Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
The MTA is hosting a new event at Yamazaki Mazak, in Worcester, on the 27th June 2019. The Engineering Digital Mash Up is a meeting of up to 100 engineering, manufacturing and technology companies, digital providers and engineering students. The event will show SMEs what tools and projects are available, how they can help the business, which tools are free and the cost of others, as well as how to access them.
This year’s MTA Golf Day took place at The Leicestershire Golf Club on Wednesday 29th May where players were fortunate enough to enjoy bright sunshine. See the story below to find out which team took home the trophy.
In more MTA news our regular Business Survey was launched at the start of the week. We would encourage all MTA members to take a couple of minutes to submit your data so we can build an accurate picture of the general level of activity in our sector. The on-line form is available at www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-may19.
Join the MTC on the 27th June to help promote diversity and celebrate International Women in Engineering Day and the 100th anniversary of the Women in Engineering Society. The STEM the Gap Conference will be hosted on the 27th June 2019 at the MTC, in celebration of the centenary of the Women’s Engineering Society. The day will consist of talks, interactive workshops and panel discussions, addressing diversity and inclusion within the engineering community and bridging the gap in STEM at schools. More details below.
The IOA Noise and Vibration Engineering Group together with HSE will run a meeting in London to encourage low noise design inside and outside the factory. The event takes place on 18th September and if you would like to find out more please see the story below.
Prototype parts have been developed by the University of Sheffield AMRC for a company aiming to disrupt the mechanical power transmission market with its redesign of the roller chain - producing one that promises to be more durable, lightweight and low maintenance. See more about this development within the Brief.
The economic headlines this week come from the manufacturing industry Purchasing Managers Indices (PMI) which were almost universally gloomy. Following the burst of stock-building in the UK at the start of the year, this distortion is starting to unwind, at least in terms of ending the boost to output (inventory levels remain high) and our reading slipped below the crucial 50 level for the first time since July 2016. In Europe, Germany remains exceptionally weak and with Italy also below 50 and France and Spain only just above it, it is clutching at straws to draw much comfort from the fact that the Greek manufacturing PMI reading is the best in the Euro-zone! Elsewhere in the world, the news was similarly gloomy with most countries seeing their PMI slip from its April levels - the main exceptions here were India, Hungary and Sweden – and a number where the manufacturing sector is contracting. The latest iteration of the European GDP data for the 1st quarter of 2019 continues to point to modest growth, with some encouragement coming from slightly better data on Germany and an ending to the short-lived and modest Italian recession. Finally this week, the latest figures that support the Contract price Adjustment service.
That’s all for this week, thank you for reading, we’ll be back next Friday with more industry news and views, until then have a great weekend from everyone at the MTA.
