♦  Lancashire-based Holroyd Precision has built the largest CNC helical profile system ever made, for a Chinese compressor manufacturer which will use it to finish stainless steel screw compressor rotors up to 4.5m long and 850mm in diameter. The £2.5m machine, weighing more than 8 tonnes, incorporates two cameras for scrutinising the machining area.

♦  Renishaw has received its 14th Queens Award for Enterprise for developing a laser-based, non-contact system for detecting broken or missing cutting tools on CNC centres. The Award was made in the Innovations category.

♦  A two-day conference on saving energy in Motor-Driven Systems is being held in Solihull on 9–10 November, 2011. The conference has the backing of five trade bodies including Gambica and Beama, and is being sponsored by Siemens, WEG and ebm-papst.

♦  Schaeffler is offering its UK customers a rapid delivery service for linear guidance systems and shafts including rails, cages, carriages and customer-specific machined shafts.

♦  The UK distribution arm of the chain manufacturer Donghua has reached an agreement with Blackburn-based Ocean Engineering to offer an on-site chain-fitting service in the UK.