Positive and productive

MACH 2010 visitor numbers topped 20,000, compared to the previous event's 27,000, in 2008. It was a creditable performance, bearing in mind the global collapse of capital investment following the finance sector-inspired calamity of 2009. Image: HRH the Duke of York, Prince Andrew opens MACH 2010 in suitably technologically advanced fashion, breaking a Renishaw laser beam to set off a buzzer The show was opened by HRH the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who then went on to tour a number of exhibitor stands. Welcome as that was, the attendance of both Dr Vince cable - Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade – and his deputy, Mark Prisk, Minister for Business and Enterprise, was probably the more important event. The two toured the hall on Thursday, 10 June, visiting stands and hearing from those at the coal face. Mr Prisk also took questions from journalists (see box item, below), including Machinery's editor, and gave a comprehensive response, although this pro-industry effort has been latterly tarnished by the cancellation of support for Sheffield Forgemasters' proposed investment in an ultra-large forging press (see Opinions section, this website), which came ahead of the 'austerity budget', details of which were announced as we went to press. Image: Mark Prisk, Minister for Business and Enterprise, left, with president of the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) Bob Hunt on the stand of Star Micronics GB, of which Mr Hunt is the managing director Image: Mark Prisk, left, gets a crash course in CNC technology on the Mori Seiki stand, aided by its vice president, sales, Steve Finn Show organiser the Manufacturing Technologies Association hosted a roundtable discussion with the visitors, with prominent figures from within the industry attending, including: Sir David McMurtry, chairman, Renishaw Plc; Adrian Allen of the AMRC; and Sir Ronald Halstead, president of the Engineering Industries Alliance. Topics covered included: the future of capital allowances; support for SMEs to export; the Government's plans to increase the number of apprenticeships; the future of R&D Tax Credits; and the urgent need to reduce the bureaucracy that SMEs face in their dealings with government. Image: Mark Prisk during the roundtable discussion with members of the MTA. Simon Pollard, managing director of Kyal Machine Tools, to his left, and Bob Hunt, MTA president, to his right Image: Business Secretary of State Dr Vince Cable in discussion with MTA members – Renishaw plc's Sir David McMurtry, chief executive, pictured to his right The MTA says that participants "were heartened by the attitude of the Ministers and many of the answers they gave," adding that: "It was refreshing to meet senior politicians in 'listening mode'." There were also several things on which the politicians asked for further input from the MTA, it is reported, notably on developing new models for delivering apprenticeships and export support. REBALANCING ACT The Secretary of State, Dr Cable, noted that the fact that two Ministers were present was a reflection of the importance the Government placed on manufacturing as it attempts to rebalance the economy and move into growth. Image: Dr Cable pays a visit to the Renishaw stand and gets a briefing on measurement technology from its chairman and CEO, Sir David McMurtry All this was welcome backdrop, and one that may deliver dividends in the future, but the main business for MACH 2010 exhibitors was successful business discussions, and there were many reports from the show underscoring tangible triumph. Tony Pennington, managing director of cutting tool supplier WNT (UK), probably summed up the sentiment going in to the show well: "I guess most exhibitors were a little nervous ahead of MACH 2010, but we had a steady stream of visitors to our stand throughout the week, from Tuesday through to Friday. We are extremely pleased with the number of solid enquiries we received, with in excess of 1,250 people visiting the stand, with around 20 per cent of them generating good quality enquiries that we will be following up." Image: WNT (UK) raised over £1,400 during the exhibition through a prize draw for a mountain bike, the lucky winner being Paul Dunn, plant manager at West Pharmaceutical Services, Bodmin, Devin (left). Iain Tattersall, WNT (UK)'s technical sales engineer for the south west region presented the prize Metrology specialist Carl Zeiss' (01788 821 770) managing director Andrew Thompson added to this: "We were hopeful that the MACH show would enable us to build on the success of the DuraMax [CMM], but the responses we've been getting from visitors has gone way beyond anything we expected." CADCAM software specialist Open Mind supported this positive sentiment. "MACH far exceeded our expectations, with a remarkably high lead count," says Adrian Smith, managing director. "Brand awareness and general interest in our products also proved very positive. We generated some very good quality leads that will definitely turn into new business. In all, the exhibition was a remarkable success for Open Mind and we are very pleased with the outcome." Mills CNC (01926 736736) reported 11 Doosan machines sold from its stand. "We have had a great MACH Show. The phenomenal interest shown amongst precision manufacturers for the latest Doosan machine tool technology meant that we were rushed off our feet and, over the 5 days, we welcomed well over 1,500 visitors onto our stand," says managing director Nick Frampton. Of the 11 machines sold – four were lathe/turning centres range, six were milling/machining centre range and one was drawn from the MX range of mill-turn centres. "The fact that three of these machine tool orders came from companies that were completely new to us is particularly pleasing, and demonstrates the pulling power of Doosan technology and the attractiveness of what Mills has to offer," Mr Framtpon concluded. Image: Business was brisk on the Mills CNC stand Nigel Atherton, managing director of Devon-headquartered XYZ Machine Tools (01823 674200), was also in buoyant mood, describing his company's attendance as "a success", adding: "This has been a tremendous team effort and it is a result that I hope signals the start of something good, in terms of the UK climbing out of recession." His comments came on the back of a performance that, at close of play on the final day, saw several orders in hand, totalling over £250,000, and more than 400 enquiries to follow up. XYZ Machine Tools scored success, taking over £250,000 in orders and has 400 enquiries to follow up Faro was able to report "huge success", with this supported by the revelation that it took a single six-figure sale to long-standing customer and partner 3D Scantech Ltd. The company has purchased three FAROArm Platinum, one FARO Laser Line Probe, one FARO Laser Tracker and two sets of the FARO's measurement software CAM2 Q. 3D Scantech has successfully offered a subcontracting measurement service for the last three years and is now also offering the possibility to rent its systems. Also announcing a six-figure order sum was Agie Charmilles (02476 538666), sold seven machine tools with a combined order value in excess of £800,000. Together with the "substantial number" of serious and positive machine tool sales leads and enquiries, the company reports it "well on track to achieve its 2010 sales targets". Two of the orders were for its milling technology, a VCE 1000 Pro 3-axis machine and a HPM 800U 5-axis machine. Winning business on the Agie Charmilles stand "Whichever way you look at it, we have had a really good MACH show," reports Martin Spencer, managing director at Agie Charmilles (02476 538666). "It's always great to take new machine tool orders on the stand and I'm really pleased that three of these orders came from new customers. I was also impressed by the volume and the quality of the machine tool and customer service enquiries we took during the week, which we are now actively following up." LVD took a £750,000 order from subcontractor Carlton Laser Services (CLS), Leicester, for three high performance Easy-Form Series CNC press brakes and LVD CADMAN offline software. Several others companies reported a positive MACH show, either through orders or enquiry levels (see box item), but to review, en masse, the 'New@MACH' products, refer to the separate Launched at MACH supplement, supplied with this issue. Image: Chris Phillips (left), managing director of LVD, and Mohan Jassi (right), operations director of Carlton Laser Services, inspect test parts during bending trials Box item 1 Reporting on success • CMZ (01788 562111) received an order for a TC20 YS lathe with Y-axis and sub-spindle from Kings Langley-based Formula One machining specialist JK Engineering. • Leader CNC (02476 353874), agent for large Toshiba machining centres/boring machine, Kitamura machining centres, plus Unamuno, DMC and Monforts lathes, is expecting orders in excess of £1 million as a result of MACH, says managing director, Mr Rob Prosser. • Planit Software (01255 506100) won a new customer for its Radan 3D and Radraft sheet metal CADCAM software packages, following a demonstration. "This is a completely new customer for us," said Planit's regional director, Simon Lee. "We had demonstrated Radan to them 18 months ago, but they put their purchase plans on hold because of the recession. We invited them to our stand and were delighted when they visited, especially when they agreed to take Radan to enable them to convert their customers' designs." The company will use the technology to solve its job preparation and production issues, including folding and unfolding 2D and 3D designs, which previously had to be carried out manually, prior to manufacture on its Bystronic machine. • Advanced Carbide Tooling (01455 234000) numerous credit cards for its Nine9 range of indexable cutting tools that allow end users to interchange a wide variety of inserts and grades on a single toolholder. • Exhibiting within MACH's new UK Supplier Zone proved a resounding success for first-time MACH exhibitor Hone-All Precision. The Bedfordshire-based subcontractor made contact with more than 40 new potential customers. In fact, on the first working day following MACH 2010, Hone-All responded to three serious enquiries, received confirmation of one order and arranged for three prospective customers to visit the company's Leighton Buzzard premises. The show was really busy and the feedback from visitors has been really positive," says Andrea Rodney, co-director. "The majority were very technically knowledgeable and could, therefore, appreciate the expertise on offer, as well as Hone-All's willingness to take on challenging jobs that they would prefer to subcontract rather than tackle themselves." Hone-All Precision's facilities, which will be busier, following a good result at the MACH exhibition, reports the company's Andrea Rodney, co-directopr • Several orders were taken on the Thame Workholding (01844 208050) stand. "By the end of the week, we were in the enviable situation of having more sales leads than we received during the previous MACH exhibition," says Maurice Day, director. You can read about more company successes at the MACH show by visiting the MACH channel on this website. If this is no longer visible on the main navigation, it has been moved to the News archive. Box item 2 Interview between representatives of the technical press and Mark Prisk, Minister of State (Business and Enterprise), Business, Innovation and Skills, undertaken at MACH 2010 on Thursday, 10 June Image: Mark Prisk, in conversation with MTA members Following the Budget and Government actions taken, both before and after the Budget, some elements of this interview have been overtaken. Questions and answers are reported in the order taken and given. Content has been only lightly edited. Q: Andrew Allcock, Editor, Machinery: The previous Government had a manufacturing strategy, do you intend to continue in any way with that strategy or with a manufacturing strategy? A: Mark Prisk: We do want to have a clear plan. I am slightly wary of strategies without leadership. The previous Government had three manufacturing plans, but still lost more manufacturing jobs over 13 years than we saw in previous recessions. Plans are fine, they're important to have direction, but the key thing is to focus on the things that matter. I am here to listen to the things that businesses want, which is a long term sense of direction around skills and investment, and also making sure that they get the support they need for things like exports. We are putting together a clear plan, both to rebalance the economy away from overdependence on financial services, but also to clear away some of the things that have stopped businesses growing [in the past]. So, a clear sense of purpose, but also a bit more ministerial leadership. Q: Andy Allcock, Editor, Machinery: So not a strategy but a plan. Will that plan be published? A: Mark Prisk: We will set out our details in the next few months, yes. Q: Mike Excell, Editor, MWP: Towards the end of the last Government, we saw support for manufacturing investment, at Sheffield Forgemasters, for example. There has been much speculation in the press as to whether this kind of thing will continue. It's quite important that larger companies are supported. We have heard a lot from politicians about SMEs, but they need the bigger companies. What is the position on the Sheffield Forgemasters investment? A: Mark Prisk: Okay. Any incoming management in any business knows that they have to do some due diligence on what they have inherited. What we are doing, quite rightly, is looking back at all the major projects that were signed up in the last six months, just to make sure we know exactly what we are inheriting. We are going through them carefully. If they meet principles about value for money and also our priorities, then clearly they will progress. You saw our decision yesterday [9 June] on Nissan at Sunderland [a £20 million grant plus a loan guarantee awarded to Nissan to secure production of the electric car, the Leaf, in Sunderland]. That's a good example. So we are working our way through them, there are quite a lot and there were some, let's just say, politely, some interesting ones that the noble Lord Mandelson signed off before the election. We will then announce those individually. I am not in a position to say A or B project, at the moment. In the longer term, what we have argued is that we think what's important is that Government supports the capabilities of enterprise and industry, rather than always doling out big pots of money here, there and everywhere. And that's the message I was getting on the shopfloor here [at MACH], which is that people feel very strongly that they want a sense of direction about the market they are working in, rather than pots of money divide up a thousand different ways. Q: Dave Tuder, Editor Production Engineering Solutions: There are very few kids coming out of school thinking about engineering as a career. Is there anything you can do to address that, to make the industry more attractive to school leavers? A: Mark Prisk:We have been talking about that. We are just about to have a working lunch with the MTA [Manufacturing Technologies Association – organiser of MACH 2010], who I think are taking a very positive approach to this and we have one or two very good examples here. The AMRC's MANTRA truck, which I have seen used by Rolls-Royce to take the message to schools, colleges and so on, exciting students'interest. I also think that projects like Bloodhound excite interest. What I would say to others is that what engineering delivers can produce tremendously exciting projects that excite people. I am a child of the era that remembers the first man on the moon – that is a remarkable engineering achievement. I think we need to have that little bit of inspiration in saying to young people, you know what, there is a great career in engineering and here are the paths through which you can get to it. So we are looking very carefully at how we can support some of the very good initiatives that are out there, to see whether we need to do something additional or recognise that they are working well and help them, rather than clutter the system up with 25 other initiatives when there are good things out there already. There some good initiatives there and we want to work with industry to make sure we strengthen them. Q: Brendan Coyne, Editor, Quality Management Today: Will there be any tax incentives for capital investment? A: Well, we are coming up to the Budget on 26 June. We are looking very carefully that changes to the tax system, which we want to make simpler and more predictable - which is what most of the manufacturers here say to us - also recognise the particular capital needs of manufacturing. Because, certainly the message I got from many of the businesses here, whether it was excellent small businesses like Qualiturn or some of the bigger players here, the multi-nationals, is that what they want is a degree of consistency about the tax regime. On the 22 June, the Chancellor will set out our changes to the corporation tax system which will incorporate our approach to how investment is recognised and rewarded appropriately. But it is important. If you look at what the Chancellor said at the CBI dinner, when he made a very specific reference to the fact that, yes, we want to reform the system, simplify it, strip away some of the unnecessary elements or complications that are there, it is quite clear that we are not going to penalise manufacturing as a result of that. Q: Andrew Allcock, Editor, Machinery: For a country that has so many wind turbines and expects to have many more, onshore and offshore, it's remarkable that we don't have our own wind turbine manufacturer. What do you think of the fact that we don't have our own strong indigenous manufacturing base for wind turbine components? A: Mark Prisk: Very clearly, the UK needs to look how, particularly offshore, we can strengthen our ability to use that renewable energy source. We are looking very carefully at [that], and there are several projects in the group of projects that we are reviewing, which are looking at how we can ensure we have, based in Britain, the capability to design and build those turbines. They are in that mix of projects that were partly signed off, or not, by the last Government, I'm working my way through those, but given what I said that there is an importance to this, I am looking at this very carefully to see what we can do to enable that to happen. Whether that needs Government subsidy or whether there are other ways, in terms of how we procure these projects, I am working on that at this moment. I think it is an important part of making sure that we enable those offshore wind farms to happen that we enable capability to manufacture core elements within the United Kingdom. Regarding procurement, in this country, we sometimes procure in a way that is counter-productive to the interests of UK plc, and that is one of the things I want to look at very carefully, to make sure that the UK does the right thing in enabling the capability to be developed in this country. First published in Machinery, July 2010