Friday Brief Intro 10/06/2022

Good morning and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! With a long weekend filled with celebrations we are back with a bang in the first Friday Brief of June!

To kick things off the MTA are looking at opportunities to offer our members access to high-quality cost-effective training solutions. To help us secure the training that you need we would like to get your views. Please take a look at the survey we have put together through the link in the story below.

As you may already be aware, one of the services that we offer is free access BSI standards through the British Standards Online (BSOL) system. We are working with BSI to provide some complimentary training on the 17th June 2022 from 11:00 to 11:30 am to ensure that you are able to obtain the maximum value from this system. Find out what the survey includes in the story.

City & Guilds in partnership with EAL have been awarded to be the delivery partner for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (The Institute) to develop the new T Level Technical Qualifications (TQs) in Engineering and Manufacturing. You can find extra details below.

The US and EU issued a joint statement after a top-level meeting of the Trade and Technology Council, which was set up last year. The two sides committed to exchange information and explore opportunities for collaboration in R&D, notably for Artificial Intelligence, telecomms beyond 5G and 6G, and quantum computing. Common approaches towards 6G international standards are particularly relevant, they said. Read more in the story.

Everyone can do something to improve their cyber security, you don’t have to be from an IT or technical background. The NCSC are here to help you understand what actions you can do to improve your own and your organisation’s cyber security. Check out how they can help in the story below.

We wanted to take this opportunity to remind all members that you continue to have free and unlimited access to the Lloyds Bank International Trade Portal giving you access to a wide range of trade data and information to support your business at home and overseas. To register for free, or see a short demo please go to the story.

The EU and Japan have pledged closer geo-political and economic ties. A joint statement issued last month, but little-reported in the UK, addresses the Ukraine crisis, calling for Russia to withdraw its troops, and pledges closer economic co-operation. Read the statement in the story and find a link to the whole article.

Halston Group is a collective of companies and initiatives, with a B2B marketing agency at its core. They have created a ‘Entering the GreenTech Era’ whitepaper. In this paper they will be delving into the topic of GreenTech and how this monumental sector will aid our global and local move towards carbon neutrality. It compiles industry analysis and first-hand insight from experts in the sector to delve into the emerging technologies that are entering the space and how they will play their part in the decarbonisation of the planet. Please go to the story to find the full paper.

Flight cancellations cause disruption to workplaces With cancelled flights and delays at airports preventing employees from arriving back in the UK in time for their scheduled return to work after their holidays, Croner look at the implications for employers in the story.

Jack Semple, Secretary of EAMA (of which MTA is a member) reports that the Scottish government has launched a four-year, £25 million innovation fund to speed up the adoption or development of low carbon products, services, technologies or processes in manufacturing. Check out Jack’s full report below.

The main economic news this week is the data for the manufacturing sector from the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) survey. Globally, it was something of a mixed bag and while most countries remain above the crucial 50 level, there was a variety of reasons for that. In some places, business improved or at least continued its modest growth path, while others were positive because of the perverse way in which lengthening suppliers’ delivery times are treated which means that a worse situation (longer deliveries) leads to an increase in the index. The UK itself had a rather mixed picture with slower growth in orders and output although the investment goods sub-sector saw growth accelerate. We explore this in the article below.

Our general economic news article this week has a European theme; we discuss the results of the Spring edition of the European Additive Manufacturing Survey carried out by CECIMO, the upwardly revised GDP data from Eurostat and the European Commissions’ Economic Sentiment Index.

Finally, a reminder that the May edition of the MTA Business Survey is underway; you can access the questionnaire at www.mta.org.uk/mta-business-survey-may22 and, with thanks to those who have responded already, we hope you can spare a couple of minutes to let us have your input to this – we would love to hear from you.

Thank you for keeping up to date with us! That is all we have for the Friday Brief until next week. Have a great week and we look forward to ‘seeing’ you soon!

Halston Group – Entering the GreenTech Era

Halston Group is a collective of companies and initiatives, with a B2B marketing agency at its core. Halston Group is awakening conversation in technical industries, igniting inspiration and creating radical change. The company is a tight-knight group of industry experts, with years of experience in heavy, technical, and sustainable industries. The umbrella brand encompasses Sustainability […]

MTA/BSOL Standards System Webinar 17th June 2022

As you may already be aware, one of the services that we offer is free access BSI standards through the British Standards Online (BSOL) system. We are working with BSI to provide some complimentary training on the 17th June 2022 from 11:00 to 11:30 am to ensure that you are able to obtain the maximum value from […]

LAMIERA 2022

The outcome was positive for the 2022 edition of LAMIERA, the international trade show of sheet metal forming machines tools and related technologies, which took place at fieramilano Rho from 18 to 21 May. Promoted by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems manufacturers’ association, and organised by CEU-CENTRO ESPOSIZIONI UCIMU, LAMIERA […]

ECONOMIC NEWS

European Additive Manufacturing Survey, Spring 2022: CECIMO has published the results of the Spring survey of the European market for Additive Manufacturing (AM). This bi-annual survey covers machinery, products, materials and services in the AM sector and the UK element was carried out by MTA/AM-UK. The latest results pointed to strong growth expectations for both […]

Scottish grants for low-carbon ideas

Croner – In the Know

Flight cancellations cause disruption to workplaces With cancelled flights and delays at airports preventing employees from arriving back in the UK in time for their scheduled return to work after their holidays, we look at the implications for employers. • Whilst it is the employee’s responsibility to contact their employer to explain their absence if […]

Friday Brief