This month 25 years ago - May 1988

Some subjects seem to have an infinite life. Training, or, rather, the lack of it, is one of them. In May, pattern maker JJ Harvey announces it is giving up apprentice training, because it can't keep up with 'poaching' – training people for others to swipe and who can offer higher wages because they don't train. In another article, the French vocational training system is compared to the UK system (then run by the Engineering Industries Training Board – EITB, now Semta). Funding was a key issue, with French companies paying 0.5% of payroll to fund government-organised, full-time vocational education. The EITB, with its training levy and levy exemptions, by comparison, could not compete. Neither did the EITB system consider the national interest, only company interest. There were other factors, but France's like-for-like output of craft and technician trainees had been higher for years, we observed. Training was in the news, too, with McMillan Intek launching open learning products for technical fields such as CADCAM, CNC and industrial process control. Resources included practical kits or computer discs, work books and self tests. The National Training awards were also kicked off by former British Aerospace chairman Sir Austin Pearce. All employees should have a chance of winning an award and those who don't should think seriously about their future, he said. Elsewhere, the Engineering Council's challenge to government 1983 figures on engineering graduates and HNC-level output in Japan and the UK was vindicated. Japan's degree-level output was 2.5 times that of the UK's per head of population, yes, but for production engineering Japan's output was nine times that of the UK's. Japan's output of HNC-level students was 36,700 (not 14,500 as originally reported), with this compared to the UK's 20,800. It was also noted that 90% of the population in each age group study maths to age 18+ versus the UK's 18% doing the same. In other news, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute at Macclesfield had developed a software package to compensate for thermal distortion in machine tools. The institute had worked with 13 UK-based machine tool firms to develop the technology. The MACH 88 exhibition had ended, with preliminary estimates saying that orders to the value of £41 million had been placed (that's about £82 million today). Organised by the Machine Tool Trades Association, now the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), the show attracted 69,000 visitors. Those pointing up sales at the event included Matrix Churchill, which had won a £5 million order from Austin Rover for nine CNC lathes, seven gantry loaders, conveyors and gauging. But, in the same month, we reveal that Hepworth Engineering is withdrawing from machine tool sales: it factored Tsugami and Dainichi CNC lathes, together with Mitsui Seiki machining centres. Norton Motorcycles was in the early pages, too, investing £400,000 in updating its factory. Having announced two new models and reformed its racing team, the ambition was to up production five-fold. (In late 2008, Stuart Garner, a UK businessman, bought the rights to Norton from some US entities, but recent press reports about the company's ability to deliver bikes to customers have been mixed – http://is.gd/jAxeNh). Features this month looked at: the application of turning centres (CNC lathes with driven tools and both turret and single-tool layouts), benefits and applications; punch presses – with an emphasis on the different tooling layouts and systems; unmanned, extended running friction welding; machine vision; an automated assembly project at Westland Helicopters, Yeovil; a John Brown engine automated assembly project in the Eastern Bloc for Skoda; a two-machine Mori Seiki horizontal machining centre with pallet pool cell for pump housing production at Ibex Pumps, Hastings (the company was subsequently absorbed into Alfa Laval). [] Francois Mitterrand elected president of France, again [] US surgeon general, C Everett Koop, says nicotine as addictive as heroin [] Commodore PC10-III computer features 640 kB RAM, 5.25-inch floppy drive, colour graphics, mouse support. Price, $999 [] Intelligence double-agent Kim Philby dies in Moscow [] FA Cup winners are Wimbledon, beating Liverpool 1-0. The Princess of Wales attends (pictured) Article first published in Machinery, May 2013