But that didn’t deter the attendees of the KYOCERA SGS and Starrag ‘Lunch & Learn’ event which took place at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) on the 1st November.

So, why risk having time out to attend an event themed around Taking airframe machining to a whole new level? With more than 60 years in the industry, Ian Walsh, senior sales executive of A&G Precision, certainly saw the value of doing so.

“This industry is rather like the game of leapfrog. New developments push companies to take steps forward and progress ahead of each other,” he stated. “Business is a journey in which you never arrive. The moment that you arrive or think that you have, it’s too late. These events are really worthwhile because they help to spread the word as to where the industry is going next.”

With presentations on topics like virtual machining and advances in aluminium aerostructure parts machining, as well as an impressive live cutting tool demonstration in the AMRC’s Factory of the Future, there was plenty to talk about on the day. Creating a conversation about emerging technologies was exactly what the event’s organiser, Jose Ucar, EU marketing and business development manager at KYOCERA SGS, was hoping to achieve.

“This is our sixth Lunch & Learn event as part of our programme of events aimed at educating, supporting and helping the industry to innovate,” he said. “It is part of our aim to build a platform to bring the latest innovations to life and help boost productivity. The pioneering setting of the AMRC fits perfectly with our aims for the event.”

For Richard Foster, machining specialist at Rolls-Royce, the day was a reminder about the value of exploring new ways of working: “This event has been really helpful in enabling us all to see the capabilities of new and emerging technology. It’s been an education on the art of the possible.”

But the buzz throughout the day was also due to new business relationships being forged, as well as the strengthening of well-established connections. The Lunch & Learn session proved to be a powerful mix of the informal and the informative, with one delegate describing it as “the best-organised event I’ve ever been to.”

As Lee Scott, director of sales and applications at Starrag UK, commented: “We’ve got a room full of key people from the UK here today. One of the presenters said in his talk earlier, ‘Come and join the club’ – and at this end of the spectrum, it is a club and people want to be a part of it.”

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