This month 25 years ago - March 1988

One such is Telford-based Warner & Swasey, a US-owned CNC lathe maker that was assembling the new WSC-6 CNC lathe, which would be making an appearance at MACH 88. We highlighted that over half the value of the machine would be added in the UK. The UK's EMI-MEC was to show its Drillsprint 500, a drilling and tapping machine with a six-spindle turret head and computer-controlled table positioning capability. UK EDM machine maker Eroda also had a presence, with its all-new Orbitronic CNC die-sink machine, which saw the table provide an orbiting action, not the electrode head. Another British EDM machine maker, Mecrode (part of Noble & Lund), also pitched up with a new die-sink EDM machine; it featured the Mecromatic programmable generator, intended for inexperienced operators. But for EDM, it was Germany's Deckel that was demonstrating the not-yet-common power of contouring CNC on die-sink EDMs to produce shapes by software, rather than via electrode form. Other UK machine tool companies at MACH 88 that have since disappeared (as all of those mentioned above have) included horizontal machining and FMS system specialist KTM; machining centre and CNC lathe maker Beaver Machine Tool; special-purpose machine maker Hartridge; grinding machine maker Griffon; CNC lathe maker Wickman Bennett Machine Tool Co; and horizontal boring centre maker Kearns-Richards. Of course, many foreign machine tool names present at MACH 88 have also disappeared. The rise of the low-cost vertical machining centre was already being witnessed, with Machinery highlighting this and instancing Gate International's importing of a 620 mm X-axis machine priced "at under £45,000" – that's £90,000 in 2011 pounds. It was competing with US brand Fadal, for example, which at MACH 88 was offering a Fadal 40/20 (40" by 20" [1,016 mm by 508 mm] travel) for £50,000. In the news pages, UK machine tool maker Jones & Shipman (now a Hardinge-owned company) had clinched a £1 million order from Austin Rover Group for fully automatic honing machines. Elsewhere, the Engineering Council had launched its Professional Links in Schools, a response to the forthcoming 20% drop in school leaver numbers and concerns about the ability to fill the increasing number of professional engineer and scientist posts. It was also linked to government's push to see 10% of teachers engage with business annually – then 1%. There was more news on the Manufacturing Automation Protocol, the GE-inspired initiative to create a standard for machine tool/computer interfacing in support of greater automation. At a cost per node of £2,000 to £3,000, it was just too expensive for smaller companies, offered a supplier of a lower cost alternative, Syntel, which was in the process of installing such a network at an automotive company – a price of £300 per node was claimed. On the features front, engineering materials came under the spotlight, with metal matrix composites (MMC) the subject. Rolls-Royce was saying that it was materials that were holding back aero-engine technology, adding that 50% of the improvement in cost and performance required by military engines by 2000 would be down to better materials. Automotive engines would also require better materials to improve their performance and economy, we noted. Japan and the US led the field in MMC development, but the DTI had sponsored technical tours to both countries, with a report generated by the UK's BNF Metals Technology Centre on possibilities for UK action and engagement with these countries. In another feature, we cover McKechnie Metals' almost £8 million spend on developing the most advanced and efficient non-ferrous metal extrusion facility at its Walsall, West Midlands factory. Including a new extrusion press and new EDM machines in its toolroom for die production, the investment would allow billets of up to 500 kg to be processed via a 3,000 tonne press. McKechnie Metals had a library of over 26,000 extrusions that it produced. Events this month, March 1988 [] Avalanche at Swiss Ski resort 'Klosters' nearly kills Prince Charles [] Three IRA suspects shot dead in Gibraltar by SAS officers [] Iraq says it launched 16 missiles on Tehran [] BeeGees' brother Andy Gibb dies of an inflammatory heart virus [] English pound note replaced by pound coin First published in Machinery, March 2013