UK manufacturing came together at Birmingham’s ICC this week to celebrate success in manufacturing technologies at the MTA's Manufacturing Industry Awards.
The event was part of the Manufacturing Technologies Association’s annual gala dinner at which MTA President, Simon Pollard, gave a rousing speech about the future of manufacturing in Britain.
There were four Manufacturing Industry Awards presented during the evening, plus an additional prize fund – The AMTRI Scholarship – awarded to one young engineer.
The Best Training Scheme award, sponsored by the GTMA, went to David Brown Gear Systems Ltd whose ‘Gear Academy’ trains employees, suppliers, customers and academia in over 300 skills associated with the technology of gears and gearboxes.
The Best Supplier Partnership category, sponsored by the British Gear Association, was awarded to BAE Systems in partnership with StarragHeckert, Fastems, TDM Systems and Nederman. The winning entry highlighted the success of partnership working in the delivery of a large hard-metal machining flexible manufacturing system. The new facility, developed with key inputs from all partners, has led to a world class, lean, fully integrated manufacturing system that maximises operator and machine efficiency.
The Young Engineer of the Year category was collected by Brendan Burr of Agusta Westland. Brendan’s exemplary performance in work placements around the firm, as well as his outstanding academic records, earnt him the leading role in the company’s current Apprentice project. The exciting project, restoring the aircraft that set the world helicopter speed record, is to be completed in time for a special 25 anniversary in August this year.
The final Manufacturing Industry Award category, the Most Dynamic Sub-Contractor, was won by DKW Engineering Ltd who, through a dynamic approach, has successfully supplied precision engineered components to their clients for over 40 years. With state of the art CNC machines operated by highly skilled, experienced precision engineers, DKW are able to quickly react to customer requirements as a value-adding supplier to multiple market segments.
The special AMTRI Scholarship, supported by Lloyds TSB Commercial, was awarded to Simon Theaker of PTG Holroyd. Simon took over a lead role in the development of Holroyd’s new profile grinder following the tragic death of a colleague. The Scholarship, which is designed to provide financial support to further education in the machine tool industry, will allow Simon to continue his research into coolant technologies, complete his Masters in Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University and pursue further study at Cranfield University.
