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.
Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024 celebrates record attendance
Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week (SMEW) 2024 was the busiest ever, drawing a record number of 13,428 attendees, an increase of 30% on 2023. More via The Manufacturer
Train-maker Alstom wins crucial £370m Elizabeth line order
Train-maker Alstom has signed a contract worth £370m to build trains for London’s Elizabeth line.
The announcement comes after the firm began a redundancy consultation at its Litchurch Lane factory in Derby due to a gap in orders. More via BBC News
JCB invests $500m in North American factory
JCB has broken ground on a $500m factory in Texas, the British equipment maker’s biggest-ever investment.
The 720,000 sq. ft (67,000 sqm) factory will be the company’s second largest plant, after its headquarters in the United Kingdom. More via Forklift Action
Manufacturers see growth boost but skill shortages flashing red – Make UK survey
Britain’s manufacturers are seeing a boost in growth prospects as output and orders pick up, with the sector forecast to outpace the economy overall this year according to a major survey published today. More via The Manufacturer
RootWave and Garford join forces to develop eWeeding technology
UK manufacturer of technologically advanced mechanical weed control products, Garford Farm Machinery, and the electrical weed control manufacturer RootWave, have announced an agreement that will bring next generation weeding technology to UK and international markets.
The agreement will see the two manufacturers co-develop new weeding technology and products, integrating electrical weeding into precision guided toolbar systems, for high-value and high-intensive crops as well as broadacre arable applications. More via New Electronics
Stoke-on-Trent manufacturer celebrates 150 years of trading
A company that’s been operating in Stoke-on-Trent for more than 30 years has now turned 150 years old. To celebrate, Fuchs Lubricants PLC held a huge birthday party, which saw its 340 UK employees be treated to a buffet, a burger van, an ice cream van, hot and soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and birthday cake – for free.
Fuchs Lubricants PLC is a global company which originated in Mannheim in Germany in 1874. The Hanley site in Century Street was founded in 1987 under the name ‘Century Oils’, with Princess Anne opening the site, before Fuchs Lubricants PLC bought the site in 1991. More via Stoke-on-Trent Live
SMMT Chief recognised for services to the UK automotive industry
Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), has been awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the automotive industry in the King’s Birthday Honours List. More via The Manufacturer
