Machine buying rush at XYZ open house

XYZ Machine Tools’ recent Sheffield
open house saw 23 orders received for
new machines.
“The response from customers at this event was brilliant,” says the company’s managing director Nigel Atherton. “This success is backed by continuing good levels of business across our range of machines from a wide variety of customers. Hopefully, this confidence among machine tool buyers and the UK manufacturing sector in general remains for the foreseeable future. We are also seeing strong sales from across Europe, with
record numbers being generated.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Euro growth fuels €4m investment

Rapid prototyping specialist Proto Labs is reporting its largest European infrastructure investment since the UK business was established in 2005. The company has financed investment of around €4m on new manufacturing technology and facility renovations, primarily in Telford, UK, but also at its other locations across Europe.

During June and July 2017, Proto Labs confirmed a large-scale purchase of Haas CNC machines and Arburg injection-moulding machines. The new Haas machines will be configured for either mould making or component machining, with both of these services growing at a rapid pace. Including the new machines, Proto Labs UK’s inventory now totals 130 CNC machining and 57 injection-moulding machines. Since 2015, the business has supported annual growth in excess of 20% in manufacturing and engineering, sales and administrative functions.
For further information www.protolabs.co.uk

Ton up for Mills

Mills CNC, the distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has announced that machine tool orders in Q2 exceeded 100. Says Kevin Gilbert, Mills CNC’s managing director: “Clearly we are delighted with the results. Over the last six months we have launched a number of new Doosan machines into the market and, over the same period, completed several complex turnkey and process improvement projects with aerospace and energy sector customers. Furthermore, we have increased our headcount and strengthened our sales and service operations, all of which go a long way to explain our strong showing in the first half of 2017.”
For further information
www.millscnc.co.uk

Positivity ahead of Brexit

Manufacturing is the most consistently upbeat sector in the UK on the medium- to long-term economic effects of Brexit according to a new YouGov survey, the Brexit Monitor, commissioned by audit, tax and consulting firm RSM. Although over two-thirds of UK businesses across key sectors (68%) felt prepared for an EU exit, it was manufacturing that came in as the most confident. Some 78% of the 49 manufacturing businesses surveyed said they were prepared (of which 31% said they were ‘very prepared’).
For further information
www.rsmuk.com

Mapal achieves 6% growth

German cutting tool manufacturer Mapal says that consolidated group sales rose by around 6% from €540m in 2015 to €575m in 2016. Together with the increase in sales, the number of employees also increased by 4%, from 4,800 to nearly 5,000 worldwide. Over 3,400 work in Germany. Together with investments in R&D, further Mapal initiatives include implementing several construction projects at international locations. For instance, this year the company is increasing its investment in infrastructure in the USA, China and Mexico. In addition, Mapal has acquired the majority stake in Adico, a South Korean manufacturer of PCD and PcBN.
For further information www.mapal.com