Good afternoon and welcome to this week’s Friday Brief! We hope you are all staying hydrated whilst enjoying the hottest day of the year.

We do not have any economic news for you today, but we will be sure to have a bit extra next week.

The MTA would like to update you on some news regarding our Forecast Seminar coming up in October. A location has been confirmed, the event will be held at Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd in Worcester. The programme will follow our usual structure of three presentations. Find the agenda below along with a link to the event page.

If any members have experienced an increase in customs checks recently – not just to China and/or also for imports – Jack would welcome feedback on this issue. Find out more details in the story.

CECIMO would like to inform you about the three funding opportunities, which are approaching the deadline at the end of this month and one funding opportunity with the deadline at the end of July. In the story below you can find the funding calls in the areas of Digital Technologies, Robotics, Additive Manufacturing etc., applied to the machine tool/manufacturing sector. Make sure to check it out.

This week there are 3 new BSI Standards that are welcoming your comments. The first is regarding Supply chain interoperability and integration — Vocabulary. The second is about Framework for Nuclear Digital Ecosystem (NDE) and the third regarding Automation systems and integration — Equipment behaviour catalogues for interoperability of manufacturing resource models used to plan and analyse production line performance in conjunction with production line operation.

Like all metalworking fluids, Bioconcept Fluids will need regular maintenance to ensure optimum conditions in order to be effective in use and avoid any harmful effects for operators. . It is therefore important that exposure to both the mist and fluid is kept to a minimum using appropriate control measures, including local exhaust ventilation on computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines. Please visit the story below to find a link to more information.

Corporates are currently facing into stubbornly high prices in the supply chain, increased energy costs and a tight labour market, all while consumer confidence hits a record low as the real income squeeze weighs on households. Lloyds have put together a series of economic calls so you can hear the views of their expert panellists on the impact of the current financial conditions on consumers and corporates, the up to date action and views from central banks and the impact this is having on financial markets.  Join the calls through a link to register in the story.

That’s it for the Friday Brief this week! Stay cool and have a lovely weekend! We’ll ‘see’ you next week!