Friday Brief (22/03/2024) W12

Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! The weather seems to be finally brightening up a bit for the weekend so make sure to get out and get some fresh Spring air!

We would like to begin the newsletter with an introduction to a new MTA Member, End to End Solutions. They were asked by a client recently to assist them in enhancing their KPI’s and visual management as an initial stepping stone on their C.I. journey. They started the process looking at the data they had for production and decided what would work best for their operation. Find out more about the project below.

As the MTA are member of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) we are able to join forces with Amazon in the UK for an exclusive business accelerator programme designed to help small firms innovate and grow. A cohort of up to 25 businesses will be selected to take part in the Amazon Innovation Accelerator, a free programme which will showcase the latest trends and strategies on everything from tech adoption to leadership and management – with best-in-class guidance from across Amazon, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the GBCC. See more details in the story.

Please be advised that a New Work Item Proposal has been loaded to the BSI Standards Development Portal for comment. The proposal reads: Robotics — Modularity for service robots — Part 402: Modules for exoskeleton robots. The Scope and purpose can be found in the story.

Jack Semple from EAMA has sent us a new article on newly-adopted EU law. The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) will affect exports to the EU and to Northern Ireland of a wide range of machinery when it comes into force. The UK government notes that the CRMA will come into force in two-to-three years’ time and includes new labelling requirements regarding permanent magnets, including details of responsible individuals and magnetic composition. Read the full article in the story below.

Although the meeting of the MPC this week kept the Bank Rate on hold at 5.25% with an 8-1 vote, there was a hint in the comments made by the Governor of the Bank of England that the May meeting could see a cut in interest rates. We discuss this further in our economic news article this week.

That article also includes a summary of the flash estimates of the March Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing that were published this week. While still negative (but only just), the news is looking a little more positive for the UK, although it is helped by the perverse impact of lengthening suppliers’ delivery times on the calculation. The picture is mixed globally, with the Euro-zone notably weaker while the US, Japan and India all saw varying degrees of improvement.

That concludes the Friday Brief for another week! We hope you have a great weekend and we’ll see you again next Thursday to bring you a few stories before Easter!

ECONOMIC NEWS

UK Interest Rate Decision: Members will be aware that the Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain Bank Rate at 5.25% at its meeting this week. However, perhaps the most significant element of this decision is that none of the Committee’s members voted to raise interest rates for the first time since September 2021. The vote […]

New EU law to affect machinery exports

A newly-adopted EU law, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), will affect exports to the EU and to Northern Ireland of a wide range of machinery when it comes into force. The UK government notes that the CRMA will come into force in two-to-three years’ time and includes new labelling requirements regarding permanent magnets, including […]

ISO/NP 22166-402- – Link to New Work Item Proposal

Please be advised that a New Work Item Proposal has been loaded to the BSI Standards Development Portal for comment. Any comments received will be submitted to the national committee AMT/10 “Robotics” for consideration when deciding the UK response to the associated Standards Development Organisation. Proposal: Robotics — Modularity for service robots — Part 402: […]

Free Business Accelerator Programme for West Midlands MTA members

Untangling the digital thread with the AMRC at MACH 2024

The AMRC is untangling the digital thread concept at MACH 2024 (April 15-19). This transformative technology connects a product’s full lifecycle, offering a ‘single source of truth’ for seamless information exchange. Visit our stand (6-160) and discover how the foundations of the digital thread can streamline your manufacturing processes, empower you with real-time data insights […]

New MTA Member – End to End Solutions

My name is Mark Bond my great passion is helping manufacturing and processing businesses create more time in their day while improving cost control. I understand and sympathise with how challenging life can be in manufacturing or processing. By supporting your team, we can help you overcome those challenges together. Visual Management Project how to […]

Friday Brief