March 2019

There is some irony in the fact that in our first month as Make UK, we are facing the last month as a member of the European Union unless political events overtake this column. Having made the transition to the new name successfully at our annual conference last month we followed with our first quarter survey which paints an interesting snapshot of the shifting sands of world trade. Since the heady days of 2017 when there was a synchronised upswing across all major global markets, global trade has been on a gradually downward trend with the balance in export orders at the end of last year half what they were in the previous quarter and just a third of the level seen at the end of 2017. The start of this year showed no signs of recovery with Asia absent from the top three markets for UK goods for the first time since 2016. Its place has now been claimed by the Middle East, as much a reflection as what has been happening to demand in that part of the world but equally a reflection of what has been happening to demand in Asia, especially China. Not just our surveys but official data has been pointing to a significant downturn in the desire for imports from the giant of the Far East with the appetite for UK and European manufactured goods down form the peaks that have been registered in recent times. The impact on industries such as the Automotive Sector has been clear for all to see, leading to some painful announcements in recent months which will have a knock on effect down the supply chain. But if the news from Asia isn’t great then that from Europe isn’t much better. Despite remaining the top market for UK goods demand from Europe is at its weakest for three years with Italy in recession and Germany avoiding it recently by a whisker. Across the board the European PMI data have been poor recently. While some of the effect is clearly Europe coming down from the highs of 2017 it would be naïve to assume that some of it is not down to the huge uncertainty created by Brexit with orders on hold as importers worry about their goods being stuck at ports and not able to cross the UK border freely. So as we approach the final weeks of the UK’s membership of the European Union it is to be hoped that politicians of all parties do what many have failed to do so far and come to their senses to put the national interest first. If they do so then we can move to a transition period during which we can map out a future trading relationship which can be mutually beneficial. Within the next few weeks we are about to find out. By MAKE UK chief executive, Stephen Phipson MAKE uk - the manufacturers’ organisation monthly news comment News March 2019 www.pwemag.co.uk Plant & Works Engineering | 0 9 PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI UK) has recently announced its role as an official supporter of The Smart Industry series of Conferences. The events, titled: Demystifying the jargon: How to make the digitalisation transition, cover Smart Industry Food & Beverage; Smart Industry Automotive; and Smart Industry Aerospace. The first of these sector specific conferences is due to be held in Birmingham on the 22nd May, focusing on the Food & Beverage Sector. The first event will also run alongside the annual Motion Control Industry Awards. According to the organiser, DFA Media, the events were launched to “address and unravel the vast array of conflicting information around 4IR, discussing the practicalities, technologies and issues surrounding transition and implementation of digitalisation in manufacturing across key market sectors in clear and concise language.” The conferences’ main aim is to provide a practical, jargon-free opportunity to those starting out on the digital transformation process, to experience a complete smart roadmap, highlighting the incremental stages of the 4IR journey covering all aspect of the digital transformation. This fits in with one of the main aims of PROFINET together with IO-Link, already well accepted as the backbone of Industry 4.0. The Smart Industry series of Conference are CPD accredited, giving added value to delegates. For further information please visit: www.smartconferences.org.uk PI UK becomes official supporter of Smart Industry series of Conferences 1902 INDUSTRY CONFERENCES Food & Beverage – Automotive – Aerospace

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