MANUFA B


MA T


here’s no doubt the


news headlines


will be dominated by Brexit for the first quarter of this year. Hopefully things will settle down once Article 50 is triggered by the UK government and negotiations over just what Brexit willmean for the country can actually start. The good news is that so far the economy hasn’t been too adversely affected and the fall in sterling has actually proved beneficial to UKmanufacturers that export their goods. In fact the latest EEF industry survey makes interesting reading, with the majority of respondents reporting a strong end to 2016 (see story opposite). There is still a warning about a possi bl e


slowdown later this year, but it’s far frombeing all doom gloom. Hopefully this co will help to encourage U manufacturers to invest


in R&D K


and technology and keep the industry on the right track through these challenging and uncertain times.


NeilMead -Managing E ditor


nfidence and


ritain’smanufacturers saw the delayed recovery finally arrive in the final quarter of 2016 with a


FACTURING GAINSMOMENTUMAS RECOVERY BEGINS significant price rises in the pipeline, a factor likely to


RY


much improved boost to output and orders, according to amajor survey released by EEF, themanufacturers’ organisation and accountants and business advisory firm BDO LLP. Publishing the Q4Manufacturing Outlook survey and revised economic forecasts, EEF pointed to early signs that the sector has left behind the negative effects of the low oil price and concerns about global growth and is now seeing opportunities froma resilient UKmarket and brightening export prospects. The improved picture ismainly being driven by a


aj


weigh down on domestic activity in the year ahead. Profit margins are also under considerable pressure and are likely to be squeezed further in 2017.


Commenting, EEF chief economist,Ms Lee Hopley said: “This is themost upbeat reading on the state of manufacturing we’ve seen for some 18months and signals the start of brightening conditions, which had been briefly knocked off course following the referendum. This anticipated turnaround can be attributed to a range of factors including the resilience, thus far, of the UK economy, but also the strengthening


better UKmarket, though themuch expected boost fro m of demand in a number ofmajormarkets. Critically, this a weaker pound is expected to come to fruition in the next quarter. The survey also showed themajority of manufacturing sectors and regions reportedmore positive output balances in the past threemonths compared with the previous quarter. As a result, better conditions are also spurring a rebound in recruitment


activity to fulfil new customer dema should spur some new investment a


“While confidence is back on the nd recruitment


up, manufacturers nds.


are still aware of growth challenges in the near term. Brexit aside, global growth is not yet on the firmest of footings and, with volatile exchange rates also in the


intentions, as well as a turnaround in investment to fulfil mix, UKmanufacturers will need to customer requirements and secure productivity gains. However, EEF stressed that the picture is one of the sector regaining ground after a sluggish 18months. While key indicators moving back into the black is a positive development, risks remain on the horizon , some Brexit related and others potentially stemming fromelsewhere in the world. As a result, despite the improvement in conditions, EEF is still forecasting that manufacturing will contract in 2017. Furthermore, EEF also pointed to inflationary pressures building and


Want to @C


Wa


SPS IPC DRIVES ADDS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL CHAPTER IN 2016


2016 S


PS IPC Drives 2016 showed oncemore why it is considered a prominent international


marketplace and one of themost important year-end gatherings in the automation industry. From 22 – 24 November, the event delivered on its promise to offer signs of what the coming year has in store.


The statistics fromEurope’s leading automation exhibition


spoke for themselves again in 2016. Over 63,000 professional attendees and 1,601 exhibitors took


advantage of the international business platformSPS IPC Drives provides. Visitors fromall over the world had the chance to obtain information onmyriad products, solutions, innovations, and trends in electrical automation technology. As in the past, the strong focus on business that has become one of the hallmarks of SPS IPC Drives was clearly evident among the booths at its 27th edition. The


4 event further solidified its


international standing by featuring 523 companies from44 countries besides Germany.


At SPS IPC Drives 2016, the


Industrie 4.0 Area and an array of exhibition booths highlighted concepts and examples of specific applications in related fields of automation and data exchange. Industrie 4.0 offerings were also a main reason why the forums held by industry associations VDMA and ZVEI were so popular among this year’s attendees. Here, participants had the opportunity to discuss state-of-the-art technology and ways to implement it in practice. A detailed exhibition analysis, including further resul ts fromSP S IPC Drives 2016, will be available in February 2017. This year’s event will be held from28 – 30


November 2017 at Nuremberg’s exhibition centre. Formore information, please visit sps- exhibition.com


. , ,


SPS IPC DRIVES ADDS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL CHAPTER I


to keep up to @CI_Automa to date Th mationUK and/or ‘UK and/o


te? Then follofollowus onTwitter: d/


Twitter: /or ‘Like’ us on Facebook ! Fa ke’ us on Facebook!


VISION UNDERLI ES POSITION AS THE RLD’S LEADI G M CHI E VISION SHOW


T


w n T


he 2016 VISION trade fair, which took place in November in Stuttgart, closed with record exhibitor and visitor numbers. he 2016 event showed once again that ISION is and remains themost popular dustry highlight for anyone who deals ithmachine vision,” explained Ulrich romer, president and CEO of Messe


Stuttgart Thomas Walter divisional director industrial solutions, added: “The number of product launches as well as the numerous company anniversaries celebrated here, underline once again that VISION is the absolute ‘must attend’ event with international appeal.”


The machine vision sector is booming worldwide and VISION is also benefitting from this market growth. “We are thrilled with the high visitor numbers, increased internationality and massive interest in machine vision. For three days, VISION was the global centre for machine vision and once again demonstrated its status as the world’s leading trade fair,” said Dr Olaf Munkelt, CEO of MVTec Software and chairman of the Machine Vision. “Machine vision is the technology that


makes robotics and board of VDMA


automation possible,” explained Florian Niethammer, teamdirector. “And VISION is the only event worldwide at which all users can find out about the entire breadth of machine vision technology on this sc ale. ”


Embedded vision, hyperspectral imaging and 3Dmachine vision, in particular, attracted almost 10,000 visitors from58 countries to Stuttgart. According to Niethammer: “The exhibitors were naturally thrilled with this. The companies commented that the increase in the number of visitors could be clearly felt and stressed the particularly high quality of contacts.” The lively buzz in the forums was very striking as well withmany visitors attending one of the over 90 top presentations held. The next VISION trade fair will be held on 6 - 8 November 2018.


DECEMBER/JANUAR 201 ANUARY 2017 | AU AUTOMA MAT ATION /AUTOMATION AT /AUTOMATION


VISION UNDERLINES POSITION AS THE WORLD’S LEADING MACHINE VISION SHOW


nimble in their responses to emergi opportunities in themonths ahead.”


manufacturing is proving to be res i said: “Despite uncertainty at home


ng challenges and continue to be


Tom Lawton, partner and head, BDO Manufacturing, and abroad, UK lient. It i s


promising to see that five months on from the referendum, UK manufacturers are reporting increases in both output and orders.”


The survey was conducted between 2 and 23 November 2016 with 388 companies responding .


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