A year like
never before
2020 is a year that will forever be remembered due
to the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,
as manufacturing rallied around to fi ght the virus.
However, one of the positives coming out of
the crisis has been the accelerated use of new
technology which is helping overcome challenges
The rst issue of the year in January
( www.is.gd/XOFhOf ) led with the theme
of how the last 12 months coverage in
Machinery had pointed to a decade of
change and how times are changing.
Featuring heavily was the MACH 2020
exhibition, that as we know, never took place
in Birmingham due to the global Covid-19
outbreak and a preview in the issue, looked
ahead to how the biennial manufacturing
show was going to re ect on the great
technological changes that have continued at
pace in the industry.
Also featuring was an opinion piece by
Manufacturing Technologies Association
(MTA), that considered the Conservative
Party’s re-election from a manufacturing
industry standpoint – which concluded it will
ensure a “clear and decisive policy making”
on issues vital to the machinery and
component supply chain. Whether this has
materialised, is certainly up for debate.
January also saw a preview of the
Southern Manufacturing exhibition in
Farnborough, that was one of the last major
physical manufacturing events that took place
in the UK in 2020, before the country came
to a grinding halt, as the pandemic closed
A special report on Sodick Europe also
featured in the issue, reporting on how the
company continues to go from strength to
strength and has lofty ambitions for the
future, as shown by it recently moving into a
new 45,000 square foot European
headquarters in Coventry.
Other features, included on turning and
how a second-hand Miyanos was boosting
quality for subcontractor Apsley Precision
Engineering, while investments in machines
made by new engineering start-up business G
Zero was helping drive performance.
EXPANDING FOOTPRINTS
In the February ( www.is.gd/nDkdOX ) issue of
2020, our lead story delved into why key High
Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC)
partners the Advanced Manufacturing
Research Centre (AMRC) and the
Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) are
expanding their footprints. We found out what
the strategies and end goals of both are.
The MTC is opening a new facility in
Liverpool to add to its Coventry base and
chief executive Clive Hickman told Machinery
that plans to grow facilities is not about
“growing to make the business bigger”, but
“growing to have more impact on
manufacturing and society in general”.
Meanwhile, the AMRC has opened a new
site in Wales and is building a new facility in
Lancashire to add to its Shef eld
headquarters. Research director Ben Morgan
stated that through HVMC funding the AMRC
MACH organiser, the
down life as we knew it.
www.machinery.co.uk January 2020
OVER A CENTURY OF MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT
Statement
facility opens Getting more
comfortable in
its new home
p14
MACH 2020
Profi ling
Two fi rms fi re
up UK fi rsts
p31
16 January 2021 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
January 2020 Volume 178 Number 4292 MACHINERY www.machinery.co.uk
Sodick Europe’s
new UK HQ
p18
THE
TIMES THEY
ARE A-CHANGIN’
THE LAST 12 MONTHS’ COVERAGE IN MACHINERY POINTS TO A DECADE OF CHANGE
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