IN THE NEWS
Software company Geomagic has expanded its main European headquarters facilities located in Stuttgart, Germany. The new office space enables Geomagic to offer expanded training classes for its Geomagic Studio, Geomagic Qualify and Geomagic Wrap software products for reverse engineering and inspection. It also gives room for the company to host a partner hardware showcase for scanning and measurement on-site.
Nondestructive test (NDT) inspection service has been one of the few markets that performed impressively during the global economic downturn. It witnessed modest growth in 2009 and rebounded with an unexpectedly improved performance in 2010, say market analysts, Frost & Sullivan.
In Hall 3A, Stand E16 at the TCT live exhibition, Renishaw will be demonstrating its SLM125 and SLM250 Selective Laser Melting (SLM) systems, which utilise a pioneering, additive manufacturing process capable of producing fully dense metal parts direct from 3D CAD, using a high-powered fibre laser. Parts are built from a range of fine metal powders that are fully melted in a tightly controlled atmosphere, in layer thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 microns.
Following the announcement in March this year of £45m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for nine national Centre’s for Innovative Manufacturing, the first of these centres launched officially at Cranfield University last July.
Investment into Europe by Chinese manufacturing companies is set to reach record levels in the second half of 2011, according to analysis by Deloitte, the business advisory firm. The total value of the five transactions announced in the first six months of the year was well over $1 billion, and this figure is expected to increase by the end of the year. This will make it the largest volume of deals announced in a decade, surpassing the record of eight deals into Europe that completed in 2010.
The National Measurement Office has launched its National Measurement Strategy for 2011 – 2015. The strategy is designed to exploit the UK Government's investment in measurement research to support economic growth and to improve the UK's competitiveness and scientific excellence across all areas of business and government.
Which person or event has made the single biggest contribution to non-destructive testing and condition monitoring? That’s the question which the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) is asking practitioners in the run-up to its 50th anniversary celebrations later this year.
Barclays Corporate has jointly arranged a £125m Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) to support the growth plans of Bodycote plc both in the UK and overseas.
Skills and the next generation are never far from the surface when talking to manufacturers. And it doesn’t matter which sector or supply chain we are talking about - they all have the same problem, usually summed up as a loss of core technical skills due to an ageing workforce with not enough provision in place to replenish with a younger element. What we don’t want to end up with is a beggar my neighbour policy, where companies rob other companies by luring their people away with better job offers, higher wages etc.
Trescal, the international specialist for calibration services, has acquired Antech Engineering in the UK, a specialist provider in pressure, temperature and flow measurements. The acquisition will enhance the calibration services of the group in the oil and pharmaceutical industries.
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