Friday Brief (21/06/2024) W25

Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! Well, Summer is finally here, we hope you all enjoy some time in the sun this weekend.

We would like to begin the newsletter with a save the date for our Annual Forecast Seminar taking place on Thursday 24^th October at Yamazaki Mazak. Registration is now open so get the date in your diary and book your space. Check out the outline of the day in the story below.

BSI have released 3 new standards that are awaiting your comments. Proposal 1 reads: General requirements for cyber-physically controlled smart machine tool systems (CPSMT) — Part 5: Requirements and guidelines for implementing reference architecture of CPSMT for additive manufacturing (CPSAM). Proposal 2 is regarding Mobile remotely controlled systems for nuclear and radiological applications – Particular requirements for aerial surveillance and proposal 3 reads: Explosive atmosphere ? Part 101: Principles of explosion protection. Please take a look at the Scope and Purpose below.

CECIMO have sent out a new press release following their spring meeting. During its General Assembly held in Tampere, Finland, CECIMO reported a resilient performance for the European machine tool sector in 2023. Political and economic uncertainties at the end of the year resulted in a short-term fall in order intake in 2024, however an improvement in key economic indicators and falling inflation means that orders are expected to increase in the second half of the year. You can read the full report in the story.

Croner have released their ‘In the Know’ newsletter that includes information on employment law and pledges from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats parties ahead of the general election. You can also find a list of webinars taking place next month in the story so check them out and follow the link to register.

Although we only have one item in the economic news this week, it is worth a brief reference to the decision of the MPC to keep Bank Rate at 5.25%. This had been widely expected, even down to the fact that the vote would be split 7-2, but it is still noteworthy that the minutes of the meeting mention that three of those in the majority who voted for “no change” said that the decision was “finely balanced”. You can get the minutes of the MPC meeting from the Bank of England website at https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-summary-and-minutes/2024/june-2024.

As a result, unless there are any major surprises in the next set of inflation and earnings numbers, it seems quite likely that the vote at their next meeting, which will be announced on 1^st August, will see the Bank of England join the European Central Bank in starting on a gradual policy of lowering interest rates. That will leave the US Federal Reserve as the last of the big three to start cutting rates, with the superior performance of the US economy being the main reason for their delay.

Our economic news article provides a summary of the flash estimates of the April Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing that were published this morning (this means that we don’t yet have the US figures). For the UK, the positive result from May was continued into June with the PMI edging higher; however, only India saw a similar improvement in the latest results, with the manufacturing PMI falling in the Euro-zone (including France and Germany), Japan and Australia.

That concludes the Friday Brief for this week! We hope you all have great weekends relaxing in the sun and we’ll be back next week with some great stories!

ECONOMIC NEWS

Flash Purchasing Managers Index, June 2024: S&P Global, who produce most of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reports, have published their flash estimates for June – these are usually based on about 85% of the final number of returns – although our publishing schedule means that the figures for the USA are not out until […]

Croner Webinar & E-Learning Schedule & Croner’s ‘In The Know’

The Conservatives have released their manifesto this week ahead of the General Election on 4 July 2024, setting out their plans if they stay in power. We look at the Party’s employment law related pledges. Liberal Democrats set out plans for workplace reform if they are successful in the General Election The Liberal Democrats have […]

MTA Forecast Seminar – 24th October

The MTA’s Forecast Seminar is now live on our website and taking bookings! Our Annual Forecast Seminar will be held at Yamazaki Mazak, Badgeworth Dr, Worcester WR4 9NF. We are delighted to welcome back speakers Ben May and Jeremy Leonard FROM Oxford Economics alongside our very own Geoff Noon. Here is a brief outline of […]

CECIMO SPRING MEETINGS 2024 PRESS RELEASE: STABLE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR EUROPEAN MACHINE TOOL PRODUCERS

Tampere, 18 June 2024 – During its General Assembly held in Tampere, Finland, CECIMO, the European Association of Manufacturing Technologies, reported a resilient performance for the European machine tool sector in 2023. Political and economic uncertainties at the end of the year resulted in a short-term fall in order intake in 2024, however an improvement in […]

BSI Standards

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/4 – Industrial data and manufacturing interfaces” for consideration when deciding the UK response to the associated Standards Development Organisation. Proposal 1: : ISO/NP 23704-5 […]

Friday Brief