Industrial subcontracting

A company that has developed a technology it says can lengthen the lifespan of LEDs by up to four times at no extra cost is to invest over £500k into a prototype manufacturing plant in Cambridge.

There are significant business benefits to be gained by managing product costs effectively, and yet many manufacturers still struggle to implement programmes that achieve this – writes Myles Peyton, Northern Europe managing director, aPriori.

Before the auto slowdown that saw two carmakers file for bankruptcy, the North American auto industry launched about 40 all-new vehicle models each year.

This year, it will introduce 74. And for the next five years, auto industry watchers expect about 70 new vehicles each year — not just refreshed models, auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers told members of the Canadian Association of Mold Makers during a May 14 meeting in Mississauga — but all new models.

India has sought academic collaboration with various US institutions to leverage the full potential of the  education sector to meet the increasing needs of both the countries, particularly in the fields of information and technology.

Midlands based carbon and graphite specialist, Erodex Limited, has partnered with global industry leader, SGL Carbon, and invested £750k in a bid to enter the high temperature furnace market with its new product range, Erodex HT.

Engel Holding GmbH says its sales in Mexico of injection molding machines, robots and spare parts soared in fiscal 2012, boosted by purchases from a hitherto ignored source: Japanese Tier 1 auto parts suppliers.

Henke, CEO of Planning Perspectives Inc. in suburban Detroit, says North America's six major automakers made zero progress improving relations with suppliers over the past year.

Henke, who released his annual study of 441 suppliers today, boiled his results down to informal letter grades for Automotive News.

American Machinist
U.S. Machine Tool Orders Rose 30% in March
American Machinist
The new result represents $468.09 million in metal cutting equipment and technology, and $39.83 million in orders for metal forming and fabricating products.

Hexagon Composites has received its largest North American TITAN order to date, supplying lightweight composite TITAN gas transportation modules to Xpress Natural Gas in the US.

"TITAN interest in the North American market continues to be strong", says Chet Dawes, Director of Sales for North America. "The benefits of TITAN are being demonstrated throughout the world and we are excited to have such a great partner in Xpress Natural Gas to continue to showcase the use of TITAN in the US."

The Malaysian management of Balda AG's injection molding plant in Ipoh, Malaysia, have purchased the plant's production and services, effective March 31.

The new owner, Blue Ocean Genius Sdn Bhd, is majority owned by James Lim, who was managing director of the Balda AG subsidiary, Balda Solutions Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

Kepston has invested over £1.5m in new equipment, including a CNC jig grinder, at its Aldridge and Wednesbury sites. The specialist subcontractor, which offers services including brazing, annealing, heat treatment and machining in addition to jig grinding, says it currently experiencing one of the strongest trading periods in its history.

Land Rover and UK charity, WISE, have announced a new scholarship programme to support young females looking to pursue a career in engineering.

Potential opportunities for electronics manufacturing service (EMS) providers is set to increase gradually over the next few years, according to Frost & Sullivan’s new analysis.

Norco have been supplying Glass Reinforced plastic components and tooling services for over 27 years, up until the opening of the new composites centre this diversification of projects and technologies had been spread across the 4 separate work centres totalling 85,000sqft.

Chemical etching specialist Precision Micro has been working with Vestatec Automotive Engineering to bring a number of new interior design possibilities to prestige car manufacturers.

The Conferderation for British Industry (CBI), says in its latest economic forecast that the UK economy will continue to grow this year along with the strength of exports.

Triumph Group has acquired Primus Composites from Precision Castparts. he acquired business, which consists of two manufacturing facilities in Farnborough, UK and Rayong, Thailand, will operate as Triumph Structures-Farnborough and Triumph Structures-Thailand and will be included in the Aerostructures Group. Triumph says the business is expected to add approximately $55 million in annual revenue and to be immediately accretive to earnings.

Merseyside based engineering firm IPS Marine Fabrications is reporting rapid growth after doubling its workforce to 30 in the last 12 months.

Fiat Group says problems with supply from components maker Selmat Automotive SpA has forced it to halt production at plants in Italy, Spain and Serbia.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced last week that over half of the contract value for the first Jaguar F-Type is with UK companies.

SMEs saw orders and output continue to fall in the three months to April, though the survey reveals that firms are expecting both to grow in the next quarter. This decrease in total new orders was driven by falls in both domestic and export demand.

Bioplastics maker Cereplast Inc. is moving its headquarters from California to Indiana in a move that will save the firm at least $600,000 per year.

Cereplast's current headquarters site in El Segundo, Calif., will be closed in favor of Seymour, Ind., where the firm operates a bioplastics plant. Cereplast also is moving its European headquarters from Bonen, Germany, to Milan, Italy, resulting in the closure of the Bonen office.

A University of Texas at Arlington aerospace engineer is developing diagnostic and predictive tools that can aid aircraft manufacturers in analyzing composite structures used to make aircraft safer, faster, and more reliable. Andrew Makeev, an associate professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is studying how to improve and integrate design and manufacturing processes to advance the performance of composite materials used in aircraft structures. The work is funded by a $559,427 grant from the Office of Naval Research.