INDUSTRY NEWS
Aspirational growth plans for 2014
I
t will come as no surprise to anyone working within the engineering industry that the market has been challenging
in 2013. Yet, perhaps many will also agree
that there has also been some positive movement in the last 12 months. Here James Sopwith, group sales and marketing director at adi Group comments on the year ahead: Mirroring the latest statistics
from the EEF, our forecast for the year ahead is a positive one, with aspirational growth plans across a number of core market sectors. It can be all too easy for the market and media to talk only of doom and gloom but there is good reason to be optimistic. As a whole, capital spend
throughout the market is still restricted, yet we are seeing expenditure on maintenance remaining fairly stable. This is
positive and shows that companies are continuing to invest in their manufacturing processes and aren’t turning a blind eye to core maintenance; which can happen in tough economic times. Looking to core market sectors,
the automotive industry is going from strength to strength and we only need look at the current growth plans for Jaguar to see this in practice. Aerospace is another example of continuing expansion and advancement, yet the food and drink market remains challenging, partly as a result of low investment over the last five years. Even here however, the tide really is beginning to turn with a number of new factories and extensions to existing plant already on the cards for a number of key players – it’s a positive time. In fact, positivity is a key movement within manufacturing generally and as more companies
begin to invest in their own plant and also in recruitment, there is a much brighter outlook for the wider market and country as a whole. It is skills perhaps that is one of
the biggest threats in the coming months and years and is a big concern for many businesses. There is no silver bullet unfortunately and it will be down to individual businesses to not only up skill its existing workforce but also offer apprenticeship programmes and training to the wider market. In addition, with legislative pressures and mounting energy prices, the topic of resource management will continue to rise up the corporate agenda. We don’t expect investment in this area to rise exponentially but we will see the issues continuing to drive behaviour as government places greater emphasis on conservation. In short, while 2013 may have
James Sopwith, group sales and marketing director at adi Group
been a slow journey back to health, the coming months have a much brighter outlook. With confidence gaining in the market place, business expansion and investment looks set to continue. Recovery will undoubtedly become the buzz word of 2014 and while we don’t expect a flying start, adi Group will continue to support its customers in whatever the market throws at it.
More information about adi Group
www.adiltd.co.uk
Seamless tubing for Airbus and Liebherr
Fine Tubes, a leading manufacturer and global distributor of precision tubes for critical applications, is currently producing seamless Grade 9 and Grade 5 titanium tubing for Airbus and Liebherr. The company is one of the few suppliers with the capability to produce products of this type.
The tubing will be used for the high pressure hydraulic systems required for the Airbus A380 and for the high lift transmission systems designed and produced by Liebherr for the A350 XWB, due to go into service in 2014. The density of titanium is about 60 per cent of that of steel- or nickel-based alloys giving significant weight savings even though its tensile strength is greater than that of austenitic or ferritic stainless steels. Highly
corrosion resistant, titanium also exceeds the resistance of stainless steels in most environments, is non-magnetic and has good heat transfer properties with a melting point higher than steel alloys. Seamless tubes are typically superior to welded products in terms of resistance to high pressures and fatigue and Fine Tubes uses multiple combinations of different processes, including cold reductions and heat
treatments, to manufacture to the exact and demanding specifications demanded by customers such as Airbus and Liebherr. Paul Mallett, Fine Tubes’ Business Development Manager Aerospace, commented: “The advantages that Titanium offers in terms of weight saving and strength, make it an ideal material for high performance aircraft applications, and, we are seeing a definite increase in its specification by a range of end users
www.internationalmetaltube.com
- from the aerospace to the offshore to the medical equipment industries. Working with titanium to produce high grade, seamless tubing calls for a level of expertise for which Fine Tubes is rapidly acquiring an exemplary reputation.”
More information on Fine Tubes Ltd
t: +44 (0) 844 822 1658 m: +44 (0) 7739 461 061
abigail@singletonpr.com
IMT February/March 2014 3
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