The summer is nearly over, days are getting
shorter and the pace of work is quickening as we head towards another
year’s end. After an enjoyable summer break touring in the USA, I am now
focussing on the autumn/winter period ahead, both for Riley Surface
World and the finishing industry in general.
Autumn
is always an exciting time in our industry. New projects start to take
priority and deadlines get shorter as the proximity of Christmas looms
on the horizon. It is also a time when some of our leading trade
exhibitions are taking place, with the opportunity to see new
innovations and make new contacts.
The trade show season kicks off in Stuttgart, Germany
with Parts2Clean in October. The European solvent directives have had a
huge impact on product cleaning technology and practices. Manufacturers
and finishers are now heavily regulated on the chemicals they can use
and the ways that they are applied. This has brought about new
innovations in cleaning technology, many of which will be on display in Stuttgart. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what’s new this year.
In November, we in the UK have our own Surface World exhibition in Birmingham.
This show has been rejuvenated in the last 4 – 6 years, thanks to a
terrific marketing effort by the Surface World team. An event that
almost died a few years ago now attracts many more exhibitors and
visitors. It has also found a new dimension by incorporating Correx, the
corrosion control exhibition and conference.
The fortunes of the Surface World show have coincided with an upturn in the UK
finishing industry, largely due to a long-awaited increase in
manufacturing output. For the first time since the early 1980s,
manufacturing’s share of our domestic output has risen to 12%, on a par
with the USA and France. Germany still leads on 21%, but even there the figure has declined from its post war peak of 35%.
Germany,
of course, is still the powerhouse of European manufacturing, and does a
great deal more to promote itself around the world than the UK has done
in recent years. A good example in our industry is its presence at SF
China, the third and by far the largest finishing industry trade show in
Shanghai later in November.
This
year, German companies are combining under the banner of their own trade
association to host a national pavilion at SF China. The companies
represented will cover sectors such as electroplating, organic coatings,
cleaning, blasting, peening and vibratory finishing. Germany is serious about doing business with China, something that our own trade associations and government agencies should take note.
Designing
things and finishing them are the two great strengths of British
manufacturing and engineering. We have not always been so good at the
bits in between, but working practices imported from countries such as Germany and Japan have made us a lot better.
Recognising
our longstanding skills in the automotive sector, UK Trade and
Investment is making strenuous efforts at this year’s Frankfurt Motor
Show to attract inward investment from parts makers such as Bosch to our
newly established Enterprise Zones. Car production in the UK
is set to increase to 2.5m units per annum by 2015, taking it back to
its 1970s heyday. The creation of automotive centres of excellence on a
macro level must surely benefit the finishing industry in the longer
term.
So with the trade show season
underway and with the London Olympics to follow next year, now is the
time for all of us in the finishing industry to go out and sell
everything that the UK has to offer.
If you are looking for new or used process equipment and machinery, head over to www.rileysurfaceworld.co.uk. We have over a 1000 machines in stock. Make sure you use the search box at the top of the page, which is powered by Google search technology, to find the machine you are looking for.
