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Renishaw capacity aids national effort
Global engineering company Renishaw
has started mass-producing critical
components for medical ventilators as
part of a nationwide effort. The
company has dedicated signi cant
parts of its manufacturing sites in
Gloucestershire and South Wales to
produce precision-machined
components for two different ventilators
manufactured by the
VentilatorChallengeUK consortium, with
production at the sites now running
seven days a week.
Within a few days, Renishaw joined
with leading companies in the
aerospace, automotive, medical devices
and motorsport sectors to form the
VentilatorChallengeUK consortium (see
p4), under the leadership of Dick Elsy,
CEO of the High Value Manufacturing
Catapult.
This team is working non-stop to
boost production of two proven
ventilators, selected by the NHS and
CNC machining marketplace
The coronavirus shutdown is an
extreme situation for the entire
economy and is hitting the CNC
machining industry hard, says
online CNC machining
marketplace Orderfox.com.
The organisation says that it
wants to play its part in providing
help in delivering business
solutions to the current Covid-19
challenge, which is why it has
made access to its online
platform free to CNC part
machining manufacturers and
component buyers, initially until
30 April.
“As a CNC machined parts
buyer, you can now put your CNC
orders to tender at Orderfox.com
– it’s straightforward, digital and
offers automatic ltering to re ect
your speci c requirements. In
next to no time, you will nd CNC
parts manufacturers with spare
capacity and the necessary
expertise who are currently able
to produce and supply the CNC
parts you require. You will not
only be supporting the entire CNC
sector in your capacity as a CNC
buyer, but also keeping your own
production running smoothly and
safeguarding your own delivery
capability.”
For CNC parts machinists, the
organisation says: “You can easily
make your capacity available to
the entire CNC sector via
Orderfox.com – with precise lters
to suit your rm’s technical and
time capabilities. This is a
straightforward way to make
valuable contacts and nd new
business partners. Emerge from
this crisis stronger and with new
customer contacts – for a bright
future. You can now
communicate, submit quotes and
manage your incoming RFQs
digitally and free of charge at
Orderfox.com. Make your
company resilient and futureproof.”
Renishaw's Miskin
site where ventilator parts are now being manufactured
manufactured in the UK by Penlon
and Smiths Medical.
Mass-production of ventilators,
each of which comprises hundreds of
diverse components, requires
millions of parts to come together for
assembly, is a huge logistical
operation.
Says Elsy: “Penlon and Smiths
ordinarily have combined capacity
of between 50 and 60 ventilators
per week. However, thanks to the
scale and resources of the wider
consortium, we are targeting
production of at least 1,500 units a
week of the Penlon and Smiths
models combined within a matter of
weeks."
Make UK apprentices move online to train
Manufacturers’ organisation Make
UK says online learning by its
apprentices, due to the Covid-19
pandemic and response, saw
record gures for online teaching
resource use during week
beginning 30 March.
Over three-quarters of its
apprentice population of 1,762,
who are usually based at the
Make UK Technology Hub in
Aston, Birmingham, continued
their studies online in the rst
week of virtual teaching and
assessments, with a record 118
online learners recorded in one
day undertaking their academic
studies.
Stephen Mitchell, director of
apprentices and technical
training, comments: “These are
testing times for all businesses
and educational institutions;
through our interactive online
classes, our team of highly
experienced lecturers have been
The manufacturing and engineering apprenticeship training hub in
Birmingham, pictured at an earlier time this year
able to maintain studies, with
numbers going from strength to
strength into the second week.
“We’ve also recorded some
incredible levels of engagement
with our target audience, who we
speak to regularly in our ongoing
work to encourage more young
people to consider an
apprenticeship as the next step in
their career.”
Other statistics released by
Make UK include: the rst week
saw 15 lecturers teaching 42
groups online; 3,326 emails sent
to its talent pipeline; 2,920 texts
sent to its talent pipeline; 56
telephone interviews completed.
6 April 2020, issue 2 - Machinery Classifi ed
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