We comment on an Engineering Council initiative to engender better school-industry links to encourage more people to choose engineering as a career. But 30% of Incorporated Engineers within the sector would not recommend engineering as a profession, we highlight. Industry must examine what future it really offers, we suggest.
World-class manufacturing comes under the spotlight in our second issue of the month. Japan has been a leader, but the West may be catching up, says Richard Schonberger, a management guru of the time. To be world class, there must be major change at many levels – inventory, labour and lead time reduction, plus improvements to quality, says Colin New, professor of manufacturing strategy at Cranfield School of Management. And we cite an example to highlight improvement potential for the smaller company. Subcontractor Express Engineering’s managing director, Keith Thompson, had, in the mid-80s, gathered all his company’s scrap together in a heap on the shopfloor and told his workforce: “This is your bonus this month.” It’s the start of a successful journey (www.express-engineering.co.uk).
In news this month, cell manufacturing techniques have increased in companies turning over £10 million, reports Ingersoll Engineers in a survey of 300 firms. Cells are described as: a near self-contained business unit, fully responsible for their operations, and both a customer and supplier to other parts of the business. Benefits are: on-time delivery; reduced inventory; improved quality; better responsivenes; and better workflow.
In UK machine tool industry news, Toyoda Machinery and Engineering of Milton Keynes is now promising 90% uptime for all its machines; also in Milton Keynes, new company Pittler UK now represents Pittler machines in the country (was Heckler & Koch); we profile Ward Hi-Tech, which has grown from start-up in 1984 to a multi-million-pound turnover operation; Hitachi Seiki has new showroom and training facilities in Egham, Surrey, with machines networked by ERT (UK) technology; press specialist Verson International Group hails 1990 turnover up 47%, to £91 million; Moss Machine Tools has won a multi-head machine order from Russia; one-year-old Wemex Watts (joint venture between William Watts and WMW Export-Import) now has Taiwanese agencies to complement its East German machine brands (East German industry is being re-organised through privatisation, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in the previous year); and Renishaw is holding Open Days to educate people about on-machine probes.
In other news, Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal is now offering Sumicrystal PD, a man-made diamond for grinding wheel dressing; Stellram has published a guide to machining aerospace and exotic materials; and SIP-DIXI (UK), distributor of DIXI 4 solid carbide cutters, says cutting speeds of 300 m/min can become 3,000 m/min in aluminium. We also review manufacturing technology show PEP where Yamazaki showed off its Integrex 40 ATC mill centre with Y-axis. And this links with our JIMTOF exhibition review (Osaka) and a related Japanese machine tool industry feature – at this time, Japan is the world’s largest producer of machine tools and the UK’s largest source of machine tool imports (1989 figures). There are 41 suppliers of Japanese machine tools in the UK listed in our JIMTOF review.
In other features this month: the use of modern CNC machine tools by the growing subcontracting sector comes under the spotlight – they are the major installers in the UK of CNC technology; a subcontracting supplement analyses the pyramid relationship of OEMs, principal subcontractor and sub-suppliers; Wyko tube tapering machines can produce lamp posts and flagpoles; Bath University’s School of Mechanical Engineering’s investment in modern manufacturing technology in support of graduate education; offline, office-based machine programming (CAM); milling cutter selection; understanding carbide insert coatings and benefits; HSS tooling, which is still relevant; and axle bearing seat spigot machining improvement at JCB.
Events this month
- First Gulf War begins; Royal Air Force and Allies bomb Iraq
- World’s largest oil spill, caused by embattled Iraqi forces in Kuwait
- UK recession deepens: 1,844,000 unemployed; 2 million expected before year end
- Cannon Street station train crash kills one person, injures over 500
- Gale force winds across Britain kill 27 people
- Microsoft announces the Windows New Technology operating system
