Daily Manufacturing News Digest – the industry stories you should be aware of today

Posted on 19 Sep 2023 by The Manufacturer

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.

EngineeringUK launches new 5-year strategy to enable engineering and technology to thrive

Not-for-profit EngineeringUK has announced it’s entering a new strategy period – which will set the direction of the organisation over the next five years.

With a core purpose of driving change so more young people choose engineering and technology careers, EngineeringUK’s refreshed vision is for the UK to have the diverse workforce needed for engineering and technology to thrive and to drive economic prosperity, improve sustainability and achieve net zero. Find out more at The Manufacturer

Britvic Ireland announces €6m investment in Ballygowan facility to increase production by over 20%

Britvic Ireland has announced an investment of €6m in its Ballygowan facility in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, to grow the site’s production capacity by over 20% in order to meet growing consumer demand for Ballygowan mineral water, and the creation of 28 new jobs.

In addition to the new manufacturing roles, the investment will provide additional bottling capacity for the equivalent of 50 million fully recycled and recyclable 500ml bottles of Ballygowan, enhance production capability, and underpin the strong sustainability credentials of the site. Find out more at Britvic

SS Great Britain wins national engineering award for its Future Brunels STEM education programme

Last week, the SS Great Britain Trust in Bristol won the ‘STEM Ambassador’ award at the prestigious Engineering & Manufacturing Awards. The award was given for the Trust’s pioneering ‘Future Brunels’ education programme and for its wider STEM engagement activities.

The Future Brunels initiative aims to support students from all backgrounds to access STEM careers. Find out more at The Manufacturer

Global collaboration to accelerate clean energy innovation

The UK, with the US, Canada and Australia, has invested £61m in the US National Science Foundation’s Global Centers on clean energy and climate change.

Global Centers on clean energy and climate change is an ambitious, novel clean energy and climate change programme being delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in conjunction with like-minded international funders. Find out more at UK Research and Innovation

Consumer support key to faster and fairer EV transition as market enters new phase – SMMT

UK automotive leaders yesterday celebrated the battery electric car market’s emergence from the ‘early adopter’ phase and discuss the measures needed to shift the technology to mass market following a 21-fold growth in EV uptake since 2018. Find out more at The Manufacturer

FANUC ships its one-millionth robot

FANUC Corporation recently celebrated a significant milestone in the automation industry by producing its one-millionth industrial robot. The company which supplies customers worldwide with its CNC-systems, robots and machine tools, is a pioneer in factory automation and deployed its first robot in its own production line back in 1974. Today, thousands of robots build new robots in the company’s factories in Japan. “Demand for our robots is currently at an all-time high”, says Marco Ghirardello, the President and CEO of FANUC Europe. Find out more at FANUC

Ricardo guides development of new Oxfordshire wide air quality website

Ricardo has worked in partnership with all Oxfordshire Councils in the UK to launch a new air quality website: www.oxonair.uk providing air quality guidance and resources across the county.

Across Oxfordshire in 2021, it was estimated that air pollution’s effect on mortality was equivalent to 320 early deaths. Find out more at Ricardo

GE HealthCare gets $44m grant to develop AI-assisted ultrasound tech

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc has received a grant of more than $44m from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop AI-assisted ultrasound technology, the company said on Monday.

The grant will facilitate development of AI-assisted ultrasound imaging auto-assessment applications and tools to help address maternal and fetal health and respiratory diseases. Find out more at Reuters