Each day The Manufacturer compiles the top manufacturing news stories from around the web. To make your life a little easier, we trawl through all the major trade publications, broadsheets and business magazines to find you the most important manufacturing news each morning. Don't forget to bookmark this page and check back daily.
Teesside stainless steel firm grows business with £26m export finance package
A government credit guarantee has allowed Teesside stainless steel alloy inventor and manufacturer Paralloy to secure up to £26m of a Santander UK bank guarantee facility to support the continued growth of its export business.
Announced on National Manufacturing Day, the guarantee from UK Export Finance (UKEF) – the government’s export credit agency – allows Santander UK to overwrite a previous facility and increase the amount of facility available to Paralloy from £17m to £26m.
The previous facility enabled Paralloy to offer bonds on its contracts, assuring potential buyers that orders would be fulfilled even in times of market uncertainty. The newly agreed package means that the manufacturer can issue £9m more in bank guarantees than before. This will allow Paralloy to pursue an even greater range of high-value export contracts and enter new markets, partly because the funding will help the business procure inputs whose prices have risen sharply amid global economic challenges. Find out more at The Manufacturer
£4bn UK contracts progresses AUKUS submarine design
UK businesses will be behind the design and manufacture of the world’s most advanced submarines, following the awarding of £4bn of contracts.
The signing of the Detailed Design and Long Leads (D2L2) Phase with BAE Systems (BAES), Rolls-Royce and Babcock Marine represents a significant milestone for both the UK and the trilateral AUKUS programme as a whole, in the lead up to build the future class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, known as SSN-AUKUS.
The contracts totalling £4bn will progress the programme through the design, prototyping and purchase of main long lead components for the first UK submarines, allowing construction to commence in the coming years and ensure the stability and resilience of our domestic supply chain. Find out more at GOV UK
Made Smarter-backed manufacturers deliver £242m economic boost for North West
A pioneering programme helping North West manufacturers invest in industrial digital technology is forecast to create more than 1,550 new jobs and boost the region’s economy by £242m, new figures reveal.
It comes as businesses across the region mark National Manufacturing Day on Thursday, September 28.
The Made Smarter adoption programme was launched in Liverpool to help businesses digitalise, decarbonise, and drive growth.
So far 2,500 manufacturers from across Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Liverpool have engaged with the programme, with hundreds going on to receive support through grant funding, impartial technology advice and leadership and skills training to help transform their businesses. Find out more at Made Smarter
Cathay Group orders 32 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft
Hong Kong’s Cathay Group has announced the purchase of an additional 32 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft as it continues to invest in expanding and modernising its fleet. The agreement doubles the Cathay Group’s total orders for the A320neo Family to 64, of which 13 have already been delivered.
The 32 additional aircraft will comprise both the A321neo and A320neo which will join the fleets of Cathay Pacific and HK Express.They will principally serve destinations in the Chinese Mainland and elsewhere in Asia. Find out more at Airbus
Aurrigo and UPS announce autonomous electric cargo vehicle pilot programme at East Midlands Airport
UPS and Aurrigo have announced a collaborative project to deploy Auto-Cargo, an autonomous electric vehicle designed to move heavy cargo loads to and from aircraft at the UPS hub at East Midlands Airport, the UK’s second-largest cargo terminal.
The vehicle can transport a standard full-size cargo pallet or two half-size aviation industry standard containers or Unit Load Devices (ULD) up to a total load of 7.5 tonnes and is designed to tow a further fully loaded cargo trailer behind it.
Its autonomous technology will enable the limited numbers of security-cleared drivers to be freed-up to perform other roles around the airport, while also producing zero tailpipe emissions. Find out more at The Manufacturer
Northern Ireland’s largest 5G testbed in Derry-Londonderry set to supercharge smart manufacturing
Local technology consortium Smart Nano NI, formed to further the development of smart manufacturing in Northern Ireland, has launched the largest 5G testbed in Northern Ireland in Derry-Londonderry, marking a significant step in a five-year plan to accelerate smart manufacturing in the country.
Led by consortium partner Digital Catapult, the UK authority on advanced digital technology, the 5G testbed is the organisation’s latest innovation activity to bolster economic growth and investment opportunity in Northern Ireland. The investment by the Smart Nano NI consortium will create a valuable, open access facility and provide expert technical support to local start-ups and businesses through the Digital Catapult Smart Nano Accelerator Programme.
The ground-breaking testbed facilities will be delivered by the global IT and business consulting services firm CGI, in partnership with Digital Catapult Northern Ireland. The cutting-edge 5G and 4G private network is a first-of-its-kind smart manufacturing and education setting in Northern Ireland, providing access to the latest network technologies including 5G and NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and will be instrumental in upskilling the next generation of innovators and experts across the country. Find out more at Digital Catapult
