registrations/attendance. The buzz around the halls has reflected the range of new technology on show with special feature areas for additive manufacturing and digital developments in engineering. As well as supporting the UK exhibitors we have been meeting our international colleagues and developing plans for future activities targeted at benefiting MTA members both in the UK and around the world. One element has been a data update for the machine tool industry which we will make available once we have the final version and there have also been discussions around the global machine tool forecast which will, in future, include some special articles and scenario analysis alongside the regular country and industry forecasts.
The main economic news this week has been the UK manufacturing output data; the overall headline was down slightly but the underlying picture is generally steady and although the data for specific industries is mixed with a few negative trends, most of the actual levels remain high by historical standards. There is a similar picture in the reports from the Bank of England’s Agents where manufacturing activity is down slightly compared to earlier in the year, but still above average levels; in line with other surveys, they are reporting high levels of capacity utilisation (with skilled labour a particular constraint), but an easing of investment intentions in the face of rising uncertainty. The European industrial output data has a similar pattern with short-term reductions in activity although the capital goods industry remains the strongest sub-sector, especially in the 12-month trend. Returning to the UK, the monthly GDP trend published by the ONS alongside the output data points to a strengthening of growth on a short-term basis, although the annualised rate of growth remains relatively subdued at just +1.4%.
That’s 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.
