Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief.
Firstly, we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended the MTA’s Annual Dinner last night in London. As always it was great to see so many members together celebrating our industry and looking forward to the future with optimism. Find out more on the event in the story below.
The MTA launched TECH 4.0 – a new project-based work experience programme involving 48 students from schools across country. Supported by mentors from FANUC and the AMRC in Sheffield, the schools involved will spend the next 8 weeks researching technologies involved in Automation, Robotics and Smart Factories, more information is available within the Brief.
We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that the MTA Business survey is now open, you can take part in it by following this link www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-jan20 and we look forward to receiving your responses.
The Digital Catapult is looking for established UK and Germany based start-ups to pitch pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions to address core international challenges for the industrial manufacturing sector, with the opportunity to pitch to two corporate challenge owners, Siemens Plc UK and CHEP Europe. Details on how to get involved are contained in the story.
Are you a decision maker who wants to learn more about circular economy? Then the below HSSMI Bootcamp is for you. Their subject matter experts in circular economy will explain how circular economy principles can be applied in complex environments, aiming to make your business more profitable, innovative, and environmentally sustainable.
Magnomatics has teamed up with the University of Sheffield AMRC to drive big productivity improvements in offshore renewable energy generation using smart robotics and automation. Full details within the Brief.
The general economic picture is one of modest improvements while the overall picture remains, with some notable exceptions, generally weak. The UK manufacturing PMI registered exactly on the border figure of 50.0, its best level for 9 months and while the Euro-zone was better than for some time, the overall figure is still well below this level, thanks mainly to Germany. The picture elsewhere in Europe remains mixed with some up and others down, some above 50 and others still negative, a situation also shared with the Asian and American continents - overall, India (55.3) had the highest PMI reading, while the Czech Republic (45.2) and Germany (45.3) had the lowest. This data came before the outbreak of the Corona Virus and the impact of this globally will be a point of particular interest when we get the February data.
The other economic news this week is limited to the first estimate of GDP in Europe for the final quarter of the year which showed a slower pace than in the 3rd quarter. Overall, 2019 saw growth of +1.2% for the Euro-zone and +1.4% for the EU28. We also note the availability of the latest edition of the CECIMO Toolbox and the data book for the Contract Price Adjustment Service that we subscribe to on behalf of members – please see the story below for details of how to access these resources.
Thanks 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.
